minoltaman wrote:....do some searches on "rule of thirds" or "ROT". Rules are made to be broken but it is sometimes a good place to start.
Anytime someone pipes up about the "rule-of-thirds" or any other compositional rule, two quotes immediately come to mind. The first is from Edward Weston:
"Such rule and laws are deduced from
the accomplished fact; they are the
product of reflection and after-
examination, and are in no way a
part of the creative impetus. When
subject matter is forced to fit into
preconceived patterns, there can be
no freshness of vision. Following
rules of composition can only lead
to a tedious repetition of pictorial
cliches."
And the other quote is from Freeman Patterson:
"Composition should be determined by
picture content, rather than imposed
upon it. It's far better to have a
reason for each composition you
make, than to have rules which you
try to force upon the subject."
This is why, rather than suggesting specific compositional rules, I'll otherwise encourage others towards more general design principles like making efforts to "kill the clutter" -- it encourages a person not just to pay attention to their center of interest, but otherwise to pay attention to all areas of the image they are making.
This is not to suggest that there is never a time to apply a rule like the "rule-of- thirds", or even to teach it, but only that it is better something left for when we are already stronger observers, and for those moments of shooting when all other reasoning for how to compose our momentary image confounds us, for those moments when we are just at wit's end, and we need to just fall back on "Plan B," as it were.
So in the main, I find it best not to encourage folks to even wonder about "the rule-of-thirds", lest we unwittingly do them a disservice by teaching them the tricks of the trade before helping them to become more careful and observant image makers in the first place.
If that makes any sense.
CJ