We always have a tendency to place the subject in the middle of the frame but this might always not be the best option. There’s a way of placing your subject in the frame called the rule of thirds, where you divide the frame into 9 equal rectangles and place the subject or the important elements in the picture along the lines or where the lines intersect. This way there’s a balance and a subtle emphasis achieved between different elements in the picture.
You use the rule of thirds when you want to emphasis on the subject but also when you dont want to take away from the rest of the picture, therefore creating a balance. The above two examples show us how by using the rule of thirds, we can step up our game.
Which side to place the subject ?
And if you notice properly in the above two examples, In one picture, the subject is placed on the left third but in the other one the subject is placed on the right third. So how do we decide which side we should place our subject.
If you observe closely, there’s a fundamental difference between the two pictures, that is the direction in which the subject is facing. In the first image, the subject is facing towards the right and the negative space in the image is also on the right and in the second image, the subject is facing towards the left and the negative space in the image is also on the left. So can we say that the direction in which the subject is facing can be where we have the negative space of the image.
Why is this so?
As we discussed in the previous article, Composition is just a science of placing the elements in the right places in a way that we can guide the viewers eyes however we want through the picture using the elements in the picture. In simple words, the photographer is communicating to the viewer using the elements in the picture guiding him where to look first and where to look next and so on.
So when we place the negative space in the direction in which the subject is facing towards, we are essentially guiding the viewer to look at the subject first, which is the emphasis, then our eyes tend to move towards the negative space as the subject is facing that way. This doesn’t take away the balance from the picture.
Know when to break the rules.
You’ve probably heard this a lot but when would someone actually want to break the rules?
It is when you want a different aesthetic to your photograph than what the rule is intended to give.
The above three pictures are screen grabs from a video I made for an event which featured artsy people and hence I broke the rule of thirds to give the video a different look and a different type of color grading to emphasize the fact that artists always break the rules.
It’s not about breaking the rules but more about how and why you are breaking the rules. The ‘Why’ is the most important.
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