Rule of Thirds

This photograph of a sunset taken in the Thousand Islands region demonstrates the principles of the rule of
thirds
The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and
design.[1] The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two
equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important
compositional elements should be placed along these lines or on their intersections.[2] Proponents of the
technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the
composition than simply centering the subject would
The photograph demonstrates the application of the rule of thirds. The horizon sits at the horizontal line
dividing the lower third of the photo from the upper two-thirds. The tree sits at the intersection of two lines,
sometimes called a power point. Points of interest in the photo don't have to actually touch one of these lines
to take advantage of the rule of thirds. For example, the brightest part of the sky near the horizon where the
sun recently set does not fall directly on one of the lines, but does fall near the intersection of two of the lines,
close enough to take advantage of the rule.
The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points,
placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to
section. The main reason for observing the rule of thirds is to discourage placement of the subject at
the center, or prevent a horizon from appearing to divide the picture in half.[3]
When photographing or filming people, it is common to line the body up with a vertical line, and
having the person's eyes in line with a horizontal one. If filming a moving subject, the same pattern is often
followed, with the majority of the extra room being in front of the person (the way they are moving).[4]
The rule of thirds appears as early as 1797 as a rule for proportioning scenic paintings.[5]
1. Sandra Meech (2007). Contemporary Quilts: Design, Surface and Stitch. Sterling
Publishing. ISBN 0713489871.
2. Bryan F. Peterson (2003). Learning to see creatively. Amphoto Press. ISBN 0817441816.
3. Bert P. Krages (2005). The Art of Composition. Allworth Communications, Inc.. ISBN
1581154097.
4. Field, George (1845). Chromatics; or, The analogy, harmony, and philosophy of colours.
David Bogue, Fleet Street.

Rule of Thirds
 Picture 1. When applying rule of thirds the frame is mentally divided into three equal parts horizontally
and vertically.
Rule of thirds is one of the most well-known rule of image composition. Rule of thirds is very easy to
learn and adapt in practice.
Often people place the main subject of the photograph into the middle of the frame. This only seldom
yields to the best possible composition except if there is one clear subjects which is photographed very close.
Rule of thirds suggests to place the subject off the center. According to rule of thirds the picture frame is
mentally divided in to three parts horizontally and vertically as in the picture 1. The main subject of the
photograph is then placed in one of the four locations where the lines intersect. These intersections are
marked with red dots in the picture 1.
Rule of Thirds Example 1

Picture 2. When applying rule of thirds the subject is placed into the intersection of the lines or close to it.
When framing the picture 2, I placed the goat roughly to the intersection determined by the rule of thirds.
Why did I choose the upper left intersection? When photographing I also considered the orientation and
course of direction of the goat. Usually it is better to leave more space in front of the subject than behind it.

Picture 3. Horizon which is placed low emphasizes the sky.

 Rule of thirds can also be adapted by forgetting the intersections and by thinking about the location of the
lines. Horizontal lines are often good places for the horizon. This often yields to better results than placing
the horizon into the middle of the frame.
In the picture 3, the sun is placed into the intersection of the lines and the horizon is placed near to the
lower horizontal line to emphasize the interesting sky. According to the rule of thirds there would have been
two places for the horizon. When making the decision I compared the interest between the sky and the sea. In
this case the sky was much more interesting to look at so I wanted to emphasize it. Horizon placed up would
have emphasized the sea.

Rule of thirds is a compositional rule which is recommended for painting and photography. An image could
be divided equally by two vertical and two horizontal lines. In general, the four intersections of these lines
will be the most interesting places for the main subject(s). It’s not the rule that you always have to follow,
but in most of the cases, it will make the picture look better. Here is an example. Most of the people will put
the seagull right in the middle which is the “dead center”.

Use rule of thirds, we place the seagull at one of the intersections. Now, there are more room on the right side
to let the seagull continue flying, and the extra space on the bottom give you the feeling of distance.

More samples:
Rule of thirds is wildly used for landscape, many of the professional photographers will place something at
one of the intersections, such as a rock or feather. Another way to use rule of thirds is to divide the scene to
three segments, the foreground, middle-ground and background, they are the major elements for a well
composed picture.

Some of the new Point & Shoot cameras such as the Canon PowerShot SD800 IS andSD870 IS have a nice
feature called “Display Overlay”, the “3:2 Guide” and “Grid Lines” can be both enabled and viewed on the
LCD, with the face detection technology, the camera will focus on the face automatically, you don’t need to
lock the focus then recompose anymore.

Well, the face detection didn’t kick in on the following picture.