The Rule of Thirds is one of the most established principles of photographic arrangement. Its nine equal boxes dictate how the human eye responds to placement and dynamics of movement. If our eye lands on the wrong junction, our brain responds with a shot of bland. Throw in a pleasing curve, or place the subject off to either the left or right third of the arrangement and the brain responds favorably.
I photograph things that tend to be, well, busy. Lots of textures. Trees, prairie grasses and flowers, rows of corn growing, piles of fallen leaves. I work sitting on the ground, or flopped on my belly. Neither position allows for moving easily to find that sweet spot in the lens. These prairie flowers were shot at Aldo Leopold’s Sand County property near Baraboo, Wisconsin.
When I get my subject in focus it rarely stands alone. Wind blown plants wave behind and in front of my little beauties. Rarely does one tree stand alone, unless it has fallen and begun the slow process of breaking back to feed earthly creatures. Weather interferes. I haven’t shot a portrait in over ten years a still life in over five. Point the camera at one of my critters and they immediately move.
My half-fast rule is, if a third of my shots are keepers, I’m happy. I live with lovely, wild, natural bokeh. On a great day, I get close to a rule of 2/3. I’ve learned to live with it. Let me know what rules you’re willing to break. Thank for stopping by again.
I’ve just starting posting different works on a new photo site, ViewBug – Charly Makray-Rice .
Weekly Photo Challenge:Rule of Thirds
The Road Less Paved 
Your photos are lovely 🙂
Thank you, Brenda. Have a lovely day. 🙂
All rules are made to be broken, it just that somethings don’t work when broken and others do.
Thanks Ben, I’m finally breaking free from those ‘rules’ and enjoying photography more. I probably won’t earn an income, as editorial work might have, but this shows more interest. I see you’re posting in the square format. Also one of those ‘love to hate’ rules, but I love it.
Half past are full pass perfect. You are good.
Wow, thanks for the compliment – gave wings to my day! HAGD and know you made someone else feel a lot better.
No compliment when I see a Good one it’s more than liking a post.
These are truly beautiful compositions, Charly. And thanks, btw, for the follow.
Thank you and you’re welcome. I’m easily lost in the way you compose and present your work, the emotion of the moment and time shows. It captured and drew me in. You’re easy to follow. 😉
Such gracious and encouraging words, Charly. Thanks again.
Charly, I can so relate to the challenges of shooting in the natural environment. Seems like there’ always a breeze blowing, critters move too fast, or something else is in the way (like trees obstructing a really nice view). But, still, it’s fun to try and with digital images, the “delete” button is quickly activated. Nice shots demonstrating the Rule of Thirds.
Thanks for the feed back. I wasn’t certain if they met any of the requirements, lol. All the best laid plans for photos shoot in nature, follow the rules of nature. Expect the unexpected. Yes, delete is a lot less expensive than a room full of negatives. This year I’ve promised myself to spend more time on composition. I remember my very best photos were still taken with a point and shoot that had a card maxed out at 90 pics! 🙂
I meant to ask, Charly. We have the same theme, so how did you manage to post that glorious big shot at the top of this post?
On the bottom right side under the key words, etc. there is a ‘choose feature photo’. That will allow you to pick a fav for each post. The chosen photo will also appear on your FB and other social media postings instead of your logo for that post. If you leave it blank nothing will appear on top of the individual blog and your logo or photo will appear on your media postings. Hope that helps. 🙂
Thank you for that info, Charly.
beautiful moments, and i enjoyed this interpretation. thanks for the smiles. i tend to be a rule bender myself. 🙂