Rule of thirds

ronviers

Jul 5, 2007

On Jul 5, 1:52 am, "embee" wrote:

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).
What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

Hi embee,

Rule of thirds is just one of many things you should keep in mind when composing a photo either in camera or in PS. In a given image it may be more important to remove busy or unwanted objects that detract from the subject. If the rule of thirds places the subject facing out of frame then it probably should be ignored. If the rule of thirds means leaving an unwanted shadow or a merge then it should probably be ignored.
Personally I never crop images. I prefer to ‘place’ them inside PS as smart objects so the composition can be revisited at any time.

Good luck,
Ron

Joe

Jul 5, 2007

"embee" wrote:

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).

Rule_Of_Thirds or Rule_Of_Whatever may depend on the type, style, situation etc. not just the rule photographer has to follow, especially on all photos.

It seems like someone just read or hear some idea then turn it into some type of bible <bg>

What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

Cropping is one of the most important parts of post processing (or photography) *but* you crop to make the photo more alive, more focus, more of style etc. not to follow the Rule_Of_Thirds.

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?

Just crop to whatever you feel the photo comes alive, more focus, more possitive and less negative, good balance etc.. then you may see it will be either pretty close to the Rule_Of_Thirds or even than the Rule_Of_Thirds.

My suggestion is learn the art of cropping, and don’t make yourself following any rule but whatever please your eyes and feeling.

Thanks

Roy G

Jul 5, 2007

"embee" wrote in message

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).
What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

Hi.

If you look at the people pictures on display at the Studio of a "stylish" professional photographer, you will see the "Rule of Thirds" in use .

These would be done by arranging the subjects according to that "Rule", it would be complemented by judicous cropping afterwards.

If your people groups were not arranged according to that rule, at the time of taking, then there is little point in trying to make them conform afterwards.

Just crop until you have as pleasing an arrangement as you can get.

Do remember that while there are all sorts of "Rules" about photography, quite often the very best pictures do not conform to any of them.

Roy G

pico

Jul 5, 2007

The rule of thirds is 66.6% bull, 33.3% irrelevant and the rest is arguable.

Toke Eskildsen

Jul 5, 2007

embee wrote:

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

PhotoShop Plugin:
http://powerretouche.com/Divine_proportion_tutorial.htm

Related articles: http://photoinf.com/

Shameless self promotion: http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/ (only works for JPEGs)

Alan Browne

Jul 8, 2007

embee wrote:

Any recommendations?

Use the "rule of thirds" for guidance or as a composition self-check, not as an absolute rule.

One photog I know uses it to make sure things are _well outside_ the thirds lines.

There is nothing wrong with a centered image if that is all that’s required for the subject and scene.

"Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools."

Cheers,
Alan

Malcolm Smith

Jul 8, 2007

I wish people would stop referring to it as a "rule’ as every new photographer who hears it think God sent them on stone tablets.

Another crap thing I still read is "expose negatives for the shadows" Malcolm
"embee" wrote in message

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).
What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

Dave

Jul 9, 2007

On Sun, 08 Jul 2007 23:35:59 GMT, "Malcolm Smith" wrote:

I wish people would stop referring to it as a "rule’ as every new photographer who hears it think God sent them on stone tablets.
Another crap thing I still read is "expose negatives for the shadows" Malcolm
"embee" wrote in message

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).
What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

Typical top posters crap. You do not even honor the ‘read from top to bottom’ rule. If you want to make your own rules, do it but don’t irritate other people with it.

Dave

John Boy

Jul 9, 2007

Malcolm Smith wrote:

Another crap thing I still read is "expose negatives for the shadows"

🙂 Kinda wish you had snipped the referred post. Anywho, I agree that people should learn light, then make the exposure decision based upon what they want to show.

Malcolm Smith

Jul 9, 2007

your right of course – I should have snipped the referred post info- my opologies!
Malcolm

Tom Nelson

Jul 9, 2007

I agree with the others who counsel that the "rule" is not very important, BUT…

If you want to do what you say (crop to the rule of thirds on a 4×6)…

1. Make a new 4×6 document and set horizontal and vertical guides at 1/3 and 2/3

2. Drag a photo onto it to make a new layer. It will probably be too large.

3. Resize the layer with Edit>Free Transform until it’s the way you like, using the guides to put the center of interest at an intersection. If the image is too large to see the crop handles, press cmd/ctrl-0 (zero) to fit the view of everything (even outside the document) on the screen.

Tom Nelson
Tom Nelson Photography

Alan Browne

Jul 10, 2007

Malcolm Smith wrote:

I wish people would stop referring to it as a "rule’ as every new photographer who hears it think God sent them on stone tablets.

One pro refers to it as the "tool" of thirds. Just a reminder to think about composition, not a hard guide.

"Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools."

