The Rule of Thirds

A quick and easy tip to make your pictures better:

This is one of the first things to learn for anyone wanting their pictures to look a bit better than the usual snaps, and it takes almost no effort. All you do is stick the subject a third of the way to an edge. Preferably, a third of the way from the top or the bottom, and a third of the way from the left or right side.

That’s it. All there is to it. The only difficult part is fighting the temptation to put the subject right in the middle, but if it’s a third of the way across or down the picture, it will usually look better.

I’ll let some other sites take it from here - check out the examples on some of these sites, and you’ll see what I mean…

• The Rule of Thirds at DIY Photography - probably the clearest explanation - nice simple diagrams to show you what the rule is and how to apply it. Thanks to the anonymous commenter for letting me know about it.
• CameraHobby - a nice example of applying the rule to ifflandscapes.
• Cody’s Science - which picture do you prefer?
• Silverlight - for people, apply the rule to the eyes.

I can vouch for the effectiveness of this in improving the quality of your shots. Just a few small pointers like this can make a tremendous difference in photo quality. Framing is another technique I frequently use.