Saturday, October 9, 2010

How To Use Your Camera - The Rule of Thirds

One of the best and easiest ways to compose your scenes within your viewfinder is by utilizing the Rule of Thirds. To do this you activate your cameras reference grid so you can see the lines either on your monitor or inside your viewfinder. If your camera doesn't have this feature (rare) you can simply imagine a tic-tac-toe pattern within the viewfinder or monitor.

As you view the scene you intend to shoot, you will want to position your main subjects along the lines of the grid, or at the points where the lines intersect. To see how this affects a photograph pick up any magazine or book with pictures in it and try to determine where the main subject is located within the photo. Check out where the horizon is in landscape scenes. You will note that it is almost always either in the vicinity of the upper or lower lines, and almost never in the middle. Note that in most of the other pictures the main subject is almost never in the center either. This is what we want to be able to do too.

Now with your camera, turn on the reference grid and take a bunch of pictures using this method to position your subject. Do it with close-ups, wide angle shots, everything. Have fun, and decide if this didn't help you take better pictures. Remember to avoid placing your subject in the dead center. Also the lines are a reference only, you want to use them to give you the “general area” rather than the “exact position” of your subjects as you compose your shots.

 

Please send comments if this article was helpful to you or if you would like information about other topics.

If you are looking for books about how to use your camera click this Book Store link to see what is available.

Need a Camera? I researched this topic and this Camera Store has the the best choices available on the internet.

You can also visit my own photography website at Dwains Picks to see some of my work.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you will check this site often.

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Photography Tips

Here are a few things you can do to improve your photography that will apply regardless of what camera you use. These are the basics that every photographer should know and do to get reasonably good pictures out of any camera.

Make sure you have a clean lens. Don't just blow the dust off, but use a clean cloth suitable for cleaning lenses and do it right.

Set up so your camera is stable and won't move as you press the shutter. You can do this a number of ways. If you will be handholding the camera, hold your elbows in against your sides, and stand with your feet apart with one slightly forward of the other. You can also lean against a solid object like a light pole, tree, building or whatever. The best method though is to use a tripod or monopod. I have both but I like to carry the tripod best. If I want to use it as a monopod I just extend only one leg and us it as I would a monopod. I'll add instructions about to how to use these tools later.

Finally the "First" basic thing you need to do is read your manual and learn what all the parts of your camera are for and how to use them. If you understand how your meter works and what white balence is you'll go a long way to getting that shot you want when the light is wierd and you are wondering why your pictures are all dark or yellow instead of like what you saw on the monitor or in the viewfinder.

I'll expand on all these topics in the coming weeks and months so you'll want to check back and see what I've added from time to time.