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Fine Art and the Rule of Thirds
Learn from the Masters
The rule of thirds compositional guideline used in photography has it roots in the fine arts. The first known rule of thirds compositional guideline was introduced around the eighteenth century.
The First Rules of Thirds in Composition
- In one context, the rule addressed the balance of color, indicating a preferred two-to-one ratio of warm to cold colors.
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In 1797, J. T. Smith introduced a second context, closer to what you are likely to encounter in photography: a landscape would have one-ninth land, two-ninths sea, and two-thirds sky. Taking the land and sea together, the foreground makes up one-third of the picture.
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J.T. Smith's 1797 Rule of Thirds for Landscape Painting
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J.T. Smith's 1797 Rule of Thirds in practice,
applied to a beach photo.Note that the land-sea ratio is not quite perfect, but the photo works well enough by approximating the rule.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18 - 200 mm @ 18mm
ISO 200,
1/1000s, f/8.
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Smith also extends this rule of thirds to the "crossing and breaking of lines and objects" etc., which a reader may guess leads to the concept of the rule of thirds grid.
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These rule of thirds concepts are found in the book,
"Chromatics: Or, The Analogy, Harmony, and Philosophy of Colours", by George Field, published in 1845 by David Bogue, Fleet Street, London. Click here
for the exact text of these concepts as digitized by Google Book
Search.
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A Rule of Thirds Analysis
One way to improve your photography is to look at paintings to see how the various compositional rules may have been applied.
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Arthur B. Davies, American, 1862-1928
Silence, Waterfall and Forest, n.d.
Oil on canvas, 29-3/4 x 17-1/2 inches
(75.6 x 44.5 cm)
The Dayton Art Institute
Gift of Mr. C.N. Bliss, 1943.2
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In "Silence, Waterfall and Forest", painter Arthur Bowen Davies portrays a woman in front of a California redwood, with her hand to her ear, listening for some distant sound. The path of the waterfall and the line of the tree lend a strong directional feel to the painting, which is reinforced by the vertical aspect ratio.
The layout uses the rule of thirds in two ways. First, and most prominent, is the subject of the painting. Davies placed the woman's face just below the upper horizontal third-point line,and nearly centered on the right vertical third-point line. He has painted most of her body to the right of that third-point.
The waterfall, because of its relative brightness, serves to frame the giant redwood. It occupies the full left third of the painting, balancing the overall image.
In your photography, rule of thirds concepts will help you to get a start on improving your image balance.
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