Rule of thirds

[koos]

I have taken this photo of my daughter last week early morning.



My question is about composition. I want to know which line must be on the third: the horizon or the line of the wave? I also have read that the photo must have space in the direction where the person look. So according to the I must put her on the right third of the photo (she look towards the left side), But the texture of the sand and sea is better on the right side. Does it work?

Camera SONY DSLR-A350
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

[Ennor]

Hi Koos, nice shot of your daughter at the beach, to your question around thirds my view is where you have placed your daughter is fine. The rule of thirds works on the vertical as well as the horizontal. However, you are correct, the young lady should be on the right hand side so it appears she is moving into the image. At the moment it appears she is moving out of the image and generally has a detrimental impact to the image. depending on the processing package that you're using, it should be a simple matter of 'flipping' the image..

[Ben Holder]

Originally Posted by Ennor

depending on the processing package that you're using, it should be a simple matter of 'flipping' the image..

Wouldn't that just put her on the right facing right?

@koos: I really like this photo. There is good exposure, and you have put the horizon on a 1/3 line, as well as having her on a 1/3 vertical line. I don't really mind having her on the left, because she is facing pretty much away from the camera, so the placement of the neutral space isn't as critical as if you caught her profile and she was definitely looking one way or the other. One thing I would definitely fix is to level the horizon; just rotate and crop. Other than that I think it is a keeper.

[koos]

Ennor, thank you for your feedback. I am using photoshop cs4. I am not quite sure what you mean how I can flip the image. I will like to hear more of that, please. I have crop it differently.

[Ben Holder]

I think the first picture has better impact than the second one, simply because it looks like she is turning her head to the right.

[koos]

Ben, I learn so much! There is more detail to a photo that I could imagine. I have corrected the horizon, and yes, I couldnt figure out why the first one also work. And it is as you say, that her head is turning to the right.

[sk66]

I think both work fine. And you are close enough to on the third with both the horizon line and the girl....but it's just a guideline and sometimes it's better broken.....
In this case, since it works well from either side maybe you should try placing the girl near center, keep the horizon line near where it is and see how that works for you.

[koos]

sk66, that is how I have took the photo in the beginning, but I thought it is against the rules



I like it it like this.

[sunwrites]

nice shot. my humble thoughts:

1. rule of 3rds - horizon along the top third line as there's more drama in the sand (reflection) while the sky is rather empty.
2. leading space - doesn't matter as we cannot see in which direction she's looking.

[navcom]

Personally I like the second rendition with your daughter in the right 1/3. The combination of her reflection and herself centered top to bottom gives good symmetry. Also, the fact that she is turned slightly to the left makes your eye want to know what's out over the horizon on the left side of the image...as though she's contemplating something out there.

Definitely like that one. Nice job!