Photo Composition

The rule of thirds is a technique used to provide more visually pleasing photos that are more natural to the human eye. Take your viewfinder, or photo, and divide with two horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines, like a tic-tac-toe board, into 9 equal rectangles. The four intersecting points of the lines will provide the best locations to place your subject.

For landscape photography, the horizon is generally placed along the upper third line, instead of "cutting" the picture in two by placing it in the middle of the photo. Two thirds of the photo will emphasize the landscape, with the remaining third for the sky. For pictures of interesting skies, the horizon would be better placed on the first third line, thus allowing two thirds of the photo to be highlighting the sky, with limited attention to the landscape.

Similar proportions can be used with subjects like people, placing them off-center, keeping in mind the four strong intersecting points as possible placement points.

Using naturally occuring lines can add a powerful visual and emotional element to a photo. Lines can create depth, dynamism, motion, direction and draw the eye to the area of interest.

Leading lines help guide the eye to an interesting element or point of interest in the photo.

Diagonal lines are a strong element that add depth to the image. For example a line leading from the bottom left towards the top right of the picture can be both useful and natural. Diagonal lines that create a pattern or are repeated throughout the picture can become the subjects themselves.

Curved or "S" shaped lines can create sensuality, calm, grace and balance. They can lead the eye on a journey through the scene. Curvy roads, winding streams and even the human body can create wonderful leading lines and give great impact to your photos.

Although you are capturing a moment in time, even of a moving object, you need to allow space for the implied movement of your subject. For example if you are taking a profile picture of someone looking or staring at something that is beyond the edge of the frame, let there be space in front of them. For instance, place your subject on the left third of the frame, facing to the right, and leave some empty space in front of them. If you were to photograph a horse and rider cantering, leave space in front of the horse, since that is the implied direction of the space that they will occupy. If you crop it tightly from tail to nose, you will lose the sense of movement forward.

Looking for patterns in life and adding them to your photos can add visual interest. To create the most impact either try to fill your screen with the repetitive pattern, or show the pattern, while purposely breaking the pattern. For example filling the screen with all red balls, with one white ball included.