Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds originally bases on a mathematic relation and is also called the golden cut.

For those who are interested in the technical explanation:

A distance/drift (S) is divited into 2 parts, (A) and (B), where (A) is smaller than (B).

The distance is separated within the golden cut, if the relation between (B) to (A) is the same as the relation between (S) to (B).

a / s = [3 - sqrt(5)] / 2 = 0.381966... which means: About a third.

And here a simple explanation:

Draw lines on your photo to separate the width and length into thirds.

Place your main and secondary objects on the or close to the crossings of that lines.

Of course it's the best to consider this rule while making your shot!

If you want to experiment with some of your shots and see the difference, create a copy and "re-crop" them to see how your photo changes. (Please be aware that the results might be in a poor quality, depending on your basic file's resolution - but i guess it will be sufficient to learn.)

Before:

After:

There will be a photoproject exercise regarding the topic from
November 15th up to November 30th 2006.

Click here, to enter the project! (http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/channel/57)

EXTERNAL LINKS:

Rule of thirds in wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds)

Back to photographical knowledgebase (http://www.fotocommunity.com/info/General_introduction)