Rule of thirds

[terrig]

Does this landscape scene look better than straight on? Any advice to making picture look better is welcomed.

[Digital]

Teri, Based on the rule of thirds I took the liberty (hope you do not mind) of cropping a little off the left side. In my estimation your picture as presented here is just fine.
This will give you something to compare to.


Bruce

[terrig]

Teri, Based on the rule of thirds I took the liberty (hope you do not mind) of cropping a little off the left side. In my estimation your picture as presented here is just fine.
This will give you something to compare to.


Bruce

Thanks Bruce! I've got my grid lines set but for some reason I'm having a little difficulty understanding totally how to position it. Do you take your main subject and put it clear to the left or right in the gridline? I totally don't mind you cropping it. I''m here to learn and better my photography!

[Loose Canon]

It kinda looks to me like it could use a bit of rotation CCW before you crop, Terri.

[tbob]

Terri. It is quite acceptable as to have the moon and it's reflection dead centre. Such a strong vertical element makes it dominate so you may as well give it centre stage. Besides, I expect to see the reflection pointing directly at me when I see such a scene in real life.

[Digital]

Teri, to answer your question: you have four intersecting points (where the horizontal lines intersect the vertical ones).
If you follow the rule of thirds the subject should be placed at one of these four points. It does not matter whether it is on the left side or right side. I usually favor the top two intersecting points.
In response to Trevor's remarks, I agree with him in that rules in photography are really guidelines, and the ART POLICE are not going to get you if you place your subject smack in the center of your photograph. A good photograph in most cases should tell a story to the viewer. Where you place your subject would be best dictated by what story (you, as the photographer) are trying to convey.

Bruce

[benm]

You might also try a vertical composition. Right now the composition appears to be a little lopsided, with too much space to the right and above the moon.

[Digital]

Terri, I see that you posted Terry's quote; however I do not see your response.



Bruce

[terrig]

It kinda looks to me like it could use a bit of rotation CCW before you crop, Terri.

I agree...I did that. Thank you!

[Colin Southern]

"Rules" are interesting things. My "rule for rules" is that "it's OK to break a rule, but the image has to then work. And if it doesn't, then you should have followed the rule".

Here's an example of an image of mine that breaks a couple of "rules" (don't center things and always have the sun behind you).



In the case of the OP's image - personally, I'd use a couple of other "rules" - (1) "crop off portions that don't strongly contribute to the image", and (2) "wider and shorter makes an image more panoramic, which is generally more attractive for landscape" (it "gives the illusion" of a wide field of view and also "breaks the typical 1:1.5 mold").

eg

[terrig]

Terri. It is quite acceptable as to have the moon and it's reflection dead centre. Such a strong vertical element makes it dominate so you may as well give it centre stage. Besides, I expect to see the reflection pointing directly at me when I see such a scene in real life.

Thanks! I kind of agree!

[terrig]

Teri, to answer your question: you have four intersecting points (where the horizontal lines intersect the vertical ones).
If you follow the rule of thirds the subject should be placed at one of these four points. It does not matter whether it is on the left side or right side. I usually favor the top two intersecting points.
In response to Trevor's remarks, I agree with him in that rules in photography are really guidelines, and the ART POLICE are not going to get you if you place your subject smack in the center of your photograph. A good photograph in most cases should tell a story to the viewer. Where you place your subject would be best dictated by what story (you, as the photographer) are trying to convey.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce!

[terrig]

"Rules" are interesting things. My "rule for rules" is that "it's OK to break a rule, but the image has to then work. And if it doesn't, then you should have followed the rule".

Here's an example of an image of mine that breaks a couple of "rules" (don't center things and always have the sun behind you).



In the case of the OP's image - personally, I'd use a couple of other "rules" - (1) "crop off portions that don't strongly contribute to the image", and (2) "wider and shorter makes an image more panoramic, which is generally more attractive for landscape" (it "gives the illusion" of a wide field of view and also "breaks the typical 1:1.5 mold").

eg

Wow! That photo is beautiful!! I was standing on my dock to capture this pic. So far I don't have a tripod or a lens. Any suggestions on a lens? I'm just using the lens that came with my camera. Also, I've tried taking other pictures at this same time of evening. The lights on the houses were completely blown out.