Another crap thing I still read is "expose negatives for the shadows"

Perhaps because it’s really: "expose negative for shaddow _detail_"

In practice if you point your trusty spot meter at the shaddow area for a reading of -2 (III) (to -3 (II) at a stretch) you will _record_ the detail on the negative. That’s what it’s about and it works very well.

B&W adherents who follow Ansel Adams will take it a lot further.

Personally, I don’t often work it that way as I usually incident meter for the area of interest and overexpose 1 stop (negative film) by setting the ISO low by 1 stop. I get oodles of shaddow (or dark texture) detail this way and the highlights are never an issue.

Cheers,
Alan

—
— r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm — r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm — [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin — e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

John Boy

Jul 10, 2007

Alan Browne wrote:

Perhaps because it’s really: "expose negative for shaddow _detail_"
In practice if you point your trusty spot meter at the shaddow area for a reading of -2 (III) (to -3 (II) at a stretch) you will _record_ the detail on the negative. That’s what it’s about and it works very well.

Click on the More link here: http://www.digoliardi.net/mypages/p3.htm

When a person knows his vision, he can choose.

MisterMax

Jul 10, 2007

John Boy wrote:

Click on the More link here: http://www.digoliardi.net/mypages/p3.htm
When a person knows his vision, he can choose.

I know my vision. It chooses to tell me that I can’t read his tiny type nor appreciate his tiny photos.

– Max

http://buten.net/max

Malcolm Smith

Jul 10, 2007

Alan
you obviously understand the response of your film and its response in your camera and have a procedure which works well for you.

My bitch in my earlier post is the often repeated advice in (particularly UK photography magazines) to newbies to expose for the shadows with negative film. They sometines quote the authority of Ansel Adams in thjis but he also said develop for the highlights. In the Australian landscape we often have very contrasty and bright light so I believe that not blowing out the highlights is critical.

I am going away for several weeks and I would like to bounce my thoughts off you when I return (either direct e-mail to you or a new thread).

All the best
Malcolm.

Alan Browne

Jul 11, 2007

Malcolm Smith wrote:

Alan
you obviously understand the response of your film and its response in your camera and have a procedure which works well for you.

My bitch in my earlier post is the often repeated advice in (particularly UK photography magazines) to newbies to expose for the shadows with negative film. They sometines quote the authority of Ansel Adams in thjis but he also said develop for the highlights. In the Australian landscape we often have very contrasty and bright light so I believe that not blowing out the highlights is critical.

I am going away for several weeks and I would like to bounce my thoughts off you when I return (either direct e-mail to you or a new thread).

Certainly, remove the freelunch in the e-mail address…

For scenery I’m partial to slide film, so highlights are my #1 check before committing to film.

Cheers,
Alan

Alan Browne

Jul 11, 2007

John Boy wrote:

Alan Browne wrote:

Perhaps because it’s really: "expose negative for shaddow _detail_"
In practice if you point your trusty spot meter at the shaddow area for a reading of -2 (III) (to -3 (II) at a stretch) you will _record_ the detail on the negative. That’s what it’s about and it works very well.

When a person knows his vision, he can choose.

I’m not checking that link, other fish to fry, but anyone claiming that you can’t control shaddow detail in negative film by metering there and setting exposure appropriately … ain’t done it much.

If I miscontrued your reply, then apologies.

Cheers,
Alan

sonsdad

Jul 14, 2007

Hi

Stuart Little (Google for him) as an action that will probably give you exactly what you want.

Cheers

embee wrote:

Hi,

I have a set of pictures that were taken at a family event which I need to prepare for printing at 6"x4". Many of them are poorly composed and do not follow the rule of thirds (ie. main points of interest – people in this case – placed at the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid).
What is the best way, when cropping and resizing these images, to make sure they do follow the rule of thirds?

I’ve been using the crop tool, set at 6×4", and doing it "by eye", then after the crop turning on the grid in Photoshop – which I have set to place a horizontal and vertical line at every 33 per cent mark. I can then check how accurately my crop follows the rule of thirds. Another way I have tried is to create a blank 6×4 document, turn the grid on, then drag the image over and use transform to resize it. This gives more accurate results, but is more time consuming.

Ideally, I would like to use the crop tool, but have a 3×3 grid WITHIN the crop area so I can accurately see how the final cropped image will conform to the rule of thirds.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

Roy G

Jul 16, 2007

"sonsdad" wrote in message

Hi

Stuart Little (Google for him) as an action that will probably give you exactly what you want.

Cheers

Hi

It is www.stuartlittlephotography.co.uk He has rather a lot of PS actions available, so it may take some finding.

He sells sets of actions from his Ebay shop at very reasonable costs.

Yes, I do know him, but I have no financial interest.

Roy G

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

Related Discussion Topics