The Rules of PhotographyUnit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology

P1, P2, M1, M2

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Rule of thirds• Off centre the object to the side, you

have to imagine the image is split up into 9 sections by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important subject should be placed along these lines or their cross roads.

• If you put the main subject in the middle of your picture, it is seen as ‘static’ because once your eye is drawn to the middle there is no where else for it to go.

• An example of having pictures of centre are these two pictures to the right, they demonstrate my point earlier by the main object not being in the centre of the picture.

Framing• Framing is a technique used to

bring the focus to the subject• It makes the subject of your

image standout more because it is framed

• The frame can either be natural or a physical object. E.g: Window, trees, door frames

The framing technique is used in both these photos making the background to these images stand out more.

Leading Lines• Leading line is when your eyes are

drawn to the front of the image to the back.

• They are also used to focus on a focal point

• Like for example the top images leading lines makes you look to the very far end of the platform, you also look at the very end of the second photo aswell, the yellow line on the road makes you follow the picture more centrally aswell.

Balancing Elements• You should balance the weight of

your image subject of a lesser importance to fill the space.

• For example in this picture to the right, the main focus is the ‘out’ sign, but to fill the rest of the picture so it isn't empty they have took it with a building in the background to fill the space

Symmetry & Patterns• Making the frame of your subject

symmetrical mirror images (strong vocal point)

• As seen in the images to the right and bellow

Depth of Field• The distance of the image strong

definition focus is central. Shallow depth of field is when not a lot is in focus in the picture, your eyes are drawn to the focused bit first then follows the rest of the picture

• Like these photos to the right, the water droplets on the top image are in focus, but the background is distorted