Pocketshooters on The Rule of Thirds

Remember the old saying “rules were mean’t to be broken”? No truer is that saying than in creative arts. In the world of photography, the established “rules” are more like “suggestions” or guidelines. They are helpful pointers to keep your mind focused on the story you’re attempting to tell in your image.

In previous episodes, we’ve covered various components of photographic composition. In this episode we’ll dive into one of the biggest, and most important “suggestions”, it’s called the “rule of thirds”. Basically, the rule states that, generally speaking, if you divide your image into a sort of tic-tac-toe grid, and place your point of interest on one of the line intersections, the result will be a more pleasing photograph than if you simply placed your subject in the center of the frame.

In mobile phone photography, utilizing compositional techniques can vastly improve your shots. Considering the inherent restrictions of the medium; no interchangeable lenses, no zoom, etc. (though some mobile phones now have zoom capabilities), using this century old artistic composition technique will help help you get better images, and even improve your photography skills when you pick up a traditional camera.