Shoot-Along Tutorial #1 - Rule of Thirds

[LMarge]

Here's another photo from the meet a week before - sorry, it's another balance beam photo again! This was handheld with a Tamron 2.8 lens (can't recall the distance on it).

 

[alan]

Hi Marge,

Is this the kind of thing you were meaning (it's really quick-and-dirty, but you get the idea)

If so, I'll tell you what I did (I was using Photoshop elements)

Using the "magic wand" tool with a low tolerance value, I selected all of the grey "upper half" of the background. I used Ctrl-click and alt-click to add or remove parts of the selection until I only had what I wanted. Then I chose Layers | New | Layer from Copy (this is an old version of PSE; the name may not be the same in the latest versions).

Tehn I hit Ctrl-D to remove the selection, and did the same for the lower half.

That left me with three layers - the background layer (the original picture), a layer called "Layer 1" which had only the top half of the wall, and a new layer called "Layer 2" that had the lower half of the wall. Your daughter, the beam and so forth only exist on the background layer.

That was the hard bit. At that point, I could choose either of the upper layers (Layer 1 or layer2) and hit Ctrl-U to bring up the saturation palette. I clicked on "Colorise" and from there could use the sliders to make any background colour I wanted.

If you want to get at the file with all three layers, it is at http://www.thepotters.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/temp/disboards.psd

As for the picture itself, top marks. Not only is your daughter about a third of the way in, but you are giving her lots of space to move into - I like it!

regards,
/alan

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Here's my contribution from our Sept. '07 trip. I do most of my shooting with the grid turned on in my EVF/LCD so I can get level horizons and try to always be conscious of the Rule of Thirds.

When I saw this big fellow on the Maharaja Jungle Trek, I tried putting his eye right at the upper-right crossing:

Any comments/constructive criticisms are welcome ... as are any tips for improving this photo.

 

[Josh125]

I have a question. I've read a few places that when shooting a close up portrait it might be better to fill the frame with the face, would this be an exception to the rule of 1/3rds?

I generally am pretty good about following the rule of 1/3rds. I find that when I do "mess up" it is when I'm shooting a horizon shot, typically involving water. Still working on that one.

 

[LMarge]

Alan,
Thanks for the kind comments. As for what you did to change the color, my mind is spinning!! I need to print and read that with some coffee in my system!!! Thanks for your
help - I'll try and play with it later today - what I'd really like is a totally solid color behind her, but with that two tone wall, I'm not sure it can be done. I have so much to learn!!
Blessings!

 

[william4192]

Great tip. I am going to try this next time I get sometime to get out and shoot.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

One of the challenges I always seem to find myself dealing with is trying to compose a photo while taking into consideration the final print size. With most DSLR cameras the sensor is sized for an 8x12 rather than 8x10. If I am planning on the end result being 8x10 I probably need to modify the composition so that after cropping I am roughly following the rule of thirds. A lot of times I forget about that then when I go to print I find that after cropping the subject ends up right in the center. A lot of times when I shoot I don't know what the ultimate size of print may be and hence it is hit and miss with cropping. For nature or scenery shots that's not too much of a problem for when doing sports or action photography it can mean the difference between an interesting photo and one that just misses out. It's something you might want to consider as you're shooting.

Jeff

 

[jann1033]

I have a question. I've read a few places that when shooting a close up portrait it might be better to fill the frame with the face, would this be an exception to the rule of 1/3rds?

I generally am pretty good about following the rule of 1/3rds. I find that when I do "mess up" it is when I'm shooting a horizon shot, typically involving water. Still working on that one.

i think in that case you'd try to put the eyes on the upper third line

and i totally agree with jazzyj...although i have heard the 40d has the focus points pretty much on the rot line, i hate trying to line something up then whammo it's off when i crop...so now i try to line it up closer the the edge than it should be but then it looks weird as i am shooting it...i find this true mostly a pain for horizons since unless it is way up or down it ends up in the middle

 

[mabas9395]

It may not be useful or important, but I think its interesting that there are other cropping/subject placement "rules" that are used. Lightroom users can cycle through the 5 different overlays when using the crop tool (press 'O' when in the crop tool). They include RoT(obviously), Golden Ratio, Diagonal Lines, Triangles (2 versions) and Golden Mean (2 versions).

