I have recently been asked to write an article on photography, and so here I start.
The plan is to make this a regular article here on But this is entirely up to you,
the readers. The article will be written to inspire photographers, wether they are new to
photography or have much experiance. I allso intend to ask other photographers to co-write
some articles on their specialities. So if you would like to help with this article once or
twice, please let me know.

As this is the first article I think it is important to start with the basics. So don't
expect this article to be only on Nikon or Canon SLR cameras, but on photography.

Wether one uses a point and shoot (P&S) camera, or an SLR of some sort, the fundamentals are
the same. The rules of composition, lighting and techniques are all fundamentally the same.
If one specialises in portraits or in landscapes the basic rules apply.

We start with these basic rules and build on these rules and principles. See how they
apply in various styles and eventually we'll have a look at how people break the rules and
make good photos because of it. (This will come in later articles.) The rule of thirds
applies to all forms of graphic arts, photography, graphic design, drawing, or painting.

The first rule one will keep in mind when shooting any subject is the rule of thirds.
This is a basic rule that one will use activly in order to create good photos.
This rule is as simple as it is genious, and the name is very self explanatory.

Imagine the image divided in a grid, 9 equal sizes.

Insert

Now try to get the main subject or main focus point on one of the lines, or even better the intersection
between two of these lines if this is possible. The rule of thirds is not an exact rule, but a rule to keep
you from shooting "bullseye" photos. If you're not 100% on this does not truly matter, but the closer the better.
This will create a composition that people will enjoy. And this is the rule of thirds.

-Shaping the image to the rule of thirds can either be done whilst shooting (Difficult at first and in some
cases allmost impossible but a good way of working.)
-Or one can crop the image during post processing.

Examples of good compositions using the rule of thirds.

Landscapes:



In these photos one will see that the horizon and objects of interrest are along the lines mentioned earlier.

All three photos by [link]

Portraits:



In portraits one will find that in full body shots the face is nicely placed 1/3 in to the photo. In the
close-up shots the eye is often the point of focus, so this is placed 1/3 in to the image.

All three are by [link]

Macro:



The objects of interrest, the flower, water droplet or a little animal all placed approx 1/3 in to the image.

First photo by [link] Secound photo and third photo by [link]

Animals:



In all these three photos the eye of the animals are placed approx 1/3 in to the photo.

All three are by [link]

All these photos are composed acording to the rule of thirds, wether the photographer had that in mind or not
is a completely different matter. To the more experianced photographers this is like secound nature, to
Newer photographers this is something to be practised untill it is secound nature.

For a nice dialog about photo check out:

[link]

I hope you've enjoyed this article and that you are interrested in reading more about photography.

Special thanks to the photographers mentioned above for letting me use their works for this.

And thank you to the two who took the time to read thru this article before publishing: [link] and [link]