DIY Network

Photo Composition and the Rule of Thirds From "The Whole Picture" episode DTWP-103

Professional photographer Erin Manning, host of DIY's The Whole Picture, provides some principles and tips that will help you get better results when photographing children. She covers composition basics, use of white-balance and how to digitally manipulate your digital photos after-the-fact. In this section, she provides a information on a useful principle of photographic composition: the rule of thirds.

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Many people make the mistake of placing their subjects smack in the center of the frame (figure A) -- not giving much thought to the surroundings. According to Erin, always centering a human subject is useful for "passport pictures and driver's license photos," but it can make for boring photographs. Often it's far more interesting to frame your shot so that the subject is on one side or the other (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

Figure F

It's easy to fall into that trap. Many viewfinders even have an "x" or "+" in the middle of the screen (figure C) to guide you as to where the center of the frame is.

On a digital camera, it may possible to turn the "x" function of. That may be helpful in lessening the tempatationso to center everything.

Think of your frame as a grid or tic-tac-toe board with two vertical and two horizontal lines. When taking pictures, divide the frame into thirds . Rather than placing your subject in the center square (figure D), try to place your subject where the lines intersect (figure E). This will give your picture better framing.

Figure D

Figure E

	Turn off the "x" on your digital camera's viewfinder so you won't be tempted to simply center your subject in the frame each time.
	Using the rule of thirds will make for photographs that are more visually interesting.

Using the rule of thirds will make your photos come to life. Not only will it help them be more interesting, but it'll also allow you to tell more of the picture's story. The rule of thirds gives you the luxury to allow the background or foreground into the picture to give the viewer more information.

In our example shooting kids tossing a baseball, don't forget that the picture isn't about the ball. It's about the kids in action.

RESOURCES :

PC Photo magazine
Website: www.pcphotomag.com
Online version of the magazine devoted to digital photography and related technologies.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography
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Complete Digital Photography
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