Rule of Thirds in Photography: Ultimate Guide (w/ Examples)

The rule of thirds is a composition technique that has been fairly popularized over the years, and for good reason.

Even before you were interested in photography, you’ve probably heard about the rule of thirds. It’s one of those things that you just hear about even though you may not be into that subject – such as the Theory of Relativity.

I have no idea what the Theory of Relativity is, but I’ve heard of it! The Rule of Thirds is kind of like that – well, not that complex, but you get the point.

The Rule of Thirds is one of my favorite photography composition techniques and is often one of the go-to composition techniques I use to not only take photos I love, but photos my clients love as well.

In fact, some of the most popular photographs and films use the Rule of Thirds and once you know and understand what it is, you’ll be seeing it everywhere!

With that being said, let’s dive into the Rule of Thirds. There are many sections to this article, so be sure to check out the table of content below if you only want to check out certain sections.

More of a visual learner? Then check out the video I made on the Rule of Thirds:

What is the Rule of Thirds?

Put simply, the Rule of Thirds is a compositional technique that is used in many forms of art to create a visually appealing image or piece of art. The Rule of Thirds is created by dividing an image or composition into nine equal sections by having two lines of equal distance running vertically and horizontally.

For the sake of this article, I will be relating the Rule of Thirds mainly to images and photographs since I am a photographer, but as we’ll take a look later, the Rule of Thirds can be used in many niches of art such as graphic design, film, and photography.

It’s also important to note that the “Rule” of Thirds is not necessarily a rule or law, and more of a creative suggestion. There are many award-winning photographs that do not follow the Rule of Thirds.

But only once you have a deep understanding of the Rule of Thirds, can you break the “rule.”

Here’s an example of using the Rule of Thirds. In this photo, my main focal point was the setting sun so I placed it on the bottom-left intersection.

When Do We Use the Rule of Thirds?

We use the Rule of Thirds composition technique when we have a main subject/focal point that we want to emphasize to the viewer.

Once you divide the composition into nine equal sections, the goal is to place your main focal point or subject on one of these intersecting lines.

When composing an image with the Rule of Thirds, you will notice that there are four points of intersection. Going clockwise, they are top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, and top-left.

By placing your main focal point at one of these intersections, it is said that the person viewing your image of composition will be quickly drawn to this point making for a more aesthetically pleasing and compelling image.

Also, if you have a horizon in the photo, then it’s often recommended to place it at one of the horizontal lines (I prefer the bottom horizontal line).

When Do We Not Use the Rule of Thirds?

Put simply, as a photographer or artist, you can choose to not use the Rule of Thirds whenever you want!

As mentioned it’s not a “hard rule,” and more of a creative suggestion.

The Rule of Thirds is just one composition technique out of many that you can use.

But why do we even use the Rule of Thirds in the first place, is it just random or is it backed by something? Let’s take a look.

Why Do We Use the Rule of Thirds?

As mentioned, we use the Rule of Thirds in photography and in art to create a more aesthetically pleasing image.

But is there any basis backing this claim?

Is There Any Scientific Basis for Using the Rule of Thirds?

While there is no scientific backing for the Rule of Thirds, many photographers and artists claim that the Rule of Thirds is actually just a simplification of the Golden Ratio, which lies in the realm of mathematics.

Golden Ratio vs the Rule of Thirds

The Golden Ratio is a mathematical ratio that is based on dividing numbers from the Fibonacci Sequence by their preceding number. The Golden Ratio created is then 1.618:1.

To spare the mathematical details and numbers, the Golden Ratio essentially creates a spiral and placing an element or focal point on the converging point will create a harmonious and pleasing composition.

But if you take a close look at this converging point, it’s also in the same exact spot as an intersecting point on the rule of thirds.

In reality, if you take a photo using the Rule of Thirds composition, it can be easy for one to say later that it also follows the composition of a Golden Ratio.

Here’s an example of a portrait I took. The main focal point I wanted in this image was to be the subject’s eye. In the first photo, you can see that it follows the Golden Ratio, and in the second photo, you can see that it also lies at an intersection point on the Rule of Thirds:

Is There Any Psychological Basis for Using the Rule of Thirds?

While there is no direct psychological basis behind why the Rule of Thirds creates visually appealing images, there are some indirect associations.

Humans Love Patterns

The first is that we as humans (and even robots for that matter) love patterns. Guess what the Rule of Thirds does, it creates a pattern. It breaks the composition up into nine perfectly spaced squares, creating a pattern of squares.

Humans Love Simplicity

The second is that we love simplicity. Our minds are like computers… or are computers like our minds? Nevertheless, our mind likes to save resources for big processes or systems that we have to face in our daily lives – such as things that are new to us, like learning new information or performing a new task.

For example, have you ever been driving and noticed that you kind of “blanked out” while driving but still ended up at your destination safely? Well if you’ve been driving for a while, then your body and mind are used to driving so it’s sort of like a “low-level process” going on in your mind.

