There are many things you can do to improve your photography, but there’s one little rule which can make your photos look much more pleasing to the eye. That rule is called the rule of thirds. If you’ve studied art, design or photography then I’m sure you’re already familiar with this traditional rule.
I’m not an expert at photography and I still have a lot learn about f-stops, lighting and basically how to shoot with ease in manual mode on my DSLR camera. I’ve taken all sorts of classes and a great one which is video based for visual learners like myself is Shoot Fly Shoot (affiliate link). My problem is laziness. I tend to use my iPhone a lot because it’s easy, convenient and lightweight. I took all of the photos in this post with my iPhone 6 during a recent trip to Cape Cod. If you follow me on Instagram I shared several of my photos there. Instagram is quickly becoming one of my favorite forms of social media.
The principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine an image broken down into quadrants both horizontally and vertically like in my first photo. If you place your subject or point of interest where the lines intersect it allows the viewer to view it more naturally rather than smack dab in the middle.
You can have the grid appear on your camera phone to help you compose your picture by turning it on under the settings tab. ( I’m not sure if you can on other smart phones).
Keep in mind this is just a general rule and rules can be broken. It doesn’t mean you can’t have a great photo that doesn’t use the rule of thirds.
Some blogs I love that offer tons of photography tips are:
Fat Mum Slim– Chantelle explains the rule of thirds further and she also offers a photo a day challenge
I also have a Pinterest Board titled Photo Inspiration where I’ve collected a ton of photography tips. If you found this tip helpful please share it with your friends on your favorite form of social media by using the share buttons below this post.
I really enjoyed reading about this. Now I need to apply it.
Frankly, it is incredible to see what a big difference following this rule makes! Our brains are definitely wired to find this pleasing. I didn’t even know about the grid on the phone – neat!
Dawn – These are great tips! I love the photos you took at Seaside. They have an old fashion feel to them. I am amazed that they are from the iphone and happy that may be I can take great photos, too! I am going to make this part of my out of the box challenge. Thank you!
Yay! I’m so glad you’ll give it a try. You can get great photos with the iPhone in natural light, but not so much in dark situations. The more you practice the better you get at it.