What is the rule of thirds?

The rule of thirds is basically breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically), so that you have 9 parts. As follows.


As you’re taking an image, you would have done this through your viewfinder or in the LCD display, that you use to frame your shot. With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider, placing points of interest in as you frame your image. Not only this, but it also gives you four ‘lines’, that are also useful positions for elements in your photo.



The theory is, that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines, your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images, people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally, rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image, rather than working against it.
 


In addition to the above picture of the bee, where the bee’s eye becomes the point of focus. The next time I went out I decided to try this within my photos, to really get the viewers attention to the object of my choice, these were my results:

For the people, I decided to use the head of my friend and statue as the area I wanted the reader to instantly look too, where as the flower the seeds as the focus, and the rib-cage in the carcass.