Basic Photo Composition: The Rule of Thirds

Basic photo composition is very easy to learn and can take an average photo and turn it into something that's much more interesting!

The Rule of Thirds says you should take your photo frame and make mental lines disecting your frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically:

Where the lines intersect (and you see the stars) is where you would put your subject.

If your subject is horizontal (like a landscape), your horizon line would be on one of the horizontal lines, and NOT right in the center. It just makes for a more interesting photo:

The horizon line (the base of the church) is roughly on the bottom third line. The steeple is roughly on the right vertical line.

If your subject is vertical (like a person standing, for example), it should go on one of the vertical lines:

The bride is also positioned where a horizontal and vertical line intersect.

The subject in the photo below is actually the bee. The bee is roughly where a vertical and horizontal line would intersect, making the photo less static.

The Rule of Thirds also applies to portraits. In a head and shoulders portrait, the eyes should be in on the top third line:

If all of this is clear as mud to you, leave me a comment in the photo section, along with a way to contact you, and I'll address the questions in a later post.

Now go out and take some great photos!