Rule of third

Rule of Third

The rule of third is one of the main ‘rules’ in art and photographic composition and stems from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates to intersection parts that occur when an image is split into thirds.

To define this comparison technique as a guideline rather than a rule but for the sake of consistency with other photography sources.

Photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows and nine sections in the images. Important compositional elements and leading lines are placed on or near imaginary lines and where the lines intersect.