Camera Use Week 3 Rule of Thirds Exercises

Rule of Thirds - In Class Photo Exercises

All photographs were taken in Manual Mode and file type on Camera was set as Raw.

In Adobe Bridge - I changed the file format by opening all of the Raw Photos in Bridge and saving them as Jpgs so that I could upload them on this blog. 

I didn't edit these photographs at all, I just changed their format and saved them in a different folder.

At school, I partnered up with Richele (who is also my subject in some of these photographs) and we went outside to explore the grounds of nature outside the MIT Art Facility. It is here that I took these photographs practicing the Rule of Thirds composition and theory that it helps to create a more balanced image and is also a method of experimenting with the structure of your photographs. 

1. Landscape Photograph with the horizon on the bottom of the rule of thirds line

Like the first photograph, the above photograph was taken at a shutter speed of 1/500th. The ISO was set at 100 as we were shooting outside and it was appropriate for the lighting. The f-stop was set at 5.6, this also affected the brightness and exposure of the image so it was important to take all these factors into consideration when I was taking these photographs. I lined this photograph up with my grid that I enabled on my camera so that the horizon was aligned with the bottom rule of thirds line.

 2. Landscape Photograph with the horizon on the top of the rule of thirds line

Like the first photograph, the above photograph was taken at a shutter speed of 1/500th. The ISO was set at 100 as we were shooting outside and it was appropriate for the lighting. The f-stop was set at 5.6, this also affected the brightness and exposure of the image so it was important to take all these factors into consideration when I was taking these photographs. Again, I made sure to line up this photograph with my camera grid so that the horizon was on the top of the rule of thirds line.

3. Close up Portrait with the subjects eye on one of the rule of thirds intersecting lines

This photograph was shot at a shutter speed of 1/400th. The ISO was set at 400 and the f stop was set at 10.0 so that all factors of lighting and exposure could be at their optimum. My subject's eye sits on the right vertical gridline and the top horizontal grid line of the rule of thirds grid. I think that it has definitely made this image seem more balanced.

 4. Using a wider frame, I took a photo of Richele (my subject) and placed her on a rule of thirds intersecting line

The camera settings were similar to the previous photographs aside from the shutter speed being set at 1/125th.  My subject resides on the right vertical gridline of the rule of thirds grid. Again, I think this image is definitely more balanced after I used the rule of thirds technique.

5. Three more photographs of a setting of my choice, indicating the use of the rule of thirds guide

Each of these photographs subjects are in balance with the rule of thirds grid that I have been working with for this photoshoot. They were all shot with an f-stop of 10.0 and the third and second one were shot at an ISO of 100. The first photograph was shot at ISO 400. The shutter speeds varied throughout the shots starting with 1/125, the second photo at 1/250 and the final photo at 1/20. Like I have said previously, these camera settings are very important in capturing the correct exposure and light for an image. 

I think over all, the rule of thirds structure does make for a more balanced image composition. I also think that the structure also helps add depth to picture and makes it seem a little more interesting than having the image straight in the middle. I am aware that many artists have tried and succeeded with the rule of thirds technique, but many people also haven't and it brings a more creative feel to a photograph.