Right this is obviously aimed at those photographers that are just starting out. Maybe you have just purchased your first SLR, maybe you have just found your dad’s camera from when he was into photography, or maybe you just have a compact camera and are just looking to make your portrait photography a lot more interesting.
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMPLE TIP 1 – RULE OF THIRDS
As a South London Photographer one of the first things I learnt was the ‘rule of thirds’. Not too complicated – when taking portrait photographs or any other type of photograph for that reason try to image a grid splitting your photographic viewfinder into a sort of naughts & crosses grid. For example:
Portrait photography - rule of thirds
Professional photographers and also photography teachers have sait to me many times that they should have an option on digital SLRs to bring up such a grid. A great idea!
So as you have guessed this is a photography rule purely for composition. So so so many people just take a photograph with their subject in the middle of the photograph. This can work and most people do not notice the difference. As a photographer in South London I have actually shown people a photograph with the photographic subject in the middle – can be refered to as a bullseye effect – of which a lot of people really likes. Then I showed them a photograph of the same subject but using the rules of thirds. Literally everyone prefered the rule of thirds photograph. They may not of known why they prefered it but they knew it was a better photo.
I often use this technique with family portraits in London or other types of portrait photoshoots if I have a beautiful scenic background. It’s a very useful technicque BUT always remember that the best thing with photography rules (and many other rules for that reason) is actually breaking those rules! The RoT can be very useful but it’s not the win all and end all. I often use it as a guide but generally at the end of the day always go with my intinct in terms of which photograph looks better.
