Well, it is the Magic Number

I am truly a beginner with photography. After a few months with my new toy, and a lot of research, I'm slowly understanding the very, very, very basics.  I thought I'd share what I have learned because I'm having so much fun learning it.  I'm going to try to do 1 basic photography rule each week.  I by no means think that my photographs are shining examples of mastering anything (nor are they feats of creativity), they are just my examples.  If you know anything about photography you'll probably find nothing useful in the information below - however, there are some pretty cute pictures, so maybe don't disregard the post completely...

Rule #1: The rule of 3's.  Every photograph is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically by the human eye.  Mentally draw these lines out, essentially making a tic-tac-toe grid.  If you frame your focal points in one of the intersecting lines, or along one of the lines, you'll have a better photograph. Now that I know this is a "rule", I see it everywhere. I can hardly watch a movie or a commercial on TV without seeing how this principle is used. Of course this rule is not always followed. But, as it is said, know the rule before you break it.



In framing your subject you want to ask yourself, is it more interesting if they are looking into the camera or away from it? Or at another person? This will influence what "third" intersection you will use.  Obviously this photo would be quite different if our Roosta was positioned in the lower third on the right hand side...



Here are 2 subjects, neither looking at the camera, but the action is still in "a third"... in fact, I think it became a more interesting photo after I cropped off the top of M's head, placing their sweet little exchange in the upper third as opposed to it being more in the center. Who knows, I could be completely wrong, but they sure are cute...



It works for food too.



Oh, did I mention we bought 36 hot dogs at Costco to kick off the fall and say bye-bye to summer?



That's right. We ate 5. Don't judge.

Back to the point... which I think I've made. Thirds, woo.

Obviously, other aspects of composition, background, aperture, shutter speed, lighting, metering (like I have any idea what that actually does), white balance (all I know about that is what I learned first hand- put it on auto or all your pictures will be turquoise), and many other things I've never heard of effect a picture.  I'm slowly learning about each of them; I'll keep you updated on my efforts (And I'll use J pictures. I have no illusions about why most people read my blog).