Exercise 4: Composition- Rule of Thirds

23.02.2017 (Week 4)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Exercise 4: Composition- Rule of Thirds

Lecture:

In this fourth week, Mr Vinod taught us about composition. He mentioned that from now onwards, it will be slightly more difficult for us and for him as well because there are no more technicalities to be taught. Lessons would be a little bit more subjective. As an example, composition cannot be taught efficiently and perfectly in class but more through personal experiences, trials and errors. Mr Vinod told us that images have energy. It can give off a certain vibe or feel. That, is what he calls it as, emotional and compositional value. Mr Vinod taught us about the Rule of Thirds. The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. An example of the Rule of Thirds is shown below. 

After teaching us about the Rule of Thirds and giving us examples to look at, Mr Vinod then instructed the class to go out of the class and capture their own images using the Rule of Thirds to try and come up with a well composed image. He also wanted us to bear in mind the zone system while capturing the image. Below are the images I took to try out the Rule of Thirds: 

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/50 sec

ISO : 400 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/100 sec

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/30 sec

Instructions:

Exercise 4a: Rule of Thirds
Capture 3 Images adhering to the Rule of Thirds
Using 1 person
Using 3 persons
Using a scenery
When placing the image on the document for printing; place one image with the Rule of Third lines visible and another without the lines side by side (as instructed in class)

(Put to use what you have learnt in the Zone system exercises here)

Exercise 4a: Rule of Thirds



1) 1 Person

ISO : 800 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/160 sec

2) 3 Persons 

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/80 sec

 3) A scenery

ISO : 400 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/250 sec

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

I was a little bit confused at first about the Rule of Thirds. Slowly, through the explanations of Mr Vinod, in-class exercises and our own weekly assignments, I began to understand the use of the Rule of Thirds more. It amuses me that an image does not need to be perfectly symmetrical or well balanced on all sides to be a well-composed and eye-catching image. Perhaps, it also depends on the style and type of image we aim to achieve.

Observations:

While working on this task, I came to notice that it was not easy at all to take a well-composed shot that is also spontaneous. It took me a lot of trials and errors and practice to even get something decent looking.


Findings:

When I was doing exercise 4a, I found that the Rule of Thirds is something which we can only learn properly through practical trial and errors. I also found that a photograph can still look very well-composed and well-balanced even if the subject matter is not in the centre of the picture. In fact, sometimes being along the Rule of Thirds line brings about more pulling factor that draws a viewer's attention towards the subject matter.