Flower Critique: Rule of Thirds

[Laurenbiz]

Hello all -

I captured this shot at my local botanical gardens. I am attempting to understand the 'Rule of Thirds,' and I am curious what I could do to improve this photo in that area? Also, any other critiques are appreciated.

Thank you!

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XS
Lens: Canon 55-250is
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 200
Focal Length: 214mm
No flash

[Amplify-Creativity]

I'd say you're getting the rule of third's pretty well. The flower is in the right third of the portrait one tiny thing tho the main focal point ( the top of the flower) is near the center of the horizonal rule of thirds. I would want to see it a bit higher up. To help you with this (if you don't use it allready) remember to use your grid in your camera if available and to put main focus points where the lines cross. Also I would just want to have it zoomed in on the flower more to create less negative space. Good picture though the background compliments it nicely

[Laurenbiz]

Hi there-

Thanks for that info! LOL I don't have the grid lines right now on my camera - why don't I just get in the settings and add those!? This hadn't even crossed my mind :-)

[eiverson]

As Laurenbiz said, the main subject is centered horizontally, so it should either be higher or lower to "fully implement" the rule of thirds. In this case, I'd probably put the flower head a little farther up in the frame - the whole point of the rule of thirds is to create dynamism, and that's also boosted by the flower stem (a lead-in line).

In this particular case, I'd also work your background a little bit. You've got really nice, smooth, out-of-focus color / light-shadow interplay in the background. I'd try working with that to keep it smooth and out-of-focus, but try to get the light and dark portions of it to balance each other and create some additional subtle lead-ins. You could try having the upper left half of the frame be the light portion and the lower right being the dark (implementing the rule-of-thirds gently by putting the border between light and dark on the diagonal that goes through two of the intersection points), and put the flower's head at a third point. That would involve changing the camera's position until you get it just the way you want it, and it's possible that you wouldn't get as pleasing a side of the flower, but I think it might be worth a try.

That said, this is really quite a good picture. I don't think you have too much negative space at all; it's very clean. I like the composition (rule-of-thirds or no), and the color is great, while the bokeh (out-of-focus stuff in the background) is really fabulous. Another interesting possibility might be a wee bit of fill-flash to lighten up the inner bits of the blossom. Nice Shot!

[sheil]

Hey, I'm new here but I wanted to make my first post a compliment on this shot. The color is really fantastic.. the brightness of the photo is killer. Nice job!

[Laurenbiz]

Thanks for all the info! And thank you for the compliment!

I used a simple curves adjustment layer in Photoshop, and then three different layers with channel mixers, to achieve the vivid color!

Thank you again. I enjoy the forum because I always learn something new and quite useful.

[Litchfield Hills]

Originally Posted by Amplify-Creativity

I'd say you're getting the rule of third's pretty well. The flower is in the right third of the portrait one tiny thing tho the main focal point ( the top of the flower) is near the center of the horizonal rule of thirds. I would want to see it a bit higher up. To help you with this (if you don't use it allready) remember to use your grid in your camera if available and to put main focus points where the lines cross. Also I would just want to have it zoomed in on the flower more to create less negative space. Good picture though the background compliments it nicely

You could address both issues easily by a tighter crop.