Rule of thirds: Am i doing this wrong?

[RealisticRadical]

I'm in college for photography, and one of my assignments is to take a personal photo using the rule of thirds; which sounds easy, unless you don't really fully understand the rule of thirds.


Whenever i take a photo, and try to follow this rule, it always looks worse than i thought it would be. I just want to make sure i'm doing the rule of thirds correctly. Can someone help?


 

[Godlygamer23]

The principle of rule of thirds is basic but executing it might be difficult.

[Sauron]

I'm not an expert, but I think moving the shot a bit to the right would have helped. That's a nice shot anyway though

[RealisticRadical]

The principle of rule of thirds is basic but executing it might be difficult.

It sounds very simple, but i cannot execute, or even see if i am correctly. 

[Emanuel_M]

I'm in college for photography, and one of my assignments is to take a personal photo using the rule of thirds; which sounds easy, unless you don't really fully understand the rule of thirds.

Whenever i take a photo, and try to follow this rule, it always looks worse than i thought it would be. I just want to make sure i'm doing the rule of thirds correctly. Can someone help?

are you trying to get rule of thirds with the road to the left, or the sunlight at the left, becuase that will work. The picture just needs to get moved to the right more.

[FatPenguin]

maybe a bit more lighting to make the photo more clear

[Captain_Slow]

there is no such thing as "doing it wrong"

 

rule of thirds, and other compositional theories are a simple guideline to what you might want to watch out for, truth is plenty of photos work that don't follow any compositional theories to the letter. 

 

in fact I find it harmful when people blindly follow compositional theories and they lose all creativity. 

[Enderman]

 

your picture is a bit off because if you draw a vertical line in the break of trees right above the road you will notice its cutting the picture into quarters not thirds

if you move the camera a bit to the right you should have thirds

 

the sun throws you off a little, since that will not fit with the lines when dividing the image into thirds

[SeanAngelo]

just position an object or something where the lines cross with each other. Example ^

[ALwin]

You seem to have a pretty good grasp of the concept of Rule of Thirds though it is still a bit off, however... your photo is CRAP!!!

 

Were you shooting at high ISO or with a phone/cheap point-n-shoot? Focus is off, the image is soft and unclear primary subject matter. Not to mention that it is completely messy.

[RealisticRadical]

are you trying to get rule of thirds with the road to the left, or the sunlight at the left, becuase that will work. The picture just needs to get moved to the right more.

Precisely! I thought perhaps i should, even while i was taking the photo, but i was in a uncomfortable spot; i'll have to go back later today, and take it again.

 

maybe a bit more lighting to make the photo more clear

I was messing with the brightness, and aperture, so i think that's why photo is a tad bit to dark. TBH i think the colors look better when the picture is slightly darker.

 

 

your picture is a bit off because if you draw a vertical line in the break of trees right above the road you will notice its cutting the picture into quarters not thirds

if you move the camera a bit to the right you should have thirds

 

the sun throws you off a little, since that will not fit with the lines when dividing the image into thirds

Yep, you're totally right. That's what i was trying to fit in the picture, and it was hard finding a branch that would shine light through, so i had to move around a little. Thanks very much for the Image, and the help!  

 

there is no such thing as "doing it wrong"

 

rule of thirds, and other compositional theories are a simple guideline to what you might want to watch out for, truth is plenty of photos work that don't follow any compositional theories to the letter. 

 

in fact I find it harmful when people blindly follow compositional theories and they lose all creativity. 

I do to tbh, i didn't think there should be rules, as that's something the individual creates when they discover their style. My professor really wants me learn about this though.

[ALwin]

The best way to actually practice rule of thirds is by doing portraits.

[RealisticRadical]

You seem to have a pretty good grasp of the concept of Rule of Thirds though it is still a bit off, however... your photo is CRAP!!!

 

Were you shooting at high ISO or with a phone/cheap point-n-shoot? Focus is off, the image is soft and what is your primary subject matter?

It's not suppose to be a good image, but an example to see if i'm getting the idea right. My iso was crazy high, and brightness low. I'm shooting with a cannon t3 rebel, which isn't a great camera. There is subject matter, it's just an example; not suppose to be a good picture.

[cortexcortex]

your cam isn't that good..

[ALwin]

your cam isn't that good..

 

It's not suppose to be a good image, but an example to see if i'm getting the idea right. My iso was crazy high, and brightness low. I'm shooting with a cannon t3 rebel, which isn't a great camera. There is subject matter, it's just an example; not suppose to be a good picture.

 

Don't blame the camera, the Canon T3i/600D is a good camera. Blaming the camera is like bad cooks blaming the pots and pans for their horrible cooking.

