Composition and exposure are the two major elements in creating a pleasing photo. Getting a good exposure is a technical skill. After all, there are only so many combinations of shutter and aperture that you can use on a specific shot. Composition is a different matter entirely. Composition cannot be defined, there are no rules to explain how to convey what you see in your head into a sequence of steps that end up with an image that moves people. There are no standard rules for composition, but there is a nifty little rule that will turn a standard snapshot into a photograph. This is the rule of thirds.
It is really simple. Imagine the scene with lines drawn horizontally and vertically at each third of the image. You end up with what looks like a tic tac toe board. The intersections of these lines is where you want to put the interesting part of your photograph. Many of today’s DSLR’s have a ‘grid’ setting for their viewfinder, this will place the lines automatically in the viewfinder. Very handy.
The Rule of Thirds