I was playing with this the other day, and it seemed like no matter which photo I was cropping, I could find at least one overlay where my main subject lined up with one of the lines.

So if one of my photos don't look like I was following the RoT, its because I was going for the Golden Mean. Yeah, Golden Mean, that's the ticket! I'm not incompetent at composition, I'm bold and daring with my use of the Golden Mean. There, I feel better.

 

[Frantasmic]

What about this type of shot. The subject dominates the lower and right portions of the tic marks, but the eye at the center catches what I wanted to. What would make this a better shot using the rule of thirds?

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Here's my contribution - any tips for improvement would be welcomed

Bonny

 

[mvazul]

I love working in the rule of thirds. I learned how to use it in my high school photography class many, many moons ago!!

I took this one the beginning of December - right after we moved back to my hometown in Pennsylvania:

And this is my daughter. This was the day after Christmas. Are her eyes too centered?

Beautiful pictures, everyone!!

Michelle

 

[LMarge]

Here's my contribution - any tips for improvement would be welcomed

Bonny

Bonny,
I really like this! It looks like you could walk right into the photo!

 

[LMarge]

[ Quote
And this is my daughter. This was the day after Christmas. Are her eyes too centered?

/QUOTE]


Michelle,
I really llike it!! (she has GREAT hair!) If she had been a half inch more to the right, then I'd think "yes, too centered". But the way her hair flows out behind her and her hood on her coat draws my eye to the left. And her nose is not spot on in the center either, which is good. Vertically, her eyes are above the midline, which I like as well. I think it's a very good shot!! BUT, all my posts should come with a disclaimer!! " I know NOTHING and am here to learn!" (by the way, did I say that she has GREAT hair!!! )

 

[NostalgicDad]

Although I always have this rule in my head, in going through a lot of my shots, I've discovered I don't always follow the rule for some reason. Something I need to work on for sure. The shot below was taken with this intent, though. It was cropped just a bit to elminate part of a rooftop that was too distracting. My thought process was to also give some sense of depth since most moon shots typically are only of the moon itself.

 

[mvazul]

Michelle,
I really llike it!! (she has GREAT hair!) If she had been a half inch more to the right, then I'd think "yes, too centered". But the way her hair flows out behind her and her hood on her coat draws my eye to the left. And her nose is not spot on in the center either, which is good. Vertically, her eyes are above the midline, which I like as well. I think it's a very good shot!! BUT, all my posts should come with a disclaimer!! " I know NOTHING and am here to learn!" (by the way, did I say that she has GREAT hair!!! )

Thank you very much!! Yes, she does have pretty hair. I had curled it for Christmas and she had not had a bath yet, so it still had some wave to it. She cut it herself last spring. I nearly had a heart attack. It is slowly growing back to how it should be.

Thank you, again!!

Michelle

 

[mvazul]

Beautiful shot! Such detail in the moon.

 

[jann1033]

It may not be useful or important, but I think its interesting that there are other cropping/subject placement "rules" that are used. Lightroom users can cycle through the 5 different overlays when using the crop tool (press 'O' when in the crop tool). They include RoT(obviously), Golden Ratio, Diagonal Lines, Triangles (2 versions) and Golden Mean (2 versions).

I was playing with this the other day, and it seemed like no matter which photo I was cropping, I could find at least one overlay where my main subject lined up with one of the lines.

So if one of my photos don't look like I was following the RoT, its because I was going for the Golden Mean. Yeah, Golden Mean, that's the ticket! I'm not incompetent at composition, I'm bold and daring with my use of the Golden Mean. There, I feel better.

rules are meant to be broken! at least that's what i claim...although that feature of lightroom sounds like it's worth the $$ to me

 

[lewdyan1]

Thanks for posting this! There are some really great pictures here!

 

[AndrewWG]

One thing to note here is that the "rule of thirds" is a great compositional guide, but that it is not by any means how you have to take a photo. Many a great photo is taken with a completely centered subject. It is just that, for the most part, a photo is a bit more appealing if it is in the "thirds" rather than smack dab in the middle. I often find myself shooting dead center. That is because I am lazy. I am working on my composition skills so that I can view the photo in the center and off to one third (and possibly shoot the shot both ways). I usually like the photos cropped to the thirds but sometimes I just like them dead center. It is really just dependent on the subject. Rules are meant to be broken.