Let’s recap the most famous rule in art.

Basically: don’t feel like you gotta center your subject in all your shots. Be bold and move your subject to the side—it gets more attention.

This isn’t rocket science right, it’s first-grade Math. Imagine your frame is folded into three parts (vertically and horizontally)—you’ll get 4 intersecting points, right? Just place your subject in one of those points. Done.

Let’s look at some examples:

See how I placed his eye on the intersecting point?

Applies to vertical photos as well.

Works with the lines as well, not just the points. My subject here is the lighthouse. Rather than placing it at the center, I placed it near the line.

Sometimes, I won’t use the rule of thirds. An example is reflections. Emphasizing symmetry was more important here, so I aligned it dead center.

Here also, I didn’t use the rule of thirds. There’s a kind of symmetry with a group of people, so I’ll typically place groups at the center.

We looked at this example yesterday—it’s basically the rule of thirds. The horizon is positioned near the top third line.

The reason this rule works is because it’s a law of nature. Our eyes are naturally drawn to the sides rather than the center. By placing your subject in one of the points, the viewer’s attention will instantly fall on your subject. It’s an important rule to understand well—I highly recommend you watch this video again, where I explore all the nuances of this rule.

Here’s a quote to remember:
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” —Pablo Picasso

Btw, none of this will matter if you don’t practice.

Swami