The Rule of Thirds
Basis for well-balanced and interesting shots

The Rule of Thirds is perhaps one of the first things a budding photographer should know (aside from camera parts and principles). It serves as the foundation of knowledge of every photographer, novice and experts alike.

The Rule of Thirds in photography is about creating imaginary lines, drawn to divide the composition equally into thirds, 2 lines run horizontally and 2 lines run vertically. The grid would end up with a 3 by 3 or 9 blocks.

rule of thirds

How is the Rule of Thirds applied in Photography?

Photographers use the Rule of Thirds to emphasize an image or put the most important element of a composition in its strongest position.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Not only this - but it also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your photo.

Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot - using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

In the above photo, the subject is placed at the center of the composition. This made the subject weak, and  the photo uninteresting. That’s why in the theory, placing the most important element of your composition in the intersecting lines or along the lines makes a photo well-balanced and interesting, creating impact to the viewers.