Technique - Composition

The most common piece of composition advice is the Rule of Thirds. This is the idea that if you split your picture into thirds vertically and horizontally, the ideal location for your subjects would be a third to the left or right, and the horizon should be lined up a third up or down.

STW Rule of Thirds by Lariffic.

This is universally accepted to be pedantic and trite. Oh, there's truth to it, yes, as you can see in the example. No doubt, using the rule of thirds will have you taking decent pictures, but as soon as you learn this rule, you will realize that it is overly simplistic, and that great photographs seldom adhere to such pithy guidelines.

What is useful about the rule of thirds is the idea that you should get your subject away from dead center. A camera's not a gun. You don't get better shots by lining up your target in the crosshairs. Keeping a subject away from center can convey things.

Runner 693 by tychay.

For example, the runner above is put off to the right, giving the feeling of movement, that she will be crossing from one side of the photo to the other. But from a rule of thirds perspective, this photo fails. The horizon's in the middle of the picture. But honestly, does that matter?

what you can also learn from the rule of thirds is to shoot pictures from unusual angles, and don't just line up the horizon. Get down, go up high, get creative with your angle and perspective.

The most basic piece of advice for decent pictures is to fill the frame, and don't leave a lot of dead space... unless that was your intent.

empty quarter1 17-6-05 by localsurfer.