The Rule of Thirds is a basic technique that any photographer or videographer can use to make his photos (or video) better.
It is in the nature of beginning photographers to center all images.
This, however, is not the best way to take award-winning pictures.
Next time you want to take the perfect shot, try using the Rule of Thirds.
In the rule of thirds, you draw a tic-tac-toe board on the picture: two lines horizontally, and two lines vertically.
All elements of your photo should be focused either along those lines or at one of the 4 points where they intersect.
Why? The human eye is naturally drawn to the intersections and not the center of the page, as you would expect.
Using the rule of thirds allows for more artistic and exciting placement of people and objects than simply centering everything.
It allows for the foreground to become the background, and for the subject to really become part of your image instead of sticking out of it.
One common use of the rule of thirds is to place people's bodies along one of the vertical lines and their eyes across the horizontal.
This is better than putting the person front and center, because that sort of placement often give the appearance of cutting the photo in half.
By putting their eyes on the upper horizon, it draws the viewer towards whatever the subject is looking at.
The rule of thirds is not the be all and end all of photography or videography.
Obviously, there are many other ways of framing a subject.
It is, however, a great default to follow, and if you are just beginning photography it's a great way to make every shot look sharp and well thought out.