Rule of thirds

[Ashby 0]

I fugured I would try to go by the rule of thirds on a photo to see if I could get close to the rule. Please give any advice, tips or comments to help me of let me know if I'm on the right track. Wulff, your input would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Ashby

 

[kargen 0]

The rule of thirds is one part (a primary part) of the Gestalt theory. The theory as a whole deals with flow. Where do the eyes enter the photograph (or other artwork) where they next move and so on. The rule of thirds is used as the guideline of where to position things. Your photo is divided into three equal parts vertically and horizontally and you should try put the area of interest where a horizontal and verticle line crosses.

With the tall object (flower stems) placing the flowers petals on the upper horizontal line makes sense. Whether to place on the left side or right side could be decided some by the boundries and any curves in the photograph. If you had put the flowers on the right would the background and open area to the left be less distracting than the background and open area to the right in this photo?

 

The lamp post in the background is kind of distracting, but the light object off to the right isn't as distracting. The eyes will tend to drift to that lighter area, but because of the curve shape we are brought back towards the flowers instead of going out of the photo.

 

If your subject were a flying bird or something else that was moving the rule of thirds would give your bird room to fly. You would have the bird on the right third of the photo if he is flying left.

 

Focus, shape, color, lightness darkness and other things all play a part in Gestalt theory, and a lot of books have been written about it. Some eve tried to find a formula to make the rule of thirds more precise, but I think what my Gestalt instructor told us in class sums everything up very well.

 

We should be aware of the rules so we know when to not apply them.

 

For your photograph I think you did well as far as the rule of thirds goes. Other than the lamppost everything in the photo seems to drag the eyes towards the subject.

 

Personally I think the three little buds off to the right help balance the photo as the only thing in focus on that side of the photo. I also like the orange leaf drawing attention from all that green.

[Wulff 0]

Great answer Kargen.

 

Ashby there a number of things to consider when going for a tecnically correct composition. Starting with placement using RoT, movement, light, bckground elemens etc. All of it has to do wih how the human eye tends to perceive things and including as Kargen said the tendancy to move towards lighter/brighter things and more contrasty things

 

A classic type of shot would be of a forest path. Where does it "enter" the frame and where is it taking us.

 

As Kargen noted already and I'll repeat, if your subject is moving left to right you almost always want the subject moving into the frame towards center, not out of the frame for example.

 

The only thing Id add to Kargens great answer is a bit about the "distracting" elements and your image. I think the picture is fine so dont take this wrong. The lamp post and rock I find pretty distracting. Meaning once my eyes have seen the flowers they jumped first to the light shape on the right and then to the lamppost. Even now having looked at your image 3 or 4 times once the flowers "register" Im drawn to the rock.

 

Sometimes (usually) you can recompose to reduce or elimiate distracting elmenents, and sometimes you can treat them in PP by removing or just educing their impact with targeted adjustments. Darkening the rock ( make a selection and then adjust with levels, curves or highlights/shadows) would likely make it less "attention grabbing".

 

Just remember Rules are guidleines not gospel but they help alot.

Landscape shooting isnt a strength of mine I dabbe in it but when you add "achors" and a number of other terms I tend not worry too much about technically correct photos an just think about the thirds and look for "distrations".

[Ashby 0]

You guys rock! After reading both of your replies, my wife and I tooked at the pic again. Once everything is pointed out (lamp post, rock, brown leaf, group of three buds) it all just hits you in the face. In the case of the lamp post, it was either that or the green storage shack to the left of the flower. All in all, thank you very much for your input. That gives me more tools for my tool belt. Knowing now that there is more to the rule of thirds than just applying the rule, but also to look for the distracting elements to keep to a minimum in the photo. Thanks again guys.

 

Ashby