Rule of thirds

Most of the places I have went to looking for photography tips have all agreed that one of the most basic but important rule is the "rule of thirds". The "rule of thirds" can apply to scrapping as well. Place the subject/focal point in one of the "thirds" of your picture or page (see the snowboarding picture on the right hand side of my blog). You can place your subject on the top, bottom, right, or left side of your picture.

At first I wasn't sure if I would like having empty space on one side of my photo but there are ways to make it look nice. For example, say you would like to take a picture of your child in the pumpkin patch this fall. Well you can place them all the way to which ever side you want. Set your camera to the portrait mode. Hold your shutter button down half way so you are focusing on your subject. Then slide your camera, still holding the button down half way, so your subject ends up in one of the "thirds". Then push the button all the way down to take the picture. You will notice the background, possibly the pumpkin patch, is a little blurry and your subject is still in focus.

As far as your scrapbooking page goes you can set up your page so that your picture, embellishment, title, or captions is in a third of the page. I plan on scanning in an example so that you can see what I mean as soon as I can.

So go ahead and try out the rule of thirds and see how your pictures look so much better.