Theme: Rule of Thirds
I figured that in addition to people getting creative, that I could use the challenges to teach different rules/techniques/etc. to help you shoot better.
One of the standard rules of composition in photography is the “Rule of Thirds.” Ultimately, when you look through your camera’s viewfinder, imagine there is a 3×3 grid across the screen (some cameras actually can do this for you). The rule of thirds states that you should try to place the main point of interest in your image along those lines/intersections. They don’t necessarily need to be directly at the intersection points or whatnot, but close enough to make a difference. Here’s a look at the above image with the grid in place:
I used a lot of ‘space’ in the image to bring out the subject, but as you see the primary focus is in the upper-left. Technically, you can re-crop the image in post-production, but I recommend trying to get it right in camera first.
So go out there and before snapping a picture…re-compose it! Give it a bit more impact. The one thing I’d like to steer you away from is keeping the subject in the dead center of the frame…
(A little bit more detail on my composition above: since the ‘baller’ was facing towards the bottom, that’s where I placed the majority of the open space. It gives sense of direction leading the viewer into where the subject is heading. Let the subject lead the viewer into the image…)
All submissions should be sent to [email protected], and be sized to around 500px on the longest side. Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!
