The Rule of Thirds

Mastering the technical aspects of your camera is one thing. Taking a great looking photo is another. Fortunately a little knowledge of composition will get you a long way towards taking more interesting photos.

One simple and hugely effective composition principle is called the Rule of Thirds. Images that are divided into thirds are nicer to look at than photos which are divided into halves or quarters.

The rule of thirds means dividing your frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, like this:

This can be applied to photos taken in both landscape and portrait orientation.

You don’t have to have three thirds, dividing the frame into a top third and a bottom two thirds also works really well.

Additionally, placing important elements of your photo across the dividing lines works well too.

In this photo, you can see that the horizon is placed along the top third line, and also that the boat is where a horizontal and vertical third line cross. This is a great way to use the rule of thirds.

The rule of thirds works really will when taking photos of landscapes. By placing the horizon on the top of bottom third line will generally look more interesting that placing it right in the middle of the photo.