[Irma]

Hi,
I read about the rule of thirds that it wasn't a photography rule per se, but it's an occidental preference, because the oriental photography place everything in the center...

Could we talk about this? Do you have any reading/tutorial that I could read to learn about this? Is this really true?

Thanks a lot for your comments

[peter]

generally as far as i know .. the rule of thirds is just a designing technique.. i guess subjects are more pleasing to the eye if they are not put directly in the centre..
hopefully someone who knows design principals can give us the full explanation..

[EnglishBob]

The rule basically says that the main focus should not be centered, it should lie on a line eithe r1/3rd of the way or, or 1/3 from the top.....

The horizon in Landscapes, the eyes in portraits, It also stands for anything vertical in a picture.

See This site.

[slejhamer]

It is definitely not a rule that is exclusive to photography. I was just reading an article on the art of bonsai in which the rule of thirds was emphasized! So there goes your theory that it is primarily western.

However, in terms of the "flow" of an image, it's true that western eyes tend to move left-to-right in an image, and thus having your primary point of focus at the lower right third is often considered ideal to westerners.

But I don't agree that much oriental art places the subject dead center. For example, I think the attached image of Musashi's "The Shrike" is fairly typical of composition in Japanese hanging scrolls. It's not rule of thirds, but note the interesting placement of the bird - left of center, almost 1/4 of the way from the top - and the "weight" given to the bottom of the image by the placement of the bush and the trailing leaves. Pretty good for a samurai!



Rule of thirds is really not precise anyway - it is an approximation of the "golden rule" and then we'd have to get into a discussion of nature and Fibonacci numbers and nautilus shells ...

[Irma]

Thanks a lot to all of you... I was a little confused after that post I read... Also after the crop ST did to my sunset, which really makes a lot of difference, the picture looks much better after applying the rule of thirds. That is why wanted to learn more about this...

Thanks again

[shuttertalk]

It's just a general rule... if you draw lines to divide the frame into thirds, photos have been found to be more pleasing if the subject is placed in one of the intersecting lines.



Also, if there is going to be a dominating line like a horizon in the picture, aligning it with one of the lines also helps.

But don't forget that sometimes rules are also meant to be broken!

On certain occasions, placing the subject dead centre can also work...

[Don Schaeffer]

It's an effective tool for making a photo more dynamic. It makes the eye do a little work to find the object.

[jericho]

It is my understanding that the eye is naturally drawn the the center of a photograph. By placing the focus in one of the 1/3s, the eye is drawn to the focal point being in another area, and actually scans the rest of the photo looking for more detail.

The mind is a wonderful thing.... by the same token, if you have a spelling error in a peice of writing that is picked up by the reader, they say the reader generally loses all interest in the content and begins reading with the intent of finding more errors.

Howevver, I dont thinc this is the kase. I meen reelly....

[Irma]

Thanks for your comment ST, Don and Jerry.

Jerry, what you said is very interesting. As for me, the important part of the picture was the center, because I thought it covered the whole picture, but you are right. Placing the focus in the center who bothers to see the corners... interesting...

I hope with the time it comes natural for me to think about it.