Photographic Techniques - Rule of Thirds

1. DeclanTyldesley
Photographic Techniques
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirdsis one of the mostimportantpictureswhentakingphotographsbecause italsoyouto
create a focuspointor focuspointsonwhere youwouldwantsomeone tolookdirectlyassoonas
theysee the photograph.Some cameraswill actuallyallow youtoapplythe Rule of Thirdsgridonto
the camera; howeverthiswillthendisable youlookingthroughthe lenssoyou cantake a good
photograph.Onthe otherhand thismeansthat youwill have totake a photo withthe viewing
screenandthe gridapplied.Onthe ROT(Rule of Thirds) gridthere are a total amountof four
intersectinglinesroughlyjustoutsidethe middle of the photoineachcorner,and these intersecting
linesare usedasfocus points.Furthermore professional photographerstendnottouse the Rule of
Thirdsgrid because theylike tolookthroughthe lenssotheycantake a betterandmore stable
photographof a specificobject.Therefore fromthese fewpointsIbelievethe Rule of Thirdsgrid
needstobe appliedinalmosteveryphotographtoapply afocuspointor focuspoints.
BelowIam goingto displayseriesof six imageswithone photographshowingwithoutthe linesand
one withthe lines.FromthisIshouldbe able to lookandevaluate all of myphotographsthoroughly
because of the Rule of Thirdsgrid. My series of six imagesare placedbelow;
The two imagesabove showapicture of Nicole,intwodifferentduplicate models.Asyoucansee
above onof the imageshasthe Rule of thirds grideditedintoitona software;calledPhotoshop.On
thisimage twoof the linesintersectatone pointcreatinga single focuspoint.Fromthiswhen
someone viewsthe photographtheywill immediatelytake notice of Nicole’sface atthe bottom
righthand cornerof the image.WhenI wastakingthisphotographI wasable to use to lensto

2. DeclanTyldesley
automaticallyfocusiton the model,sofromthisbackgroundwill thenbecome outof focus.Thisis
because Ididnot give ita strongdepthof fieldsothe focuscould have stretchedfurther.HoweverI
didmanage to give thisimage quite anatural feel toitby not havingthe Aperture tohighto extract
the sunlightandgetrid of the shadoweffect.Ialsomanagedto getpart of the College inthis
photographas well as twostandingtreeswhichIthinkimprovedthe photographquitealot.
Above Ihave affirmativelyplacedtwoimages,which isthe same photograph butare intwo different
formatsagain one withthe Rule of Thirdsgrideditedin.While Iwastakingthis photographIdecided
that I wantedtocapture a leaf breezinginthe windandIsuccessfullydidso.Withinthe imagewith
the Rule of Thirds gridattachedI can see that I have again managedto capture one focus point
where the linesintersectinthe bottomrighthandcorner.AsI lookat the image onthe bottomI can
see that I have takenquite anatural photographonce again as I have managedtocapture part of
the blue skydespite the cloudabove dominatingthe majorityof it.AsI wastakingthisphotographI
adjustedthe ISOnumbertoa total numberof 400 thisisbecause Iwantedto keepthe natural
sunlightinbutI alsodidn’twantthe image to be overexposedsoitwill take the natural feel out.

3. DeclanTyldesley
Above are anothertwoimagesthat I hadtaken witha digital camera.Withthe firstimage I have
displayedthe Rule of Thirdsgridonitand on the otherI have not.From these twoimagesIcan see
that I didnot manage to create a focuspointof focuspointsbecause the linesdonotintersecton
any of the objectswithinthe image.However Idobelievepeople will take notice of thisphotograph
despite there are nofocuspointsbecause Ihave once againtakena natural photographwithinthe
College grounds. Inmyopinionhoweverdespite the factthisimage doesn’tcreate afocuspoint,Ido
believethe deadleaf onthe groundwiththe natural green,brightcolourmergeswelltogetheras
thismay meansomethingtosomeone. Overallinmyconclusionof thisimage,Ithinkthateverything
workswell inthis photographfromthe blurto focus(topto bottom) andthe natural theme of the
groundwiththe leaf and the grass as the sunbeamsin. WhenI was takingthisphotographas well I
had myISO numbersetto 100 so it islesssensitive towardsthe light.HowevermyAperture (F-Stop)
was on5 and my ShutterSpeedorExposure time wasona 500 of a second.

4. DeclanTyldesley
FourthlyIam goingto talk aboutthe fourthphotographI tookof the day andwithinthe firstimage
on topI can see thatI have managedto include atotal amountof twofocus points.Byincludingtwo
focuspointsonthisimage I can see that Adamis infull focusso,if someone wastoview this
photographtheywouldimmediatelytake noticeof Adam. HoweverIam quite critical overthis
photographforone mainreasonand that isabout the ISO number.WhenIwas takingthis
photographI hadthe ISOnumbersetto 100, therefore makingthe digitalcameralesssensitive
towardsthe lightand fromthisI believeitextractedthe natural daylightwhichIthinkwouldhave
made the photographlooka bitbetter.HoweverIdothinkthat the digital camerapickedupenough
detail byfocusingonAdamfullywithtwofocuspointssetonhimwhere the twolinesintersect.

5. DeclanTyldesley
The two photosabove displayone image withthe Rule of Thirdsgridattached,andthe otheris
displayedwithoutittoshowyouwhatthe image would reallylooklike if itwasdisplayedforpeople
to lookat. While IwastakingthisphotographI decidedthatI wantedmyabjectto be a post
sectionedoutside of the College.Withinthe image onthe topyoucan clearlysee thatI have
managedto applytwofocuspointsinthe image bothsectionedonthe postoutside.Ialsomade the
backgroundfairlyoutof focus sowhensomeone comestoview thisimage theyare directlydrivento
the post sotheytake full focusof itin otherwords.Inmy conclusionof thisinparticularphotograph
I do thinkthatit isquite a goodimage to lookat as I didn’textractthe sunlightbyadjustingthe ISO
numberI leftitsoit can pick upthe shadesor the natural theme of the image if youlike.

6. DeclanTyldesley
Lastly,I am goingto talkabout the lastphotographI took,and inthe two photosabove the main
objectisa Nikoncamera.As youcan see I have displayedone image withthe Rule of ThirdsGridand
one without. Fromthese twoimagesIcan see that I have unfortunatelynotmanaged toidentifyany
focuspointswithinthisimage.HoweverIstill dothinkthatpeople will be drawnintothisimage
because the camerais infocusand it wasalsotakenfrom a goodangle so the camera coversmostof
the image.It alsomakesthe cameramore interestingbecause the backgroundisalsomostlyoutof
focusdirectingthemtowardsthe Cameraitself.
In myconclusionforthiswork on the Rule of Thirds Gridor technique,Ibelieve thatRule of Thirds
shouldbe appliedinalmosteveryphotographis takenmainlywithoutitdisplayedonthe screenso
youcan see throughoutthe lens.HowevernotonlyRule of Thirdsneedstobe appliedbecause
withoutbalancingoradjustingthe ISO,ShutterSpeedorAperture,the photographcouldbecome a
disaster.Andbasedonthisfact I do thinkRule of Thirdsdoesn’tneedtobe appliedinordertodrive
a viewerintothe image aslongas it issomethinginterestingtolookatetc. Suchas a underwater
plane wreck.