Rule of Thirds

I've found the most useful in getting better landscapes. "Guidelines" would be a better description, as they shouldn't be seen as hard and fast.


Use them as starting points:





Probably the most basic of photography composition rule, this states that if you mentally divide a picture into vertical and horizontal thirds, like a noughts-and-crosses board, the principal subject will always attract the most attention if it is at the intersection of two of these lines, and the result will almost invariably be more pleasing than if it is dead central.

Why? No one knows - but it works.

In practice, unless your camera comes with a viewfinder screen that has been divided into nine rectangles (unlikely), you'll probably be a little off in mentally determining the intersection points. But your judgement will get better with practice.

David B Flynn.