My plan this morning was to write an article about flash photography.
As a way of organizing my thoughts I was looking through some photography books and looking at the pictures.
The author mentioned a phrase we have heard many times.
The rule of thirds.
Suddenly, I had an insight into something that had puzzled me throughout the photography courses I have taught.
My primary emphasis was in teaching the elements that created good art and photography.
Teaching them to see, good composition, color balance and linear rhythm in the photographs we looked at together.
After a while, it became apparent that it was very rare if the class or I could not improve the composition by tweaking it a bit.
Did I or the class have an eye for perfect composition? If we did we were extremely fortunate.
The first thing I want you to do is make a cardboard view finder about the size of a pocket camera.
Cut out a rectangle so that what you have left is a frame.
Divide the rectangle into thirds using black thread and tape to secure the thread.
The thread divides the frame into nine equal segments.
The place where the threads intersect are often called sweet spots.
Every view has four sweet spots.
The rule implies that we should place points of interest at the intersection of lines or along the lines.
As a painter I learned that every change I make to a painting required me to make other changes to keep the painting balanced.
If I place a two inch red circle near the right edge of the painting half way between the top and the bottom, your eye is drawn to it.
The color balance would be heavy on the right.
What would I have to do to compensate and put the painting back in balance? The photographer has the opportunity to use photo editing software to balance and tweak his photos.
I maintain that the sweet spot is not a spot.
It is an area to place a point of interest near.
We need to look at the total effect of the composition.
To see how this effects our visual judgment.
Take that cardboard rule of thirds view finder and experiment with it.
I went outside and looked at views to see what I thought about the rule of three and sweet spots.
The sweet-spot was like the cross hairs on a telescopic sight.
My eye was drawn to the spot.
I had to shut out the lines to find a good composition.
Then I would look at where the lines were in the picture.
I used a golf course as the site of the experiment.
Golfers in south Florida wear brightly colored golf shirts.
I was surprised by how radically the composition would change if a golf shirt moved ten or twenty feet.
My experiment brought me to the conclusion that sweet-area is a much better term than sweet-spot.
Near the line or on the line gives the eye enough room to find the best position.
What did surprise me was the great importance color balance has on composition.
The rule of three is a good generality.
I have greater confidence in the fuzzy logic of my eye and brain interaction than the lines in the view finder.
Try experimenting with a cardboard rule of three view finder.
It will surprise you.
I am sure you will find it to be a visual learning tool that can enhance and extend your limits in seeking better composition.
In the end I think you too, will find a greater confidence in the fuzzy logic of your eye and brain.
As with all learning experience we improve.