My 52 Week Photography Challenge Week 2

Use The Rule-of-Thirds in Photography

For this weeks photography challenge the Rule-of-Thirds is illustrated in a way to help you understand and put into practice one of the most basic rules of photography composition. The idea is to place subjects in your images in a way that is pleasing for the viewer. Using the grid lines and intersections of the Rule-of-Thirds as your guide is a great way to do that and get better compositions in your images.

What is The Rule-of-Thirds

Imagine a grid three columns by three rows, like a Tic-Tac-Toe or Naughts and Crosses grid, laid out on your image and dividing it into thirds. Photos become much more interesting when objects are placed on these lines and on or near where the lines intersect. One of the easiest and most common ways to make your pictures more boring is to place subjects and horizons dead center. Aligning them on the grid helps you avoid that common mistake. With practice the Rule-of-Thirds becomes second nature and can be applied in everything from portraits to landscapes.

The Rule-of-Thirds in Portraits

I had a portrait idea using a chain link fence to lead through the picture to a subject placed in the right third of the image. In this photo I am aligned with the right vertical line of the grid and my eyes are near the top right intersection of the grid lines. Placing the subject this way leaves a comfortable distance from the top and right edges of the picture for a more pleasing composition. The natural movement of your eye is from left to right. With your subject placed to the right the viewers eye moves naturally from left to right following the fence to the main subject. Nice smooth flow is what I'm after in a pleasing composition and the Rule-of-Thirds is very useful for that. Keep in mind it isn't necessary to place your subject exactly on lines or intersections; nearby is fine too. Use the grid as your guide for placement.

How I Shot This Image

To make this image I mounted the Canon 6D on a tripod with a single flash gun on a light stand positioned to camera right just out of frame. I focused the camera on the fence tubing connector then moved the lens autofocus switch to manual and set the camera timer to 10 seconds. With camera settings of ISO 100 and an aperture of F/4 the shutter speed was 1/4000 second. With such a fast shutter speed I set high-speed sync on the flash gun so the flash would fire at the proper time with the camera shutter.

The day was 27 °F and with a bit of wind. I wanted the cold to show in the picture so the white balance is set to 4700 K to give the background a cold, blue look. To ensure I looked warmer than the background a Rosco 1/2 CTO gel was placed on the flash gun. That warming effect brings a lot to the photo. This is exactly the image I had in mind and has become one of my favorite portraits.

Show Motion in an Image Using The Rule-of-Thirds

To show motion in this image I placed the subject to the left, moving left to right, and on the left vertical line; almost standing on the lower left grid intersection. Placing your subject this way follows the natural left to right movement of the human eye and leaves empty space to the right for the subject to walk into. It's a great way to emphasize movement in pictures and is more interesting than having the subject centered in the photo. Showing motion using the Rule-of-Thirds this way works well whether photographing people, cars or ocean waves.

How I Shot This Photo

A Canon 6D was mounted on a tripod and pre-focused at the distance I wanted to be and the lens AF switch was set to manual to keep the focus at that distance. Shutter speed was 1/4000 second at F/4 aperture and ISO 100 with high-speed sync set on the flash gun. By the time I was ready for this photo the sun had come out and probably would overpower the flash throwing my face into deep shadow. To counter that I simply handheld the flash with a 1/2 CTO gel in place and dialed in -3 stops of flash exposure compensation on the camera. The camera timer was set to ten seconds. It took a few tries to be where I wanted to in the photo but it turned out pretty well. My position and posture in the frame does a nice job of showing motion with a direction to the right moving toward the negative space of the snow covered sports field.

The Rule-of-Thirds in Landscape Photography

Applying the Rule-of-Thirds in landscape photography can help you practice better composition for more interesting landscape photographs. In this photo, while photographing the bridge from the banks of a frozen Missouri River, I heard the distant wail of a locomotive horn. While waiting for the approaching train I composed my image. The composition is framed to place colorful reeds in the bottom left third of the image while lines in the ice lead to the bridge in the upper third. Watching and waiting I snapped the camera shutter just as the train approached the right side intersection of the Rule-of-Thirds grid leaving enough space on the right to show motion in that direction. Making the picture earlier would have left too much empty space to the right diminishing the movement and direction of the train while allowing it too far to the right can create a confined feeling in the image. Almost to that intersection is just about right.

Placing landscape objects along grid lines and intersections brings interest to your compositions. You can place foreground objects, textures, colors or contrasting light at the intersections or use lines in the landscape to lead from one intersection to another drawing the viewers eye very comfortably through the image. You want the image composition to flow smoothly and using the Rule-of-Thirds makes it easier to visualize the flow.

How I Shot This Image

I shot this image with the Canon 6D mounted on a tripod using a shutter speed of 1/40 second at an aperture of F/10 and ISO 100. All of the images in this post were made with the Canon EF17-40mm and in this one the focal length was 21mm. This is my go to lens for most subjects and because I shoot it so much I've learned I can reliably set focus at the infinity mark and get good depth-of-field in landscape images. Shoot with the same lens regularly and you learn how to make the best use of it with your equipment. You learn what works and what does not which gives your confidence and inspiration a boost.

Week 2 of my 52 week photography challenge using the Rule-of-Thirds has been a lot of fun and good practice. You can put the Rule-of-Thirds to use in all kinds of ways and I hope it inspires you to go and create some great photographs and do more of what you love. If you have questions or comments feel free to drop me an Email or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for reading!

Published by Ben 2020-02-16