 

The main thing is I guess you are still learning as a photographer.  Switch your camera settings to let you choose the focus point you want to use.  Don't let the camera decide what it wants to focus on.  There are 9 focus points on your camera, manually select the one you want to use, for example of your subject is to the left side of the frame use the left side focus point and frame your composition accordingly.

 

Also know that with low-mid range cameras like the T3i which have few focus points, the most accurate focus point will be the center one which will be cross type, the rest will be line types.  So what you can do is stick to using the center focus point, half press the shutter to lock focus and recompose the scene.

 

The T3i may let you use up to 12800 ISO with boost, but I advise you never to go above ISO 1600 and keep to the base ISO (for the T3i it is ISO 100) as often as possible.

 

If you are using a kit lens, never reduce your aperture to anything smaller than f/11.  Anything smaller than f/11 will cause diffraction to become worse.  Most lenses tend to have a sweet zone for aperture between f/4-f/11 depending on the quality of the lens.  Wider apertures can cause the image to be soft but still be usable if you are going for the blurred background beautiful bokeh effect, very small apertures will mean increased diffraction and will actually cause the image to lose sharpness.

 

 

Also, shutter speed: With hand held shooting, obviously the faster the shutter speed the better it is for captured images to be stable.  But even if the camera has built in image stabilization anything slower than 1/100th of a second is not recommended, you should use a tripod or monopod or place the camera on a solid stable surface.  However if you don't have any of those nearby, there is a way you can hold the camera to improve stability.

 

Stand with your feet either together or just a few inches apart. hold the camera up to your face with the viewfinder at eye level as you normally would (I don't recommend using the LCD live view option) but keep your upper arms tight against your torso and hold your breath just before the moment you press the shutter button fully.  Most people tend to spread their arms away from their torso to the sides or lean forward, that is not a good way to hold a camera.

[ALwin]

Learn from Joe McNally, he is one of the best and he explains it best how to hold a camera.

[ALwin]

snip

 

Here's a video by Joe McNally on rule of thirds, hope you find it helpful.

 

[.spider.]

What do you think about the diagonal method?

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6426089447/compositional-rules

[ALwin]

What do you think about the diagonal method?

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6426089447/compositional-rules

 

I use it sometimes, but for taking portraits of people you do have to tell them how to pose.  Otherwise if they are standing straight it doesn't work.  But more often I get it accidentally than deliberately.

 

All of these rules depend on how you want your final product to look.

 

Here's an old photo where I am using a diagonal method.

The Girl with the Pathein Htee by Aung Lwin, on Flickr

[ALwin]

I was messing with the brightness, and aperture, so i think that's why photo is a tad bit to dark. TBH i think the colors look better when the picture is slightly darker.

 

Yep, you're totally right. That's what i was trying to fit in the picture, and it was hard finding a branch that would shine light through, so i had to move around a little. Thanks very much for the Image, and the help!  

 

I do to tbh, i didn't think there should be rules, as that's something the individual creates when they discover their style. My professor really wants me learn about this though.

 

That's a problem with your photo I pointed out earlier "the image is soft and unclear primary subject matter. Not to mention that it is completely messy."  It's a complete mess that the viewer can't tell what you are trying to focus on, the sun or the road.

 

As for rules, you may not like them or believe they should exist, however these rules exist for a reason.  For a complete beginner like yourself who has not yet mastered the skills or gained the experience to be disregarding them, your professor is correct in making you learn them.

[Scruffy90]

Keep in mind that the rule of thirds could also be broken and there are other framing techniques such as the fibonacci circle. In this case, I think the fibonacci circle would work better than the rule of thirds because it would be easier to frame the curve in the road.

[ALwin]

Keep in mind that the rule of thirds could also be broken and there are other framing techniques such as the fibonacci circle. In this case, I think the fibonacci circle would work better than the rule of thirds because it would be easier to frame the curve in the road.

 

If you took the time to read, you will realize he is trying to learn how to properly use the rule of thirds for his photography course.  Also his subject of focus was the sun, not the road.

[Scruffy90]

If you took the time to read, you will realize he is trying to learn how to properly use the rule of thirds for his photography course.  Also his subject of focus was the sun, not the road.

Sorry. Long day.

[RealisticRadical]

That's a problem with your photo I pointed out earlier "the image is soft and unclear primary subject matter. Not to mention that it is completely messy."  It's a complete mess that the viewer can't tell what you are trying to focus on, the sun or the road.

 

As for rules, you may not like them or believe they should exist, however these rules exist for a reason.  For a complete beginner like yourself who has not yet mastered the skills or gained the experience to be disregarding them, your professor is correct in making you learn them.

Did i fix any of the problems with this picture, or even execute the rule of thirds correctly?

[ALwin]

It's an improvement, keep practicing.