Bob's Blog
Thoughts From an Island Photographer

Morning At Hawksnest Beach

When taking as many photos as we do, day in and day out, it helps to have simple rules of thumb that make photo compositions easier to capture and easy to crop to achieve the maximum wow factor for our clients. 

One of the basics we recognize day in and day out is the infamous Rule Of Thirds. Whether you are a novice shutterbug or an experienced wedding photographer, the Rule of Thirds is a guideline worth considering. Even when you ‘break’ the rule of thirds, if you look closely at your work, you may find you actually executed a variation of this time-honored photography rule.  

 Wikipedia summarizes it as follows:

 “The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design.^[1] The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.^[2] Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. “

 Thie photo shown to the right is a classic pose for bridal couples and siblings too and shows a classic use of the Rule of Thirds. Notice the symmetry involved with the two children looking at the camera lense. The placement of their eyes at separate intersects on one horizontal plane and their joined hands laying across the other horizontal plane make a vivid statement. 

Sunset On A Memorable St. John Day

 This romantic photo of a wedded couple stealing a sunset kiss shows why the Rule  is really a guideline for truly powerful images.  

 Notice that the kiss happens on an intersect as the natural focal point to the image. The discarded flowers were already a strong statement with their bright color in the muted scene. The bouquet is cropped purposely to be positioned outside the intersect, but close.  Placement at the intersect, as a pure Rule of Third suggests, would overpower the kiss. Another crop might have focused on the flowers, and offset the bridal couple completely away from an intersect and away from the focus.  What a different photo that would be!

As you can see, there is plenty of room for artistic vision and creativity while still considering this important compositional guideline and even ‘breaking’ the rule.

On Peace Hill in Late Afternoon

When processing an image during a vow renewal of a couple reaching for each other across a grassy path, we noticed their children were in the background spying on the action. A drastic crop allowed us to close in on them  and made for an interesting shot. While it seemingly breaks the rule, it uses the Rule of Thirds too.  

 Instead of aligning the grasped hands along the horizontal line, we place it above. It is a strong statement and placing them along the horizontal line would over dramatize this. Instead, we used the Rule of Thirds so that one child appears above the line and the other below the line, and just outside the intersect. We feel it draws the eye to their direction.

 When you prepare to capture a photo, consider the Rule of Thirds to improve compositions with your posing, whether a beach wedding or vacation portraits. And when cropping photos, experiment with the Rule of Thirds and you will suddenly see endless possibilities for creativity. If you photograph every day like we do, it will become an automatic process and as natural as pushing the shutter release button on the camera. 

Hey, did you notice that Caribbean Blue seems to be the ‘in color’ for the younger girls this season? It’s actually a perennial favorite here on St. John. And why not? It’s just beautiful!

Until next time,

Karin and Bob Schlesinger
Your Island Photographers