[terrig]

You might also try a vertical composition. Right now the composition appears to be a little lopsided, with too much space to the right and above the moon.

So in other words turn my camera so the photo is vertical instead of panoramic?

[terrig]

It kinda looks to me like it could use a bit of rotation CCW before you crop, Terri.

I agree. I did that...Thank you!

[jcuknz]

The 'Rule of Thirds' doesn't apply to what I call 'mug shots'..... like what the police take .... this to me is a mugshot and moon reflection needs to be central .... as to if you leave all the stuff either side in or crop is a matter of personal taste and what the photo is supposed to show. Colin wanted the broad expanse of the sky going from dark on one side to dark on the other whereas I would tempted to crop heavilly from the left and less so from the right so I had a triangular composition of sun.reflection and near boat with a vertical overall presentation.

Just as Colin included the boat so in Terri's photo I see that there might have been something in the foreground to perform the same job of suggesting depth in that stick protruding into the shot, an untidy irrelevance as is but suggesting possibility for a better shot. But maybe it was just a stick to be cloned out and nothing of interest .. only Terri can say

[terrig]

Terri, I see that you posted Terry's quote; however I do not see your response.



Bruce

goofed!

[terrig]

The 'Rule of Thirds' doesn't apply to what I call 'mug shots'..... like what the police take .... this to me is a mugshot and moon reflection needs to be central .... as to if you leave all the stuff either side in or crop is a matter of personal taste and what the photo is supposed to show. Colin wanted the broad expanse of the sky going from dark on one side to dark on the other whereas I would tempted to crop heavilly from the left and less so from the right so I had a triangular composition of sun.reflection and near boat with a vertical overall presentation.

Just as Colin included the boat so in Terri's photo I see that there might have been something in the foreground to perform the same job of suggesting depth in that stick protruding into the shot, an untidy irrelevance as is but suggesting possibility for a better shot. But maybe it was just a stick to be cloned out and nothing of interest .. only Terri can say

Makes sense! Thank you!

[pnodrog]

So in other words turn my camera so the photo is vertical instead of panoramic?

Yeah - break all the rules.

[Colin Southern]

Wow! That photo is beautiful!! I was standing on my dock to capture this pic. So far I don't have a tripod or a lens. Any suggestions on a lens? I'm just using the lens that came with my camera. Also, I've tried taking other pictures at this same time of evening. The lights on the houses were completely blown out.

To be honest Terri, there are a number of variables that you need to address -- with each one having a direct impact on the image:

1. Shutterspeed. If you can get a reallllly loooong shutterspeed then it smooths out the water whilst getting you a sharper image at the same time, but of course for that, you need to be shooting from a tripod. If you're serious about your photography then a tripod is probably the first thing you need to look at (for landscape anyway)

2. Time of day. Usually there's a 1/2 hour "golden hour" at the start and end of the day (just before sunrise and just after sunset) - you'll get better colours at that time.

3. Remote release (you'll need it for the looooong exposures)

In terms of lenses, the short answer is "whatever focal length gives you the field of view that you want" - nothing more, nothing less. For sure, you can get better image quality from a lens that costs 10 times as much, but I wouldn't be too concerned about that at this stage.

In terms of exposure - shooting scenes at night with what we call "point light sources" in them (eg house or street lights) will generally cause issues with standard camera metering; the camera tries (unsuccessfully) to protect the brightest spots from blowing out, so the end result is typically a significantly under-exposed image that still has blown point light sources. The "trick" is to use manual exposure, and just concentrate on getting the midtones right.

Here's a couple of examples to illustrate the above -- the first I shot with a long exposure - at the right time of the day - with the right lens (I chose it as an example because it was a similar view to yours), and the 2nd, because it has lots of blown point light sources, but because the midtones are OK, the image still works.

Hope this helps.