Many times photographers will ask a simple question "How do I check my photographs if they conform to the Rule of Thirds?". As you may know, the Rule of Thirds is the most basic, yet powerful fundamental aspect of composition. In a nutshell, your images should conform to the Rule of Thirds so they are pleasing not only to the eye but to the mind. The basic principle behind the Rule of Thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts, sort of like a tic-tac-toe board.
One of the most common mistakes many photographers make when photographing landscapes or sunsets, is that they place the horizon smack in the middle of the frame. What does this say to the viewer? It's kind of like watching a football game, where the game ends in a tie. No one that paid all that money to sit in the stands wants to see a tie, we all want to see a win. That is like what you are saying when you place your horizon in the middle of the frame, almost as if you couldn't decide what was more important, so you threw your hands up and called the game.
When I lined composed this beautiful sunset, I hadn't realized my mistake of placing the horizon right in the middle of the frame. When you look at this composition, I give the viewer an empty feeling, for it feels as if I couldn't decided what was more important in the composition - the sky or the water.
Seeing the error of my way, I adjusted my camera on my tripod, and by using the Rule of Thirds, I decided that the water was what I wanted to be the main subject in my composition, so I placed the horizon along the top horizontal line in my grid. This resulted in a photo that is much more appealing.
"So ok, now that we know a little about the Rule of Thirds, what about those photographs I have already shot?!?!"
I have an easy way to check your work using a little known preference in Photoshop using the "Grid". When you set it up, from now on, any image you open you can quickly and easily overlay a grid that when you set it up correctly will instantly show you the Rule of Thirds that you can even assign a key shortcut to toggle it on and off at will. To get it set up, first we need to do the following steps:
1 - Go to: PREFERENCES > GUIDES, GRIDS & SLICES...2 - In the dialog box, look at the box where it says GRID
3 - First, select a bright color so you can see the grid such as LIGHT RED
4 - For the STYLE, select LINES
5 - Here is the important part... In the GRIDLINE EVERY type in 33.33 and change the drop-down to PERCENT
6 - For SUBDIVISIONS type in 1
7 - Click OK to save your new preferences
----------3 - First, select a bright color so you can see the grid such as LIGHT RED
4 - For the STYLE, select LINES
5 - Here is the important part... In the GRIDLINE EVERY type in 33.33 and change the drop-down to PERCENT
6 - For SUBDIVISIONS type in 1
7 - Click OK to save your new preferences
Click Here To View How To Set The Preferences In Photoshop (http://www.robertlafollette.com/blog/public/gridlines.html)
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To see your new preferences in action and to overlay your Rule of Thirds grid, simply go to VIEW > SHOW > GRID and voila! An instant Rule of Thirds Grid! You can also assign a shortcut to access this very useful new trick by going to EDIT > KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS... that with a simple keystroke you can turn off the Rule of Thirds grid very quickly and conveniently. It's that simple!
Want to learn more in-depth about the Rule of Thirds and how to take your images to the next level? Then join me for the most comprehensive course taught on the internet about composition today! Click here to learn more about "Must Know" Fundamentals of Composition
All My Best,Robert La Follette
Instructor of PPSOP.com
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