Rule of Thirds?

[keithkdesigns]

I am interested in opinions of the composition of this shot. ...not really following the rule of thirds is it?

Should I crop it to one side?

Thanks -Keith
_________________
Pentax K-x
Lens: smc PENTAX-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II
1/60
f/7.1
Focal Length 55mm
ISO 400

[Laurenbiz]

Hmmm, no. But, I do like the DOF here!

Rule of Thirds

[bruceliv]

Pardon me for playing around. But, this is more of what I'd like to see:



I believe my rotation and crop gives the viewer a bit of a less static feeling.
Too bad the tip of the damsel is out of focus.
Another way would be to keep you image, but clone in more of your background above the insect. Perhaps make a vertical.

Perhaps I can describe my point better:
When a living subject is facing in a particular direction, crop photo with more room in that direction and less behind. This goes for human portraits too!

The rule of thirds is a guideline to learn composition, but it's not written in stone.Sometimes other factors take precedence.

Be encouraged, it's a beautiful image!

[keithkdesigns]

Thank you for the replies. When I took the shot, I was trying to see how close I could get. I was trying to fill the viewfinder. I have a few others that are not as close but perhaps the composition is better. Thanks again.

[cleamon]

Originally Posted by keithkdesigns

Thank you for the replies. When I took the shot, I was trying to see how close I could get. I was trying to fill the viewfinder. I have a few others that are not as close but perhaps the composition is better. Thanks again.

I agree with bruceliv on this one. Trying to create a diagonal will create a much more dramatic image as opposed to the straight on shot.

BUT rules are made to be broken. Also check out other compositional "rules" such as:

rule of odds
golden section rule
golden spiral rule (Golden Section and Rule of Thirds (Golden Mean, Golden Ratio, Golden Spiral, Golden Proportion, Golden Triangles).)
diagonal rule
disappearing lines
the use of "s" curves
frames within a frame

(Oh, and there's nothing wrong with symmetry)

google is your friend.

[bruceliv]

Great post, Chuck!

If I read all that stuff, I'd never take any pictures ;~)
I've learned about composition from several artist friends over the years, not photographers. Then there's the ongoing process of developing an eye -- and, that is forever a work in progress.

Golden spiral? I've called that the Nautilus! The same logarithmic functions were used to develop the Exponential Horns, which were the best loudspeakers during the heyday of HiFi. 'Tis amazing how there is a synthesis of mathematics, nature and art.

[cleamon]

Originally Posted by bruceliv

Great post, Chuck!

If I read all that stuff, I'd never take any pictures ;~)
I've learned about composition from several artist friends over the years, not photographers. Then there's the ongoing process of developing an eye -- and, that is forever a work in progress.

Golden spiral? I've called that the Nautilus! The same logarithmic functions were used to develop the Exponential Horns, which were the best loudspeakers during the heyday of HiFi. 'Tis amazing how there is a synthesis of mathematics, nature and art.

Yeah, I couldn't sit and read all that (at once), but over time all these things start to sink in, little by little, and become more intuitive.

[keithkdesigns]

Thanks Chuck, I'll be sure to go through all of that. Here's another dragonfly picture that I cropped, it was centered also. I tweaked it a bit Lightroom too.

opinions on this one would be appreciated also.

Keith

Pentax K-x
Lens: smc PENTAX-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II
1/1000
f/7.1
Focal Length 55mm
ISO 400

[bruceliv]

The composition is ok. I have problems with the DoF. (BTW, no EXIF data for this one on flickr.) It's nice to have the wings in focus, but with this view, you would need the head in focus too. So that's what it needs to be a decent photo. Now, one step further, the background is not natural and rather distracting. If the fly were crisper, the background would be less distracting, but, I still wouldn't like the background. I have a suspicion that an awful lot of the image is cropped out and that's why the resolution doesn't look too good.

It's very difficult to take a closeup with a kit lens, crop the heck out of it and try to make a macro. For a true macro image, and one that's tack sharp, you're going to need a dedicated lens for that purpose.