PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY.com

Over the coming weeks I will be writing a series of blog posts aimed strictly at newbie photographers. So if you’re an expert, check back and I will have something a bit more advanced to say. But for those of you who are fascinated by photography but don’t quite know how to get the most out of your vision, you’ll want to read this and the coming posts. Many people start out in photography with amazing visions the photographer they’d like to be. Let’s face it, cameras are fun. So most people starting out – and I did this also – rush to buy the best and coolest camera they can afford. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you must remember that the camera is like a painter’s brush. Just because you know how to hold one doesn’t mean you’re Van Gogh.

Photography is an art. It can take years to master and – some say – we never master it at all. Frustrated? You shouldn’t be. Photography is a joy and becomes a passion for anyone who begins to get serious about it. It’s seductive and teaches you a new way to look at life with every glance.

So how do you begin to get the most out of your images? The place to start is in composition. And there are several “rules” any beginner is wise to live by (rules can be broken, of course, and in a future post I will show you why and when that can happen.) The best photography is composed.

There is some degree of thought given by the photographer even in the most extreme cases such as news or sports photography where things happen in a split-second. Even in sports or news photography where the photographer has just a second – or split-second – to compose a shot, the best of the best are quick enough to consider the framing. Of course, framing a picture badly can often be rectified on the computer later. But even to do that, one must understand the basics of good composition in the first place.

There are several rules here (and I use the word “rules” loosely) but the biggest is the “Rule of Thirds.” Lesson #1 “The Rule of Thirds”: Take a look at the two images below. Can you guess which utilized the Rule of Thirds?

Can you guess which image most people would find more appealing? Can you see how the image on the bottom is just a bit more dynamic?

In essence, the Rule of Thirds says that when we look at a photograph, it is generally more powerful when the subject of the photo is not dead-center. Note that I said “generally.” There are exceptions to this – but they are a bit more advanced and you should try to avoid dead-center shots until you know exactly why you are trying to do them (more about that in a future post). The “Rule” basically says you should try to divide up the frame in your viewfinder into thirds – either top to bottom or left to right. Place the subject somewhere along one of those lines instead of dead-center, and you’ve taken a great step forward on the path to better composition.

Don’t worry if you end up not quite hitting the one-third mark precisely. The thing to keep in mind is that you are trying to keep the subject in a place where he/she/it/they will not be dead center. Try it.
The reason this rule tends to be effective is that the human eye tends to follow a natural path when looking at a photo — a path that roughly takes a person’s eyes around the image about one-third of the way in from the outer edge of the photograph. There have actually been scientific studies that show this. But the truth is, you can take a look even at some of the great painters — particularly of the 19th century — and see that they were following similar composition “rules” even then. That’s it. There isn’t much more to it.

Sounds simple, right? It is. And yet you can spend just a few minutes on a lot of photo-sharing sites and quickly understand that a lot of photographers out there don’t understand it. Then again, take a look at some really great photos and try to consider whether the Rule of Thirds played a role. It’s a basic – and a good starting point. But powerful framing and composition goes well beyond the Rule of Thirds. There is more to come. So stay tuned.

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