The three rules of photo club...

The first rule of photo club is to always shoot beautiful subjects. The second rule of photo club is to always shoot beautiful subjects. The third rule of photo club is that if your friend shoots a photograph "dead center" he better have a damn good reason for it. (Photo by Felix R. Fimbres)  Photographers Note: The light on the side of her face is a little "hot" or white, this could have been exposed a little better.

Lots of things come in three's. It just so happens to be my lucky number. But more importantly as it relates to photography there is the rule of thirds. Okay so it's not quite a three, but it's close enough.

So what is the rule of thirds? Basically, you divide the frame into thirds. Those thirds then create 4 intersecting points. Those points are the points of interest. Your eye naturally gravitates to them like pooh bears to honey. And what happens when a pooh bear finds his bee hive has no honey? He gets sad.

And what happens when I see a photograph without a subject in a point of interest? I get sad. Me and pooh bears, basically one in the same.

Here on the left is a visual representation of what I mean.

Those circles (bee hives) are the points of interest. All you need to do is put your subject (honey) into the bee hives. Presto good chance you just took a good photo.  You also saved some bear tears.

"Is it really that easy? Yes. Yes it is. You can stop here and start taking better photos each and every time.

It's not art, it's science. I've never considered myself much of an artist. The rules of composition are pretty simple and this one of them.

What about those other two points of interest on the left? Sure, go crazy and use them too. Even crazier? You can even use the top left AND the bottom right points, or the bottom left and the top right, diagonals are fun. You can use the bottom two or the top two. It's a very mix and match system.

You can also just use one of them, but in my opinion using just one doesn't help you clearly identify the subject.

In a previous post about subjects I said the subject is the most important thing to a photograph. The subject has to be clear. Those trees, that sunlight, the farm behind, they all add to this photograph, but the subject is what drives the photograph. So I put her in two points of interest. She dominates this photo, not just with her beauty but with her relative size as well.

I could have stepped back about 20 feet and she would have been the same cute little girl. But the things around here would have dwarfed her. The eyes, face and hair just wouldn't have popped nearly as much.

Also, I want you to notice that the subject has golden light on her. No, I didn't use a reflector only because I was trying to manage the subject and my camera at the same time. I used a flash with a colored gel. More expensive? Yes. Would a reflector had accomplished the same thing for cheaper? Of course, but I didn't have an assistant to aim the reflector.

Point being, putting light where it isn't naturally is important. Bending and capturing light is what a photographer does.

Learn more about the rule of thirds in "Nit pick: The eyes have it," "This is award winning?" and "Because how can you say not to those cheeks."