Rule of thirds: Am i doing this wrong?

[ALwin]

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

 

Ok I'm on a short break at work now, let me give you an exercise technique that will improve both your utilization of rule of thirds and portraiture.

 

1. Utilize KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) . I am not calling you stupid, this is simply the expression I use, even for myself when I am stuck.

 

2. Get a friend to pose for you

 

3. Use a simple background, such as the plain looking wall of a building.  Have your friend stand in front of it, leaning against it, whatever.  Don't distract yourself with noisy backgrounds.

 

4. Set your camera to the following

• Set your camera to only use the center focus point.
• There should be a setting in your camera that turns on a grid or guideline in the viewfinder. Not sure if your camera shows the grid in thirds or fourths, but it will help.
• Use Aperture priority mode, on Canon I believe that is AV.  Set the aperture to something between f/4-f/8
• Use an ISO value between 100-400, depending on the conditions of the ambient light.
• Check to make sure that the combination of aperture value and ISO gives you an automatic shutter speed at least 1/100, if it doesn't, widen your aperture or increase your ISO, but not by full stops.  Use 1/3 stop increments.
• If you are using the kit lens (18-55mm lens), set your zoom to about 50-55mm. And stand just a short distance (i.e. a few feet) from your friend.

5. If your friend is looking straight at you, aim the center focus point at one of his/her eyes, half press the shutter and while holding it half pressed move your camera sideways to recompose the shot.  If your friend is looking at you at an angle, focus on the eye nearest to you.  When you recompose, if your friend is looking straight at you, put the point between his/her two eyes at one of the 4 points where the Rule of Thirds lines intersect.  If your friend is looking at you at an angle, put the nearest eye at one of the points.  If the in-camera grid isn't set for thirds, just use your judgement to estimate where one of the points should be.  See the attached quote for where the lines intersect.

 

6. Don't include your friend's full body in the frame, by following the KISS method, keep it above the shoulder line.  You want to start off with simple things.  When you recompose your frame after half pressing the shutter button make sure you don't move the camera forward or backward otherwise it will change the focal plane.

 

7. Once you have the frame composed the way you want, fully press the shutter button.  But never let go of it while it is half pressed, else the AF will cause the lens to refocus.

 

8. And keep doing this over and over again, always adjusting the composition slightly.  Don't delete photos you don't like, they will help you do a self assessment when you compare all the photos on your computer later.

 

When you do portraits of individuals, and not group photos, the most important element to have in focus and sharp is always the eyes.  It doesn't matter if everything else is soft or blurred or out of focus.  As long as the eyes are in focus and sharp.  And if your subject's eyes are staring at you dead center, even if their head is turned sideways or at any angle, when you look at the photo and move around it will appear as if their eyes are following you.

 

Essentially what I am trying to get you to do is something like this image, to use as an example.  Of course your photos will not look exactly like this.

 

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