April Photography Challenge

This month’s photography challenge is a technique challenge - the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a basic design principle which helps you see, frame, and balance your photo in a way that is pleasing to the eye.

Simply put, rule of thirds divides an image into three horizontal areas and three vertical areas. It is as if you placed a tic-tac-toe grid over your image.



The areas where the lines intersect are the cross points and often perfect areas to place whatever you would like to highlight/your subject as this makes for a naturally soothing and interesting image. These cross points are often where our eyes automatically gravitate to so when you place your subject on one of them, it makes a more balanced image. In addition, the vertical and horizontal lines are natural places to align leading lines in your photo such as skylines, sunset horizons, and other objects in your photography. The goals is to not have everything centered in the image so that the eye can become more engaged in the photography.

Here is an example using a photo I recently took of my son skiing:



This was a quick snap with my iphone, so it is easy to see that the rule applies regardless of what type of camera you use. By aligning my son and the horizon with the lines created from the rule of thirds, I captured a memory that is visually appealing. The subject and the landscape are balanced and don't compete for the eye's attention which creates a nice overall image to look at.

Your photography challenge this month is to take a new photograph using the rule of thirds. Then scrap it - many times the rule of thirds is perfect for designing a scrapbook page too!!! Think about the lines and cross points when placing elements and important lines of your page design.

Here is my layout for this challenge:



Bonus tip: Some cameras have grid overlays that you can turn on and see in the viewfinder. This allows you to have a reference when composing your shot. It can be very helpful until you feel more comfortable see things this way.

Bonus tip #2: Many editing programs have a feature to turn on a grid when cropping your image. This allows you the ability to crop an image in alignment with the rule of thirds. So if you didn’t shoot it quite right, you can make the image more balanced to the eye.

Bonus tip #3: Of coarse, there are times when you want a centered image, and that is fine (rules are made to be broken!). Many times with portraits, you have a centered image, but compose the photo so that you align the eyes with cross points to make the centered image feel more visually balanced. It is important to first understand and have a strong sense of applying the rule of thirds in your photograph BEFORE you start breaking the rule.

Most of all, have fun and happy April!

Please remember the monthly challenge rules: Your page must contain at least 75% Lilypad product. Your page should be posted to the Lilypad Gallery and then linked to the Challenge Layouts thread so it can be tracked, and to this thread.

The Lilypad uses a percent system for our challenges; the number of challenges you participate in determines the store discount you will receive at the end of the month:

2 challenges = 10% off
4 challenges = 20% off
6 challenges = 30% off

If you complete 7 challenges, you will receive a coupon for 30% off, plus you will be entered to win a guest spot on the Lilypad Creative Team! The first seven challenges will be posted on the first of the month; the eighth challenge is the BYOC challenge, which is posted on BYOC release day. Each page counts for one challenge (you cannot use one layout for multiple challenges).

 

That is a cute layout! Because this is a photography challenge and the requirement is to apply the photography skill while taking a new photo, I hope that people honor this requirement. It's awesome to use the rule of thirds with all of your photos, but for this challenge please execute it on a new photo taken this month.