What is the Rule of Thirds in photography?
In today’s digital world, the art of photography is more accessible than ever before. The evolution of technology has meant that individuals of any skill level can capture incredible photographs and videos with ease, with affordable professional equipment and even smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras. However, although technology has made things easier, there are still a few principles that budding photographers should learn to improve their skills, and a great example of this is the rule of thirds.
Learn more about the rule of thirds, the benefits of understanding it, and tips for using it in your images and videos.
What is the Rule of Thirds?
The rule of thirds is a set of photography composition rules used to improve the visual appeal of any image. To understand the rule of thirds, you need to imagine a blank image canvas divided into nine equal sections – a 3 x 3 grid composed of two equally spaced vertical lines and two equally spaced horizontal lines.
The point of this principle is that you can then position elements of a photograph along these lines or at interaction points. By doing this, you can create well-composed, balanced shots that intentionally guide the viewer’s eyes to specific parts of the image.
What are the benefits of the Rule of Thirds?
There are plenty of benefits to mastering the use of the rule of thirds in your photography, including the following:
Visual Balance: Create visually appealing images that are balanced and pleasing to the eye.
Focal Points: By placing the subject along grid lines or at intersection points, you can guide the viewer’s focus.
Aesthetically Appealing: Create pleasing compositions within framing that feel natural to the viewer’s eye.
Professional: Images that adhere to the rule of thirds often have a more professional and impressive look.
Versatile: The rule of thirds can be applied across various projects, including portraits, landscapes, action shots, and videos.
Composition Skills: By using the principle, newer photographers can quickly learn about the importance of composition, which will help to improve their skills. Reading guides will also help with this goal.
Storytelling: Narratives can be pushed by strategically placing subjects and elements to impact emotions and dynamics.
Negative Space: The rule of thirds helps you to strategically use negative space in the frame to enhance the main subject.
Creative Expression: The rule of thirds is a guideline but can be deliberately broken once understood to help achieve unique compositions.
How can you use the Rule of Thirds when taking photographs?
How you use the rule of thirds will likely depend on your current experience level. For amateur photographers, it provides a straightforward set of guidelines that can immediately improve your image composition. For more experienced photographers, it provides fundamentals that can be experimented with or even broken to create more stylised compositions.
Consider the following examples of ways the rule of thirds can be used:
Landscape Photography: Align the horizon with one of the horizontal lines in your grid. For example, if you want to showcase the sky, place the horizon along the lower horizontal line. However, if you want to showcase the land, place the horizon along the upper horizontal line.
Portrait Photography: If you want to draw attention to your subject’s eyes and create a connection with the viewer, consider placing the eyes along one of the intersection points of the grid.
Action Photography: Try positioning the moving subject at one of the intersection points and leave space in the frame in the direction of movement. This can help to enhance the sense of motion.
Macro Photography: Align your subject with one of the intersection points. This helps to create balance and draws attention to specific areas.
How can you use the Rule of Thirds when editing photographs?
These days, photographers and videographers have the benefit of powerful software and easy-to-understand guides, which can make the editing process a simple way to enhance images. Of course, how much editing you want to do will depend on your style. For example, some photographers believe an image shouldn’t be tampered with post-capture.
However, if you do want to use the rule of thirds grid during the editing process, this is easy to achieve. To do this, you should experiment with cropping and reframing your image to adhere to the principles. To make this even easier, you could add a temporary set of gridlines over the image to help you position your subjects correctly.
The great thing about this is that you can also learn about how an image would have looked during the capture stage if you’d adhered to the rule of thirds. Then, you can take this knowledge into your next session.
Whether you’re an amateur looking to learn new skills or a seasoned professional seeking to refine your craft, the rule of thirds is an invaluable tool that will undoubtedly have an impact on your work.
