Assignment: "Rule of Thirds"

[Sime]

This week we will do a "Back to the Basics" assignment, "Rule of Thirds." Sometimes it's good to review compositional basics. This is a "rule" that is often broken in both good and bad ways. Some ideas:

• Try composing in your camera instead of depending on cropping.
• Pick up a 5x7 picture frame (or cut one out of cardboard). Hold it up to the subject you are planning to photograph and plan out your best composition using the frame as a guide. This is good practice even when you don't use your camera to help you develop an eye for composition.
• Rule of Thirds on the DPS blog

My Coffee is sitting on one of the "thirds" lines.


As always, the rules...Please note the change in closing time.

1. Your image you submit should be taken between the 4th and the 18th of February. Each week as an assignment closes on the Wednesday, it will be AUTOMATICALLY deemed *CLOSED* after 8am GMT ( 3am EST) and any posts after that time will not be eligible for the assignment competition.

2. Your post must include "Assignment: Rule of Thirds" (to show your permission to count it for the contest) and the date the picture was taken (to show that it is a valid entry).

3. EXIF data should be intact. It helps if you can include the main points (including camera, lens, date taken, ISO, shutter speed and aperture) in the text of your message.

4. Only one entry per member (if you can't restrain yourself until the end of the first week you can post two or three separate pictures but your entry should be in a separate post and the only marked with the text above).

5. Remember the cross-site image size limit (800px on the longest side).

6. If the image does not exist in post at the end of the contest, it is disqualified. If you modify anything on flickr and re-save the image then the link is broken and the message needs edited to link the picture again before it will be included in the contest.
For everyone, please do not repeat other people's photos by quoting them until the contest is over. If you want to comment on or discuss an entry you can use a link to it (or just delete the picture from the quoted text).

7. If you are looking for the winners of the mini-contest, please check the front page of the DPS blog Saturday late afternoon (EST) or here.

Next week we're going to go with another common compositional camera "rule" that you should have a crack at is "Balance"

Have a look here - BALANCE - next week.

[Tijja]

Date Taken: Feb. 11, 2009
Camera: Nikon D60
Exposure: 1/30 sec.
Aperture: 4.7
Focal Length: 36 mm
ISO Speed: 280
Flash: No flash

Not sure if I really understood the assignment but I tried.

[tingeliM]

This is my "blue place" (a term that I came up with when it was just an idea, not an actual place yet). My place, where I can find that piece of mind in the middle of all stress and anxiety.



I think that the background scenery in the two thirds accents the silhouette in the first third more this way than if the subject would be in the center. Also the silhouette of myself and the gazebo kinda frames the scene, so that the negative space in the picture comes out pretty strong too making the image whole and balanced. No wasted space there, in my opinion. ^^

Camera: Sony DSC-H50
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 5.2 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off
Taken on February 10th 2009

[AnnaV]

Nikon D40

Shutter speed: 1/15 sec
Exposure: manual
F-Stop: f/5.6
ISO: 200
Focal length: 55mm
Lens: 18-55 f/3.5-5.6
Flash: did not fire
Date: 11/02/2009

My first post and first pic! Hope I've done everything right



This is a photo of my daughter, the sun was shining through the window. Her eye is on the top right thirds intersection point. I think it draws you straight into to the lighted area of her face. Also the bottom of the sofa is on the horizontal bottom third line - and if you can see it, the arm of the sofa goes down the vertical left horizontal line. (The left of the V on her white T-shirt also sits on the right vertical line - same as her left eye. That wasn't on purpose, just noticed it!)

[wulf]

Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 2.5s
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 50mm (50mm f/1.8 E Series lens)
ISO Speed: 800
Date: 5 February 2009

I was setting up for another shot - the clothes peg was to mark where my hand would be and I was just playing around with focus and exposure. However, I felt that it was an effective if rather abstract image in its own right... and the clip, of course, is pretty much on one of the third points. I don't think it would work nearly so well if the clip was dead-centre.

Wulf

ps. The other shot:

[Carlyq80]

oooh. very nice, anna V :-)

[tsanchez012]

The bottom set is my wedding bands and the top set is my mother and father's wedding bands. I wear both sets, mine on my left hand and my parent's on my right.

EXIF Data:

Camera: Kodak Easyshare C533
Lens: 6 mm
(Max aperture f/2.7)
Exposure: Auto exposure, Program AE, 1/32 sec, f/2.7, ISO 80
Flash: none
Date: February 11, 2009 7:56:39PM
File: 1,932 × 2,576 JPEG (5.0 megapixels)

[ronski24]

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100

[nubee]

I took this pic of this "thingy". I'm not sure exactly what the object is suppose to be.



EXIF data:

Sony alpha 700
1/800 sec
Aperture: F5.6
ISO 200
180mm
+0.0EV
Date taken: Feb 6th/09

[AnnaV]

Originally Posted by Carlyq80

oooh. very nice, anna V :-)

Thank you