Tuesday, November 20, 2018

A Brief Introduction to the Rule of Thirds in Photography




Kandi Derry Digiovanni holds a bachelor’s degree in athletic training and a master’s degree in counseling from Kean University. She leverages her educational background to help clients achieve psychiatric stability, sobriety, and self-sufficiency as a care coordinator for the National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Outside of work, Kandi Derry Digiovanni enjoys photography.

One of the most basic composition guidelines in photography is the rule of thirds. According to this guideline, images are made up of nine parts that are created by breaking an image into thirds vertically and horizontally. When these parts are created, four points are also created where the horizontal and vertical lines meet. Points of interest should always be placed either along one of the lines that divide the image, or at one of the four intersections to create an image that is more appealing and natural to viewers.

The main goal of the rule of thirds is to introduce off-centered photography to beginners. As photographers improve, they will likely ignore the rule of thirds more often and focus on taking off-center photographs that don’t perfectly line up with the imaginary grid created by the rule of thirds. Furthermore, this guideline must be ignored with certain photography, such as headshot photography. With headshot pictures, the subject is supposed to be centered in the frame. Because of this, the rule of thirds cannot be followed since it promotes off-centered images and points of interest.