Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a concept used in photography to help frame the picture so it appears more balanced.  It is a guideline for creating compositions so it can be applied to scrapbook pages or any other type of art.

Keep in mind that rules of composition are not meant to be an exact science and do not need to be strictly followed (or followed at all).

Basic Principle

The rule of thirds states that an image can be divided by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, creating nine equal parts. The picture to the right shows these divisions for a 4x6 picture.

The principle is that you use the lines and the points of intersection to help place the focal point within the frame of the picture.  By doing so, your image becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer to interact with it more naturally.

Focal Point

In order to use the rule of thirds, you must first understand what the focal point is. Most of the time, it's obvious- it's the reason why you're taking the picture or making the page.  The focal point can be a person, a group of people, a landscape or an animal (just to name a few).  For a page, it is the most prominent picture which is usually the best picture.

Take a look at some of these examples of what the focal point is.  In a portrait of a single person, it's the face. In a group of people, there's usually one person who stands out a bit more, while the rest are subordinate. The dominant one, because of position, size, or placement, is the focal point. In a landscape or still life, it's the part of the picture that draws your eye to it first. On a page about your child's birthday, it could be a picture of the child eating a piece of cake.

Points of Intersection

For most people, the instinct is to place the focal point in the center of the picture but this is not the ideal location.  Studies have shown that when viewing images, a person’s eye usually goes to one of the intersecting points more naturally rather than the center of the shot. The rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

In the picture of the woman and baby to the right, there are two focal points to consider, the woman’s and baby’s faces.  Each one sits close enough to the points of intersection for the rule of thirds to work. 

Horizontal Lines

The rule of thirds can be applied by lining up subjects with the guiding lines, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line instead of the center, or allowing linear features in the photograph to flow from section to section.

In landscape photography use the horizontal grid lines for things like horizons and where water meets land.  In portrait photography use the horizontal grid lines for placing peoples’ eyes, or, in group shots, peoples’ heads.

This landscape photo demonstrates the use of the horizontal lines to frame the picture.  The top horizontal line perfectly lines up with the division between the water and the buildings.  The bottom line also divides the picture between the water and the trees. 

Vertical Lines

Use the vertical grid lines for things like trees, waterfalls, specific aspects of architecture, or just a person with a background behind them.

The crane shown in this picture demonstrates both the use of the vertical lines as well as the intersecting points.  The tall height of the crane perfectly lines up with the right vertical line and three of the four intersecting points touch the main parts of the crane.

Applying The Rule Of Thirds To Scrapbook Layouts

Apply the rule of thirds to scrapbook layouts the same way you do to pictures – use the guidelines and intersecting points to place the elements on the page.

The easiest application of this concept is a page with only one picture.  It is best to begin by placing the pictures and large elements first then place the smaller embellishments to finish balancing the page.

The red and black layout seen to the right uses several of the rule of thirds concepts to create the overall balance of the page.  In the picture, the child’s face and the zebra are lined up with the left vertical line and corresponding intersecting points.   The middle black strip of paper lines up with the right vertical line, balancing the second half of the page against the picture.  Lastly, the ribbon is placed so that it sits at the bottom horizontal line and the tag is perfectly aligned with another of the intersecting points.

Now let’s look at a 2-page layout with multiple pictures on each page.

Both pages use the four intersecting points to place the pictures, the frog and dog paper pieced elements.  The guidelines weren’t directly used when the pages were initially designed but you can see that horizontal lines help to draw your eye across the row of pictures on both pages.  This unifies and balances the pages so they work together.

Helpful Tips

• Make a small grid using a transparency that is the same size as your digital camera’s LCD screen.  Hold it up to the screen to help frame your picture until you get used to using the rule of thirds.
• Take a sheet protector (since it is large enough) and with a permanent marker draw the rule of thirds’ grid onto the protector.  Then you can simply lay it over your page while you are designing it.