Do you remember the scene in the movie "Titanic" where Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are on the bow of the fated ship leaning forward with their arms outstretched? Here they are, on what was considered the safest ship of its day, taking a big risk by leaning over the railing for a bit of a thrill. In the movie it is a metaphor for the risks these two young lovers are taking in their personal lives, and a foreboding of things to come. But I see in this a great example of how we should be using the "Rule of Thirds" in our photographic compositions.
The rule of thirds, by other names, has been around for many thousands of years. The ancient Greeks understood the importance of the ratio 5:8 in artistic composition. Over the years the relationship between that ratio and the "Golden Section" has been noticed by mathematicians and artists alike. By the Renaissance the rule of thirds was well accepted in artistic circles and used extensively by artists of that time. Today, nearly every book on composition starts with a discussion of the rule of thirds and its importance in good design, but I never see the reasoning behind why the rule works and how to best use it effectively. That's what I hope to address here.
Consider once again the image of the two lovers perched perilously on the bow of the ship. They would have had pretty much the same view if they had leaned back just a bit and stood safely on deck; but that would not have been very exciting, would it? No, there was some excitment created by taking a risk and leaning over the edge. Now if they had leaned too far over the edge they would have created even more excitement when they tilted over and fell, but they didn't want that either. The thrill came from pushing the limit right to the edge without going over. The same is true in composition.
Consider the very center of your image to be the 'safe' area. It's safe because no risk has been taken, but there is also no thrill, no excitement. To be honest, it's boring. On the other hand, push things too far toward the edge and things get cut off or eliminated. That's not good either. The excitement comes when we get right close to the edge without going too far. Now I have noticed that most objects need some room to swim around. That is, placing something right against and edge just doesn't "feel right"; a bit of space is required. Most of the time, you will find that there is a balance between safety and risk close to half way between dead center and the edge of the frame; which is exactly where the rule of thirds tells us we should be placing important subjects. Suddenly it makes sense; we want to create a bit of excitement without creating the feeling that we have gone too far.
There is some wiggle room here. Depending on what you are shooting, you may find that there are times when you want to be a bit closer to the edge, and others when you want to be a bit closer to the center. Think of doing a portrait of someone important in your community; you would probably want to put them closer to the center to imply stability and strength. A young person, full of energy and mischief, might be better served very near the 'dangerous edge.'
Of special note are the intersections where two line of thirds overlap. Its great to place important things here, but again, this is only a rough estimate. What is best for your composition is likely to be just a bit off the exact spot. Please, don't take my word for this. Try it for yourself. Think of the center of your composition as the boring safe spot and the edges as the thrilling dangerous areas and play with the dynamic. Artists call this "creating dynamic tension." There are other ways to create this kind of tension, especially with color and balance, but those are tools we will have to talk about another time. Right now, using placement in this way is among the easiest tool to use. Think of it as the hammer of the design tools. Simple? Yes, but it can have a profound impact.
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