The Third Rule (Better known as The Rule of Thirds)
(Read the full article...)If you ask the average backyard photographer what composing a good photo is, they'll tell you to put your subject dead center and you can't go wrong. If you go through your family photo album right now, you'll find dozens, maybe even hundreds of photographs demonstrating this very advice. Some of them might be good pictures, capturing the essence of your uncle, your mother, or your pet dog, but maybe not great photos. Back in the days of darkroom development, bad composition could be easily corrected during the printing stage using an enlarger. With digital photography, it's still pretty easy with the photo editing program of your choice once you've uploaded images to your computer. But either way, you're creating an extra step after the initial shoot. Save yourself some time and do it right the first time.