Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

I find that the Rule of Thirds is one of the most handy techniques to have on hand when composing a photograph. I use it all the time and quite instinctively when I’m not looking to fill the frame. There’s something quite appealing in an asymmetric image. These are some mood pictures taken on a long weekend in Marrakech, where the subject is placed on a “third”-ish.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

~ Spotted Cow

Snap chat. Why are sunsets notoriously difficult?

I find sunset photos very difficult to photograph. As the sun falls toward the horizon and the light fades, all the foreground details disappear. You have this beautiful flare of light across the sky, which takes your breath away. But if you just take a snap of that broad wash of colour, it is almost certain that it doesn’t translate when you look at your pictures later.

You still need a point of interest. A silhouette is usually the easiest. Use the rule of thirds and put the horizon in the top third or the bottom third.

Ironically, if you want the sky to be the point of interest in the picture, you’d prefer a cloudy day so that the clouds produce interesting striations or dispersions of colour.

I’d welcome other handy hints. In spite of the pearls of wisdom I’ve spelt out above, I have less than a handful of decent sunset images … and that’s a whole lot less than the number of times I’ve been sipping a margarita and watching the sun go down.

~ Spotted Cow