One of the most well known rules of photography is The Rule of Thirds. This rule is used in all forms of art to explain how to create a visually pleasing image.  The rule of thirds was around in art before photography even existed. This technique can be traced as far back as 1797 and some believe it goes back even further.  It was believed that for a composition to seem more pleasing and interesting, an imaginary grid of nine equal parts should be drawn and the most important information should be placed in the outer thirds and along the four intersections. This is illustrated below.

Do

Place  the main point of interest and other important elements near the intersections of vertical and horizontal lines at 1/3 points of the frame.

Don’t

A simpler explanation of the rule of thirds is, “Don’t put your most important information right in the middle of the shot.”

Try and avoid “floating”parts of your image or not anchoring some point of the information to one of the lines in the frame.  Avoid putting visual information in the 5th square (dead centre).

Questions to ask when thinking about the rule of thirds:

• What are the most important areas of visual information in my shot?
• Where am I going to put those?

The Rule of Thirds: Take it? Or Leave it?

Like most rules, breaking the rule of thirds can be just as satisfactory or interesting as upholding it.  It is best to play around and experiment to find a shot that best suits what you’re aiming to do with the photo and your particular subject matter. Remember, the rule of thirds became a rule because people agreed it just looked good.

KoodibooK is about preserving and sharing your memories in a unique way while giving you the best possible when you create a photo book.  The KoodibooK software allows you to access your photos at amazing speed from wherever they are stored and use them to create photobooks that can be previewed in 3-D, published online for free and printed professionally. Create a photo book here!

Last Wednesday we announced that we were going to have some fun observing NANPA’s 5th annual nature photography day. The team have been very busy today taking photos and I must say we have some very interesting photos!

If you are a NANPA member and haven’t submitted any photos yet you still have until midnight today to do so here. It’s not a competition and all submissions from members will be published in the North American  nature photography association newsletter. Remember photos must be taken today!

As promised, here are a few photos taken today by various members of the KoodibooK team. The first is Chris’ nature photo

Jason’s idea of a nature themed photo was a plastic lion so we sent him back to take a real nature photo

Richard’s nature photo from his back garden….

I’m sure cycling to work gave Adam an advantage

Simon clearly put a lot of effort into this one…

And here’s a sheep from Phil

And finally, check out these spiders from my back garden!

So what nature photos did you take today? Share a few with us here and we will compile all the photos into a photobook to be published on koodibook.com.

Every year for the last 4 years, the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) encourages members  from all continents to take a nature shot on the 15^th of June for publication in their July/August bi-monthly newsletter. NANPA Members can submit one nature photo as long as it is taken on June 15^th within walking distance of wherever they are on the day.

We at KoodibooK thought we’d have some fun and take some nature photographs wherever we are on that day. It would be interesting to see how creative we can get with finding nature scenes to capture around us. Join the fun! Take some nature photos on June 15th and share them with us here, friends and family. It does not have to be a perfect nature scene. As long as it has a nature theme it’s fine.

KoodibooK is about sharing your memories and making inspiring designs while giving you the best possible experience with photobook creation.  The KoodibooK software allows you to access your photos at amazing speed from wherever they are stored and use them to create photobooks that can be published anywhere.

Photo credit: Eleanor Bull & Ben Marder