The Rule of Thirds

My photo this week is pretty boring.  Although this weather has been beautiful, I've had no idea what I want to take pictures of right now.  I am just waiting for the leaves to come back on the trees.  Hopefully, the leaves will restore my creativity.  The truth is, I don't care how sunny it is, if the trees don't have leaves I still feel like everything is dull and boring.  The picture I took this week isn't spectacular in anyway.  I just really like the colors.

It is just a simple shot of the "Pennsylvania State University" sign out on Atherton Street by the Nittany Lion Inn.  The sun was starting to set, and I really liked the light that it cast on the sign.

Since this has been dull for the most part, I figured I'd take the time to talk about one of my favorite photography concepts.

The Rule of Thirds

Following the rule of thirds is essential to taking great photos.  The concept is that people find pictures that are separated into three different sections of color or texture to be the most pleasing to the eye.  Essentially, if you draw a tic-tac-toe grid on the picture, you should see that each vertical section is different from the others, and that each horizontal section is different from the others. 

I took this picture at the Alhombra Palace in Spain.  It is a great example of the rule of thirds.  Here is the same picture, but with a grid on it.

You can see that the top horizontal section is all sky, the middle is part of the palace, and the bottom section is all water and reflection.  Two of the vertical sections are the same, but because they aren't next to each other this picture still follows the rule.

While it is good to follow the rule of thirds, it is fun to break it too!  Here is a picture I took during snowpocalypse last year:

This picture was taken inside of my car, after I spent an hour shoveling it out of the snow.  The snow was on my windshield still, and I thought it looked really cool.  This picture doesn't follow the rule of thirds, but I still like it.  I think the triangulate pattern is what makes it pleasing to the eye.

I really hope next week isn't so dull!