Master the rule of thirds: divide the frame into thirds and place the main subject on the power points.
Lesson rule: put the main subject on a thirds line, not in the center
The rule of thirds
Mentally divide the frame with two vertical and two horizontal lines into nine equal parts — like a tic-tac-toe board. You get four lines and four points where they cross. These points are called power points.
The rule of thirds says: place what matters not dead center, but on one of the lines or at one of the intersection points. The shot instantly becomes livelier and more dynamic than with the “subject right in the middle.”
In practice:
— A person's eyes sit well on the top horizontal line.
— Don't put the horizon of a landscape in the middle: for more sky, lower the horizon to the bottom third; for more interesting ground, raise it to the top third.
— Place a lone subject (a tree, a lighthouse, a person) on a power point, not in the center.
Your phone camera has a grid: turn it on in your camera settings (Grid), and these lines will appear on the screen. It's a free eye trainer. The rule of thirds isn't a law but a starting point: once you've mastered it, you'll decide consciously when the center works better after all (for symmetry, for example).
Lesson notes
The rule of thirds
Mentally divide the frame with two vertical and two horizontal lines into nine equal parts — like a tic-tac-toe board. You get four lines and four points where they cross. These points are called power points.
The rule of thirds says: place what matters not dead center, but on one of the lines or at one of the intersection points. The shot instantly becomes livelier and more dynamic than with the “subject right in the middle.”
In practice:
— A person's eyes sit well on the top horizontal line.
— Don't put the horizon of a landscape in the middle: for more sky, lower the horizon to the bottom third; for more interesting ground, raise it to the top third.
— Place a lone subject (a tree, a lighthouse, a person) on a power point, not in the center.
Your phone camera has a grid: turn it on in your camera settings (Grid), and these lines will appear on the screen. It's a free eye trainer. The rule of thirds isn't a law but a starting point: once you've mastered it, you'll decide consciously when the center works better after all (for symmetry, for example).