You took the time to plan the perfect bucket list weekend. Your camera is all charged and you’ve got an empty memory card, now what?! Vacation photos can either stay stored on your phone or turned into beautiful framed artwork.
Learning the rule of thirds will help you begin to master the art of photography and help you take amazing vacation photos. The rule of thirds is a long-standing photography tip designed to help photographers capture moments that draw the eye to the subject.
When planning a shot, mentally draw three vertical lines dividing the image into thirds; then draw three horizontal lines dividing the image into thirds across. The two sets of thirds create a three-by-three graph, or nine equal boxes.
Now that you have mentally created the graph, place the subject where two lines intersect. Instead of the focal point being in the center, using the rule of thirds creates a more visually appealing photograph by essentially putting the subject off-center.
At first, this may seem like a task that cannot be done without careful planning. But, with practice, the rule of thirds will become habitual. Practice the rule of thirds on inanimate objects. Landscape photography famously uses the rule of thirds to create visually stunning masterpieces.
After perfecting the rule of thirds with landscape and other unmoving subjects, move to portrait photography. The rule of thirds creates a dramatic effect. These photos tend to invoke emotional responses and create an artistic approach to portraits.
There are some instances, however, where the rule of thirds is not the best choice. Headshots, for example, should always have the subject in the center of the shot. Headshots typically do not have a very large background area since it is a tight closeup of the subject.
The rule of thirds is not a hard-set rule that must be followed with every photograph taken. Cameras with essentially unlimited storage allow photographers to try multiple compositions in a few seconds. Understanding the rule of thirds and putting it into practice, however, will bring a new level of expertise to any photographer.
Good luck and have a great weekend! Safe Travels.
