Today's challenge is about a lesson my grandpa taught me basically before I learned anything else.
Our human brains like asymmetry much better than symmetry and odd numbers better than even numbers. For example, if you take a headshot of a face, draw a line from the forehead over the nose to the chin and mirror one side of the face so that it is symmetrical, it would look very odd, wouldn't it? It's just not normal. Similarly, when you decorate a windowsill you would intuitively assemlbe either just one vase, three vases or two of different sizes. You would never set two vases of the same size right next to each other.
This is very important to realize and keep in mind when taking photos. Have you ever wondered why your vacation snapshots look like they were taken by an amateur? That might be because you put whatever you photographed in the center of the picture. Or the horizon might cut right through the middle of the photo. Pictures taken by professionals will most likely have the subject of the photo off-centered.
So to make it short and sweet, Josh described the Rule of Thirds with the following words:
"The rule basically dictates that photos should be split into 9 equal parts, divided by 2 equally-spaced horizontal lines and 2 equally-spaced vertical lines. Important features within the frame should intersect with these lines at some point." [He also included very good examples of this effect on his website so check it out if you have not heard of this before! ;)]
Check out your camera, it may have the option to lay this grid on your viewfinder or display. It helps composing the picture in thirds.
But rules are meant to be broken occasionally, so do not take this rule too seariously. It is more a guideline to keep your photos interesting and to create depth.
I spent the day in my PJs, so I only went into my grandparents' backyard and took photos there. There were not a whole lot of nice subjects for this challenge and since taking pictures with glasses on is a little difficult, most of them did not turn out too well. But I still hope the rule of thirds becomes clear with my favorite shot of today.
A couple of my older pictures are also good examples of the Rule of Thirds.
I took this photo of my grandpa at the North Sea in Bensersiel. Notice how his right eye is on the imaginary intersection of the lines, his shoulders are also facing into the picture and the cross created by the window frame creates another off-center point. Exp. 1/320; F/4.5; ISO 160.
This dandelion was growing by the roadside on my way to class. The blossom is in the lower left corner of the picture, whereas the grass-tips are in the upper right corner. The stalks are more or less aligned with the imaginary grid-lines and are also leaning into the photo. Exp. 1/1250; f/5.6; ISO 800. I had to use a very short exposure time because it was so windy out and the grass and flowers were moving really fast. That resulted in a high ISO to get enough light.
