Here’s another facet to photography that we go over in our Photography 101 workshops. If you would like more information about the workshop please click here.
One of the first things a photography student will learn about composing a picture is rule of thirds. It is such an important part of composition that camera companies make grids that you can have on your camera all the time so you know where the thirds are. It’s a pretty simple concept. To make an image more appealing you cut your picture into thirds. Where the intersecting points are, that is where you put your subject. It can be hard to remember to do because the main focusing point on the camera is usually dead center. All you have to do is: center the image, focus the camera by pushing down half way on the button, then while continuing to hold the button down move the camera over slightly to the left or right, just enough to where the subject is no longer in the middle. You now have a much more appealing photo!
Right off the bat you may be thinking, “Wait! The boutonniere is dead center!”. Yes, it is. Except the point of this picture is to show the tie and boutonniere. His neck and head are off-set.
With both the photo above and below, you see that they are not center, but off to the side. The subject doesn’t have to be put directly on the interceding points.
With this below the leaves are centered, but they are off balanced with the lamp in the background. If the lamp hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have centered the leaves.
Here’s a more straight forward shot using Rule of Thirds.