Your mind likes things that are “low-level processes” because it doesn’t have to work that hard to get its “engine running.” On the other hand, has your head hurt from a long day of learning new information or taking a test that was really hard? Yeah, our brain doesn’t like that.

My point is, our brains like simplicity because it doesn’t have to work that hard to process what we’re doing or looking at, and with a well-composed Rule of Thirds composition, it should also be an image that follows the composition rule of Simplicity, and our brain likes that.

So with all that being said, the Rule of Thirds works because it follows a pattern and by creating a composition that correctly follows the Rule of Thirds, then it creates a photo that is powerful, yet simple.

Now that we’ve touched on some foundational knowledge about the Rule of Thirds, let’s touch on some tips for using it.

How to Use the Rule of Thirds in Photography?

When it comes to using the Rule of Thirds on a photo shoot or a client session, it’s not as easy as approaching the scene and just capturing a perfectly captured image that follows the Rule of Thirds.

There should be a little bit of planning and mental preparation in order to ensure a successful image that follows the Rule of Thirds.

I’ve provided five steps you should take when approaching a scene or client session with the Rule of Thirds in mind.

1. Decide What Type of Photo You Want to Take

The first step when it comes to using the Rule of Thirds in photography is to first know what type of photo you want to take.

What I mean by this is do you want to take a street photograph, a portrait photograph, an event photograph, a product photograph, etc?

While all of these categories fall under the parent category of photography, they are subcategories with their own photographing challenges and differences.

For example, in street photography or wedding photography, you may be dealing with fast-moving subjects and scenes, so it might be more difficult setting up a Rule of Thirds composition. In product photography, there may be different focal points that you need to highlight on the product so which one do you emphasize? In portrait photography, you might be photographing a couple so do you place them both on an intersection line in the Rule of Thirds?

This leads us to our next step/tip, which is knowing when a photo will be good for the Rule of Thirds or not.

2. Know If Your Photo Will be Suitable for the Rule of Thirds

The second step is to know and decide whether your photo will even be suitable for a Rule of Thirds composition.

As we’ll touch on later, not every photo you take needs to follow the Rule of Thirds composition and there are many composition rules and techniques out there for you to follow – the Rule of Thirds is just one of them.

In general, you should only consider using the Rule of Thirds when you have one subject or focal point that you want to emphasize.

Consider this scenario – you have a mid-distance image of a group of five friends. Which one do you place on an intersecting line? The answer is technically anyone, but the question you should instead be asking yourself is, what is my main subject or focal point?

The answer to this question should be all of them because it’s a group photo. Everyone in the photo should have equal importance.

Instead of thinking about the Rule of Thirds as your composition technique for this image, you should instead be thinking about using Triangles, Patterns, or Parallel Lines.

Now let’s say you have a group of five friends standing on top of a mountain and you are photographing them from a distance. This group of friends could serve as a single focal point/subject if you are photographing them from a distance. In this case, you could use the Rule of Thirds.

So the main takeaway, the Rule of Thirds works best and should only be considered when there is one main subject or focal point you want to emphasize to the viewer.

3. Know What Your Focal Point/Subject Will Be

The third step is to know what your focal point or subject will be.

I’ve already touched on this a bit in the last step but I’ll elaborate further.

Let’s say you want to take a nice landscape photo. Before you enter the scene, you should know what your different focal points or subjects could be and have an idea in your head of which one you want to be your main focal point.

For example, it could be a tree on a mountain, it could be the sun, or it could be a lake right next to the mountain.

One could argue that they could all be “subjects” in the photo, but you should only have one main subject, and the others should be supporting subjects.

That main subject you decide on should be the one that is placed on one of the intersecting lines on the Rule of Thirds.

In this photo example by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi, notice how the tree on the bottom left is the main subject, but we have the tree and sun on the right side acting as supporting subjects to help balance the photo. (Balance is another composition rule):

4. Research the Scene Beforehand

The fourth step after you know what you want your main subject to be is to research the scene beforehand as much as possible.

Visualization plays a huge role in sports psychology and other high-performing activities, and I’ve also found that it plays a huge role in approaching a photography session.

A big part of this visualization lies in knowing what will be in the scene so you can plan and prepare to use certain elements in the scene as potential supporting subjects/objects for your main subject.

For example, if you’re planning to have a portrait session on the beach – well will this beach have cliffs, rocks, sand patterns, a crowd, or a pier that could act as a supporting object for the main subject to either stand on, interact with, or to act a counter-balance to your subject for better composition?

Before going into the session, especially paid gigs, you should have a basic idea of what will be in the scene. You don’t need to have every detail about the location memorized, but you should know at least 75% of what’s going to be there.

Easy ways to do this beforehand are to look at pictures of the setting online or use Google Maps to look at the location.

