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#1
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Rule of Thirds?
I read a short article on about.com about the Rule of Thirds:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/librar...leofthirds.htm This article surprised me somewhat as I have never heard about such rule. I do however know of the Golden Section. The Golden Section positions the lines approximately 38% from the edges of the picture, whereas the Rule of Thirds positions the lines approximately 33% from the edges. If I overlay the two types of guides on an image, I find that the suggestions for composition are rather different. I know that both the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Section are suggestions only, but I'd like to know if I generally should stick to the Golden Section or if the Rule of Thirds is just as valid? Is the Rule of Thirds just meant as an easy approximation to the Golden Section? |
#2
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Rule of Thirds?
On 21 Nov 2003 21:01:32 GMT, Toke Eskildsen
wrote: I read a short article on about.com about the Rule of Thirds: http://graphicssoft.about.com/librar...leofthirds.htm This article surprised me somewhat as I have never heard about such rule. I do however know of the Golden Section. The Golden Section positions the lines approximately 38% from the edges of the picture, whereas the Rule of Thirds positions the lines approximately 33% from the edges. If I overlay the two types of guides on an image, I find that the suggestions for composition are rather different. I know that both the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Section are suggestions only, but I'd like to know if I generally should stick to the Golden Section or if the Rule of Thirds is just as valid? Is the Rule of Thirds just meant as an easy approximation to the Golden Section? I've been an amateur (occasional for hire) photographer for over 20 years and this is the first time I've ever heard of the "Golden Section"...I have, however heard of the "Rule of Thirds" pretty much since the beginning. In fact, I recall the first time I ever heard about it was when one of my friends who was a semi-pro photographer mentioned that I had an eye for composition after seeing some of my earlier works and went on to explain the rule of thirds to me. That was about 20 years ago. |
#3
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Rule of Thirds?
Considering I'd never heard of this, I did a google search and came up
with a very interesting website... http://evolutionoftruth.com/goldensection No mention of photography though! I still say the Rule of Thirds is a good rule to use. |
#4
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Rule of Thirds?
Slingblade writes:
SNIP No mention of photography though! I still say the Rule of Thirds is a good rule to use. I majored in drama, and several courses mentioned the Golden Section in various ways. I heard of it before I heard of the Rule of Thirds. I would not say that neither rule is more than a guide, although (having heard of the it first) I think the Golden Section is more pleasing generally. If someone must have an articulable rule, either will do. Having an eye is better. :-). I have to say that guessing a third instead of 38% may cause less confusion and second guessing, but if the original poster can see the difference in his photographs, go for the one which is more pleasing to his eye. Having a rule and following it is not as good as knowing when to break it. -- Philip Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed Legal Assistance on the Web | spam and read later. email to philip@ http://www.PhilipStripling.com/ | my domain is read daily. |
#5
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Rule of Thirds?
Slingblade wrote:
[Snip Golden Section] No mention of photography though! I still say the Rule of Thirds is a good rule to use. I'm sure it is, since that seems to be the normal rule of thumb. However, I'd like to know if one of the rules are better than the other, if we disregard the extra time it takes to calculate the Golden Section? |
#6
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Rule of Thirds?
Phil Stripling wrote:
If someone must have an articulable rule, either will do. Having an eye is better. :-). Ouch. Oh well, I guess I should have made my intentions clear from the beginning. I'm working on a little pet project which is a simple program for cropping images. The program is aimed at people who does not want to spend too much time on photography: My mom, dad and their vacation photos. I thought that it would be interesting to introduce an overlay like the one showed on the page on about.com, but I fear that if I give the choice of the Rule of Thirds vs. the Golden Section, people will send emails asking which one to use. I'm leaning towards the Golden Section, but that might be because I've known that one the longest. |
#7
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Rule of Thirds?
Toke Eskildsen writes:
Phil Stripling wrote: If someone must have an articulable rule, either will do. Having an eye is better. :-). Ouch. That was a compliment to slingblade, not a comment directed to you. -- Philip Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed Legal Assistance on the Web | spam and read later. email to philip@ http://www.PhilipStripling.com/ | my domain is read daily. |
#8
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Rule of Thirds?
On 21 Nov 2003 23:26:46 GMT, Toke Eskildsen wrote:
Slingblade wrote: [Snip Golden Section] No mention of photography though! I still say the Rule of Thirds is a good rule to use. I'm sure it is, since that seems to be the normal rule of thumb. However, I'd like to know if one of the rules are better than the other, if we disregard the extra time it takes to calculate the Golden Section? Oh come on, don't you think it all depends on the picture? How can you possibly debate the difference between 33% and 38% without regard to what's in the frame? Frankly, if you're going to impose such an arbitrary blanket rule on all pictures then any number will work as well (or as badly) as any other. These rules are *approximations*, rules of thumb - and like all rules should be broken on a regular basis. Choosing between 33% and 38% is pseudo-precision at best. |
#9
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Rule of Thirds?
Toke Eskildsen wrote:
Phil Stripling wrote: If someone must have an articulable rule, either will do. Having an eye is better. :-). Ouch. Oh well, I guess I should have made my intentions clear from the beginning. I'm working on a little pet project which is a simple program for cropping images. The program is aimed at people who does not want to spend too much time on photography: My mom, dad and their vacation photos. I don't know if this would help or not, I wrote this a while back for some folks having trouble with artistic cropping: http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/...ials/cropping/ -- Angela M. Cable PSP8 Private Beta Tester PSP Tutorial Links: http://www.psplinks.com 5th Street Studio, free graphics, websets and mo http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/alaia/354/ |
#10
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Rule of Thirds?
Slingblade wrote:
I've been an amateur (occasional for hire) photographer for over 20 years and this is the first time I've ever heard of the "Golden Section"...I have, however heard of the "Rule of Thirds" pretty much since the beginning. In fact, I recall the first time I ever heard about it was when one of my friends who was a semi-pro photographer mentioned that I had an eye for composition after seeing some of my earlier works and went on to explain the rule of thirds to me. That was about 20 years ago. I've been in this for almost 30 years and this is the first I have heard ofthe "golden Section" too. The "Rule of Thirds" has been around longer than I have..... Bob |
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