Lens-Artists Challenge – Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds, as Tina explains on her challenge this week is one of the most well-known and used rules in photography. Tina mentions that, as rules are concerned, this one is also meant to be broken. In my view, the rule of thirds is the one that is more innate to the photographer’s eye. In general terms it’s done as something that makes sense when composing the shot in order to achieve a pleasant image.

I’ll share a few examples where I’ve used this rule to compose my photo. Just use the slider to see the photo and then with the guidelines superimposed. This will give you a better idea of where the subjects are in relation to the grid.

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Firstly, we have a shot of waterlilies that has been cropped in Lightroom. The guidelines there helped me to achieve a balanced photo of two waterlilies, but the work was already done when I took the shot.

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The next photo is as it was taken. I don’t have guidelines while shooting so this was all down to my eye. It looked the right composition for this subject and as the later added guidelines show, I wasn’t far off.

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Finally, a lucky shot. I clicked several times in the hope of getting a good one with a bee. I had to later zoom in and crop in Lightroom and I specifically positioned my bee on the intersecting grid lines. The rule was followed to a T, and it works.

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However, does it always have to be spot on? Once they’re understood, rules can be bent or even completely ignored. I find photographing flowers the best way to practice respecting and then disrespecting this rule.

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Tina invites us to share how we view and work (or not) with the Rule of Thirds. We are looking forward to your views on this theme this week. Please make sure you link to Tina’s absolutely brilliant post and tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you. Last week we had plenty of laughs with our Guest Host and we thank JohnRH for such an original challenge. Next week is Patti’s turn to challenge us. Until then, take care.

Posted for Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge