The Rule of Thirds

When using your phone’s camera, have you noticed the two horizontal and two vertical lines causing a grid to help you line up your subject within the picture? Did you know that this technique dates back to the late 1700’s?!

Also known as the “rule of thumb”, these guidelines assist in the process of composing your photos. The suggestion is to place your important compositional elements along these lines or on the intersections of these lines. Of course there are those that claim that placing your subjects along these lines creates more focus on the composition of the photo rather than simply centering and focusing on the subject.

As you begin experimenting with the compositions of your photos, test and see the difference of when you have the rule of third setting on within your camera or phone. How does the focus of the images compare?