subject: Photography Compositing Rules [print this page] You may not realize it, but taking there is always a rule of thumb to take good photography. According to a video bookmarked at TinkrBox, a video/website bookmarking site, the rules have been used over and over in movies and pictures to get the perfect picture. In general, there are many rules of composition but Ill focus on the 3 main rules.
Rule of thirds. According to Digital Photography Schools post, also bookmarked at Tinkrbox, this rule is the most widely known rule of composition among photographers. However, this rule gets trotted out more often than any other rules. Using this rules, dramatic and interesting shots can be created. This rule states that key points of interest in a landscape on the intersecting point between imaginary third points in an image and youll give your image balance and help those focal points to really capture attention.
Rule of odds. The rule of odds states that images are more visually appealing when there is an odd number of subjects. For example, number of subjects in the shot should be 3 or 5 or 7. Studies have shown that people are actually more at ease and comfort when viewing imagery with an odd number of subjects.
Rule of space. This rule states that in order to portray movement, context and the idea that the photo is bigger than just the part that youre seeing, you will need to leave clutter free white spaces. For example if youre photographing a woman laughing at something not in the photo, leave space in the direction where she is laughing. This will help to create a story and leads the viewer to wonder what is beyond the boundaries of the photo.
It is not always necessary to use these rules. Rules are meant to be broken and sometimes, you have to break these rules to create the perfect shot.
