Dark Photography School

Introduction to the rule of thirds

Symmetry plays one of the most important roles in determining the aesthetic quality of a photograph. As a rule, you generally want to avoid placing the subject of the photograph dead in the center of it. For some reason, we prefer edges and lines that appear in thirds rather than halves. That is to say that you the want focal point (subject) to be either on the right or left, 1/3 or 2/3 of the distance from the edge. Likewise for horizontal lines. This is known as the rule of thirds, as illlustrated by the crude drawing below:

Exceptions to the rule

There are exceptions to the rule of thirds, and one of these examples is the (appearance of) the convergence of paralllel lines. The point at which parallel lines appear to meet is known as a vanishing point. Frequently, you will be dealing with imaginary vanishing points because the parallel lines will stop before they actually meet. Regardless of whether or not they appear to meet, a good way to create a striking photo is to center that point.

Imaginary vanishing points

When you are dealing with imaginary vanishing points (the lines end before they appear to meet), you want to make sure there is at least something that draws the eyes where the point would be. A good focal point for this scenario would be people. By leaving the shutter speed slower than 1/10 of a second, I was able to blur them while in movement.

EXIF: 800 ISO, 1/4 sec., f/4, 35mm focal length, flash off

The vanishing point and contrasts

An idea conveyed by parallel lines is symmetry and sameness, but one thing that creates uniqueness is a contrasting of two things–light and dark, color and black and white, tall and short, etc. In the photo below, the light exists on the parallel lines, but the dark represents where the lines would meet had they continued.
The photo below is the Free Expression Tunnel at NC State University.

EXIF: 1600 ISO, 1/2 sec., f/16, 40mm focal length, flash off

Dealing with horizons

It’s important to remember that this is not a hard and fast rule. There are other guidelines you want to remember as well, including the one about centering the horizon. Under almost all circumstances, you do not want the horizon to be at the halfway mark of the height of the photo. The focusing points on your DSLR often make it tempting to do, but avoid it! Even a slight nudge above or below 50% is better.

EXIF: 200 ISO, 10 sec., f/13, 28mm focal length, flash off

Adding perspective

When you position your camera as close as possible to one of the parallel lines, you can create a dramatic perspective to your photo. In general it’s a good idea to avoid eye-level shots when possible. Think about it for a minute — we all see the world at eye level. Why not show your viewers something they aren’t accustomed to seeing?

EXIF: 100 ISO, 15 sec., f/9.5, 17mm focal length, flash off

Using streetlights as lines

You obviously do not want to be standing in the middle of the road late at night trying to get a picture while your camera is on a tripod, but you can often find a road that dead ends at a safe spot. You can then use several streetlights in succession as parallel lines to the vanishing point.

EXIF: 100 ISO, 8 sec., f/16, 25mm focal length, flash off

Your homework assignment

Locate an imaginary vanishing point. Center it. Photograph it. There are a few places that are easy targets:

• alleys
• tunnels
• streets
• bridges
• hallways

The list goes on and on. Have any examples of vanishing points? Comment on this post.