5. Edit for the Rule of Thirds in Post-Production

The fifth and final step for using the Rule of Thirds in photography is to edit the photo in post-production.

There are times when no matter how much you try to compose a photo for the Rule of Thirds straight out of the camera you just can’t get it perfect.

This is fairly common, so if you can’t get a perfectly aligned Rule of Thirds composition straight out of the camera, you are not alone.

When this is the case, you will want to crop and align the photo for a Rule of Thirds composition using your favorite post-production software – mine is Adobe Lightroom.

To do this, it’s very easy, just use the crop tool and you will usually crop out one side or zoom in on a photo to place your main subject on an intersecting line.

Here’s an example of a photo of a man looking out into the horizon. I wanted the man in this photo to be my main subject and focal point. How the image is taken straight out of the camera looks is okay, but if I placed him on an intersection line on the Rule of Thirds, I believe it would look better composition-wise:

If I crop in the left and top sides to put the man on the bottom-left intersection point, then I believe the photo looks more aesthetically pleasing and our eye is drawn to the man quicker:

Where Did the Rule of Thirds Come From?

The Rule of Thirds can be traced back to the late 18th century with an individual named John Thomas Smith.

In his book Remarks on Rural Scenery, he comments on another artist’s work named Sir Joshua Reynolds quoting:

“Unequal parts and gradations lead the attention easily from part to part, while parts of equal appearance hold it awkwardly suspended…Analogous to this “Rule of thirds”, (if I may be allowed so to call it) I have presumed to think that, in connecting or in breaking the various lines of a picture, it would likewise be a good rule to do it, in general, by a similar scheme of proportion; for example, in a design of landscape, to determine the sky at about two-thirds; or else at about one-third, so that the material objects might occupy the other two.”

As you might notice, this first quote was actually in reference to painting, so as we’ve touched on, the Rule of Thirds applies to all forms of art, and we’ll actually touch on this more in the next section.

Can We Use the Rule of Thirds in Every Form of Art?

Yes, definitely! The Rule of Thirds can be used in every form of visual art from painting, drawing, graphic design, filmmaking, and photography.

As we’ve seen in our previous section, the Rule of Thirds was originally used when describing a painting!

Can We Use the Rule of Thirds in Every Photo?

As a photographer, you can use the Rule of Thirds in every photo if you wish, but it’s not needed to compose a great-looking image.

The Rule of Thirds is one of many composition techniques — in fact, in this article, I’ve listed 30 photography composition techniques that you should be aware of as a photographer and artist.

How Important is it For Photographers to Follow the Rule of Thirds? (When to Break It)

How important is it for a photographer to follow the Rule of Thirds and when should a photographer break it?

For a photographer, it’s important to know when to break the Rule of Thirds and when to use it.

As we discussed in our previous section, the Rule of Thirds is just one composition technique of many, so what would be considered breaking the rule?

Well “breaking the rule” would occur when you just choose not to follow the Rule of Thirds composition technique. In this case, would you be considered breaking the rule or are you just trying to use another photography composition technique?

In certain cases, breaking or ignoring the Rule of Thirds can help create more interesting images. When you’re shooting a portrait, for example, placing the subject off-center can be used to add tension or interest or framing them between two objects may look better.

In general, it’s best to use the Rule of Thirds when you can and break it when necessary or when you want to use another composition rule/technique.

Experimenting with composition is important for any photographer in order to find an aesthetic that fits their work.

Examples of Pictures Using the Rule of Thirds

Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about the Rule of Thirds, let’s take a look at some more examples of pictures using the Rule of Thirds.

I’ve used examples of photos I’ve taken throughout this article, and I wanted to highlight other photographers who did a great job of capturing the Rule of Thirds:

Here’s a great example by Harsh Raghavani of using a bird as the focal point, placing it at the top-right intersection on the Rule of Thirds:

Here’s another great example by Clay Banks where he places the mountain on the top-left of the intersection point of the Rule of Thirds:

Examples of Films Using the Rule of Thirds

When it comes to cinema, unless you know of the Rule of Thirds, you may not notice that films use the Rule of Thirds all the time!

Here are a few examples of movie scenes that use the Rule of Thirds.

The first scene is from the Joker (2019):

Here’s another classic example from this famous scene on the Titanic:

Lastly, here’s an example of the movie Secret Life of Walter Mitty employing the Rule of Thirds in this scene:

Final Remarks and Other Composition Rules to Know in Photography

In conclusion, the Rule of Thirds is one of many composition techniques that you can use.

Although it has the word “rule” in the name, it’s more of a creative suggestion. The Rule of Thirds is one of my favorite composition techniques along with Framing, Simplicity, and Balance.

Once you start using the Rule of Thirds as a photographer, you’ll start seeing it in many popular photos and movies.

So go out there, and start using the Rule of Thirds, and once you get a firm grasp of this technique, don’t be afraid to break the rule and use other composition techniques!