Rule Of Thirds

What is the Rule of Thirds?

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows.


As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.
The ‘rule of thirds’ can identifiy four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Another Rule of thirds example: In this image the head is purposly placed on one of the intersecting points- especially his eyes which are a natural point of focus for a portrait. His tie and flower also take up a secondary point of interest.

In this shot the subject is placed along a whole line which means she is considerably off center and therefore creating an additional point of interest. Placing her right in the center of the frame could have resulted in an ‘awkward’  or rather boring shot.