School of Design – Photography Tips and Tricks 1
Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; Informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly (plus two bonus classes to kick things off), and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned!
Mondays: The Theory of Color – Arielle Gordon
Tuesdays: Making Templates Your Own – Crystal Livesay
Wednesdays: Creative Clustering – Mye De Leon
Thursdays: The Grammarian’s Guide to Great Journaling – Audrey Neal
Fridays: Inspiration Everywhere – Mary Rogers
Saturdays: Brushes 101 – Jen Flaherty
Sundays: Photography: Tips & Tricks – Jennifer Valencia
Hello, digiscrap friends, it’s Jennifer Valencia here to talk about photography! Whether you’re a photography novice or an expert, it’s always fun and useful to review basic concepts. I’ve been shooting for years, and I love reading good articles about photographic composition — even if I “know” the rules, seeing fresh new examples helps spark new, creative ideas for me.
Composition “rules” were developed as people studied why certain photographs (and other works of art) were striking and eye-catching; by using some of these rules you can often improve your photography. For the next few weeks, I’ll focus on more rules of composition and also black/white photo conversion.
Below I’ve selected some of my own favorite photography work that illustrates the Rule of Thirds.
The Rule of Thirds
Basic: Off-center subject = photo that is pleasing and dynamic to the human eye. Don’t put your subject smack dab in the center of the frame!
Rule of Thirds grid - locate subject along lines or intersection points
Details: Imagine that your picture is divided into thirds with lines, both horizontally and vertically. Place your main subject along one of the lines or intersection points for an interesting photo. You can also just shift your view so the main subject is slightly off-center.
Rule Of Thirds for off-center main subject
Horizons: Don’t automatically put your horizon right in the middle of the picture. Photos can look more dynamic if you locate the horizon line at the upper 1/3 or lower 1/3 of the photo. Before you snap, test it out and decide where it looks best.
Use Rule Of Thirds to locate horizon line
Rule of Thirds for horizon and main subject
Horizon is not located in the middle of the picture
Rule Of Thirds for horizon; off-center main subject
Horizon not located at half-way point of photo
Horizon not located In center of photo
Rule of Thirds for Portraits: Try to fill the frame with a person’s head, shoulders, torso; locate the face and eyes at the 1/3 point. I automatically do this for snapshots unless I’m going for a full-body shot, head-shot, or something else. But my basic “go to” shot for quick grabs always uses the rule of thirds to locate the face and eyes.
Using the Rule of Thirds to locate face and eyes in a portrait
Rule of Thirds to locate face and eyes
Rule of Thirds to locate face and eyes
Rule of Thirds to locate face and eyes
Rule of Thirds to locate face and eyes
Rule of Thirds for main subject
Rule of Thirds To locate main subject
Rule of Thirds used to locate face of main subject
Landscape and large scenes: Try to locate a main point of interest or a broad horizontal line in the portrait at a 1/3 point. You can also use leading lines to help guide a viewer’s eye through the photograph. (Leading lines are strong horizontal, vertical, diagonal or wavy lines that grab attention and pull the eye through a photo.)
Use Rule of Thirds to locate main points; Leading lines draw the eye
Rule of Thirds used to locate horizontal bands of color and shape
Horizon is not right in the center of the photo
Visual center of main subject (tree) off-center
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds for Close-ups: Sometimes an object looks better centered. But often it will look better off-center. Remember to test it out both ways before deciding!
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds for Off-Center Subject
Exceptions: If it looks better in the center, then leave it right there! Sometimes a centered image IS exactly what you need. You be the judge – test it both ways before deciding. Keep in mind that all rules are made to be broken, and that these are just starting points. You are always going to be the final judge on what makes a photograph meaningful and beautiful to YOU.
Sometimes a Centered Image is Needed
More Background: Where did the Rule of Thirds come from? It’s derived from The Golden Mean / Golden Rectangle. As far back as the ancient Greeks, artists and architects have used the Golden Mean in their work when designing. A golden rectangle is one whose length and height are related by phi, 1.618. Because this number occurs frequently in nature, it’s believed that people emulated it in art in order to represent the beauty and perfection that can arise in nature, or that people naturally LIKE things that have the golden ratio because subconsciously they appreciate this ratio which can often indicate the best possible natural scenario. Many scholars believe that the Parthenon in Greece was designed using 1.618 — the length and height are related in equation with 1.618. Leonardo da Vinci used the Golden Ratio extensively in his art, as did many other artists.
In the diagram below, I’ve shown Rule of Thirds lines in red. The golden mean lines are drawn in black. You can see that they are slightly different. If you google “golden mean photography” you can find many examples where people have overlaid the golden mean spiral over a photograph to show how it perfectly follows the golden mean design. However, for most photographic work, “off-center” is a perfectly fine approximation of either rule.
Share: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the samples of my work that I’ve shared here with you. Please share a link to a photo YOU took that uses the Rule of Thirds (or off-center subject placement). You can also link us to a photo that works better centered. I always love to see your work, too!
