Introduction To Photography: Topic 3 - The Rule of Thirds

Introduction to Photography
Topic 3 - The Rule of Thirds
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this section, you will have a good grounding in how to compose your
photograph by following the rule known as the rule of thirds.
Of course, like all rules, it is there to be broken but always make sure that you have a
very good reason for doing so. The great thing about this rule is that it is a simple
way to improve the composition of your shot and it is generally a safe bet if you are
unsure of how you want to frame your subject or the landscape in your scene.
Let us take a look at the basic composition of a photograph I took in late Autumn at
a race car event.
You will immediately notice that the there is a grid of nine squares evenly distributed
over the photograph. There are two horizontal lines going across the image and two
vertical lines running from top to bottom. The key goal here is to ensure that your
point of interest occurs at these intersecting lines. At a very basic level, you might
say that I succeeded with what I intended to do in that I captured the young woman
standing on the back of the truck.
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It’s not perfect, by any means, but it is a good starting example of how to get the
right balance in your photography. With this technique, your main interest will often
be thrown slightly left or right off the centre of the image. In this case, the lady
photographed is off to the left of the photograph. I could have improved the
compositional balance of the photograph if I had positioned the line of the crowd to
meet the lower right hand side line. This is why I mentioned in earlier videos that it is
always good to take as many photographs as you can. Then, you can pick which one
suits best.
With portraiture photography, the line of interest is generally in line with the eyes so
that the horizontal line meets the vertical line. This portrait photograph of a friend of
mine, Ryan, should give you all great hope if you’re new to portraiture photography. It
was the first time I worked on staged photography and it was also my first attempt
at following this compositional guideline. You are immediately drawn to Ryan’s eyes,
as they are the main point of interest in this photograph. In a sense, the eyes are the
story. We are curious to know what he is looking at and what he is reflecting on as he
is obviously deep in thought.
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This technique is very useful when taking landscape photography. Again, we have
action along the periphery of each line. It may not be perfect, but there is nice
balance in this photograph. The first horizontal line threads the border of the
mountain tops and the skyline clouds. The lower line intersects with the right sided
vertical line drawing your attention to the little cottage at the bottom of the valley.
These lines are subtly telling us where to look and, unbeknownst to ourselves, our
eyes are being directed to certain sections in the scene, namely the cottage and the
skyline.
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The great thing about the thirds technique refers to the potential to create lines from
objects or lines that occur naturally within the frame. This can come in the shape of
a tree, a wall or even a stop sign on the side of the road. The important thing is
having the creative vision to see these opportunities within your frame and utilising
them as you see fit. As you can see from this comparison sequence of the same
image, the photograph is lined using the objects within the scene, particularly that
second pole that runs along the right-hand side vertical line. The photograph
maintains balance by running the skyline of the nearby town almost on that lower
line, filling up the otherwise blank left hand side of the photograph. Here, the
photographer just does enough to keep us interested, primarily due to the clever
lining of the second closest pole on the deck. This pole acts as the anchor for the
entire scene and our eyes move from this point downwards and left of the frame. A
strong photograph will know where it wants you to look, giving you very little option
on where you should set your gaze.
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What have we learned today? A Summary
We’ve learned that the ‘Rule of Thirds’ is composed of a grid of nine squares and the
goal is to ensure that your point of interest occurs at these intersecting lines. We’ve
also learned that you can create lines yourself from objects or lines that occur
naturally within the frame, especially when shooting architectural or landscape
photography. A strong photograph will know where it wants you to look and it will
force your eyes to a certain part of the scene.
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Topic 3 - The Rule of Thirds

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