Composition – The Rule of Thirds

          The rule of thirds has at its roots a standard for which the great painters relied upon to build their masterpieces. It is the most basic and the most useful rule for composition. You get the best results when the subject is centered over one of the four inner points.

          When I took photography in High School there were other composition rules. The one I remember most was the S curve. The S curve is useful from my point of view when you are breaking the depth of the photo into thirds, that being a foreground, middle ground, and background. I’m guessing that when I’ve used the S Curve, I’m betting that the rule thirds mostly applied anyway.

          In time I stopped consciously following the rules and I just framed the subject in a way that was aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Over time I have realized that most of my compositions adhere to the rule of thirds conventions with one exception when I photograph a body of water with reflections I tend to place my horizon very close to the center of the image in order to accentuate the visual impact.