One of the most important rules of photographic composition is the ‘Rule of Thirds‘.

The “Rule of Thirds” one of the first things that new photographers should learn, while it is not the Holy Grail of photography, it is a great starting point and one of the core concepts to grasp early. Only once you have a firm understanding of good composition can you begin to create stunning and dynamic photographs on a consistent basis

What is the rule of thirds?

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows.

As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.

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.

This also gives you four lines that are also useful positions for elements in your photo. Such as a horizon line.

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Placing points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. 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.