Tips & Technique
How to Take Better Photos
Rule of thirds: figure placed in the lower-right third creates forward movement
Composition
The Rule of Thirds
Good photos are any that you want to look at, but there are some features that all good photos share beyond personal involvement. Composition, lighting, line and contrast can be adjusted to make a photo more pleasant to view.
The rule of thirds is not really a rule, just a suggestion. Notice that in a well-composed photo two thirds of the horizontal space might be silhouetted trees and the top two thirds of the vertical space is trees. A walking figure in the bottom right third gives a sense of moving forward, in spite of this being a fixed image. If the figure had been placed dead center there would be no forward sense.
Composing with the rule of thirds lets a photo tell a story and keeps it from being static.
Balanced vs. Unbalanced Composition
Unbalanced composition is not good for all images. Some can be symmetrically balanced and still be pleasing. Just take care to not have the horizon line split the picture 50/50 — usually a landscape is a sky photo or a land photo, with 1/3 being sky or land and vice versa.
In a photo where a bit of sky extends across the top, it would be in the upper third, with the land and trees taking the bottom third.
Contrast & Lighting
The contrast of dark tree trunks with a lighter background helps add interest. If a shot is taken on a cloudy day the light will be flat and less interesting. However, a diagonal line of a path leading away would still work to make the image interesting.
Diagonal lines make for movement in a photo, whereas right angle lines add stability.
Trust Your Eye
In a photo the figure is not exactly on the line where the thirds cross — it is fudged a bit even more off center. That kind of photo has its own appeal, but that is why the rule of thirds is not a rule. Just find where the frame you are putting around a scene looks the best.
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