The Rules of PhotographyUnit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology

P1, P2, M1, M2

Dan Watt

Rule of thirdsIn the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. Important compositional elements and leading lines are placed on or near the imaginary lines and where the lines intersect. The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the centre of the shot. The lines on the intersections can be used in different ways, either as a horizon lines or on the vertical lines to place the focus of the image such as the bee to the right. The lines cross on the intersections of its eye, with the negative space on the left being used to frame the insect and the flower.

FramingFraming is a technique used to focus the viewer’s attention on the subject. It can also be used as a Repoussoir, to direct attention back into the scene. It can add depth to a picture and can add interest when the frame is thematically related to the object being framed. A very popular framing technique is vignetting which is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image centre. The photograph closest to the left features a man made frame, as the wooden archway was obviously crafted and is not natural. While the photograph on the right side features a natural frame made up of the branches from the trees which are on both sides of the road.

Leading LinesOne of the tools you can use as a photographer to create a meaningful composition is to use leading lines. Leading lines are used to draw the viewer’s eye through a photograph. They are intentional or unintentional, natural lines created in the space of the photograph and are used to create a visual narrative in the composition. Leading lines are also used to draw your eye to a focal point in the shot that you would like to highlight. To the right I have picked out two examples of leading lines, the top image being meandering line and the image below is a straight line. Anything that is in some form of a row can create a leading line, in photographs this could be lines such as trees and rows of houses etc.

Balancing ElementsIf you place every element of interest in a photograph on one side you are leaving little or nothing to look at on the opposite side. This will be a unbalanced and most likely an uninteresting image. There are two types of balance in photography. The first is formal balance, also called symmetrical balance. It is when one or more identical or similar subjects are repeated symmetrical on each sides of a given point. The formal balance is most often recognized by subjects that are uniform in shape. The second type, informal balance or so called asymmetrical balance is when one or more dissimilar elements are balancing on each side of a given point. Informal balance is less obvious because the subjects are not uniform. A well made image using informal balance is more appealing to the viewer compared to a symmetrical composed image.

Both images to the right are forms of informal balance, however the bottom image does have similar objects (Hay bales) however they are not symmetrical as they all face different directions.

Symmetry & PatternsWe are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and man-made., They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension and a focal point to the scene. However it is possible to get a almost perfect symmetrical image by using things such as reflections off things such as, mirrors and water as shown on the bottom image. In the top example of symmetry, the photo could also be used to show leading lines as It displays a long stretch of road. The bottom image goes against the rule of thirds as the horizon line is in the centre of the photograph.

Depth of FieldBecause photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to conveys the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally recognises these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth. The top image features a garden gnomes in the background at different distances from the camera, with the gnome in the middle ground being focused on to make the depth of field easy to see.