I know what your thinking. Why is Scott starting up the assignment the first week in January? It will become clear in just a little bit.
When I first started studying composition, the Rule of Thirds was one of the first “rules” I came across (click link for more information). For this assignment, I am looking for a photo or photos taken by you using the Rules of Thirds OR use a former photo of yours and apply the Rule of Thirds via cropping. Show me the before and after versions, please.
This photo follows the Rule of Thirds. Do you know why and can you show me a photo of yours which does, too? If you can, you could win a FREE eClass on Composition from Kent Weakley.
The reason for the fast start to the January 2012 assignment a week early is I will be doing a random drawing of all the assignment submissions. The winner will get a FREE spot in Kent Weakley’s next eClass on Composition starting on January 20, 2012. Kent’s eClasses are outstanding and done totally online so anyone in the world and take them.
As in the other assignments, do not send me your photos. What I would like you to do is post them on your blog, flickr, Google+ or other photo sharing site, personal website or any other place on the Internet where you can place a link to it here by making a comment to this blog entry. Then we can visit those sites and enjoy everyone’s Rule of Thirds photos.
Please, have your photos posted on or before Midnight (Eastern Standard Time, US), Wednesday, January 18, 2012. This will give me time to draw the winner of the eClass and contact them. Don’t have a place to post? Might be a good time to start up a blog or join a photo community like flickr. As I have done for all the Assignments, I’ll put together a recap with my comments.
If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer them. With the addition of the eClass prize, I would doubly appreciate it if you would help spread the word about this assignment so we can get lots of people to participate. Blog it, Tweet it, FaceBook it, Google+ it, email it and talk about it to your fellow photographers, bloggers, friends and family. Thank you!
Views Infinitum 
Oh, boy. I resolved to kick jump my trigger finger this year…I’d guess I had better get at it. 🙂
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No time like the present, KD!
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Scott, I just read through your original post on the “Rule of Thirds”. Wish you’d overlaid the gridlines on the Lincoln photos as, although I can see the image works, I can’t see where the thirds fit in.
I recall an earlier mention of the rule of thirds in one of your posts and after that I started paying more attention. My “point and shoot” Sony camera has gridlines overlaying the image in the viewfinder. I think I set that up, after your mentioning it.
OK. Off to look through images.
Cheers from Sybil in Eastern Passage
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Hi, Sybil,
Like all rules in photography and life, they don’t have to be exact. The Lincoln Memorial photo is not exact (but close) though I could crop it so it is. I choose not to as I liked having just a bit more negative space on the right which really draws your eyes to the lighted monument. Most photo editing programs have a way to turn on a grid when cropping to assist in lining photos in post processing. Maybe yours does. If not, Picnik.com does.
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Here’s my entry Scott. http://crittersnus.blogspot.com/2012/01/dear-scott-hellllp.html
Thanks. Sybil
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Scott..
Great article on the ‘Rule of Thirds’. I just discovered you do these photo assignments. Hopefully I can do the assignment justice. Thanks.
http://picproj365.blogspot.com/2012/01/rule-of-thirds.html
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Well done, Mike! You are the first entered for the Free Online Class. I run these assignments 6 times a year (every other month) and will post them on Google+.
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Hi Scott,
I posted a pic on my (very neglected) blog at
http://songbirdhollow.blogspot.com/2012/01/rule-of-three.html
I hope I did it right! Let me know!
PS You will recognize the subject. 🙂
Regina (@Songbird_Hollow)
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Hey, it’s old Professor Cumulus Isobar and the town of Tumbleweed. You took that from the WDW Railroad. Yep, I know this scene!
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OK, I’m in . Thanks for the assignment.
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You sure are. Lovely!
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Dawn if the first ever winner of the Views Infinitum assignment. She will be notified by Kent directly on how to claim her prize. Furthermore, Dawn will be reviewing the course later this year for us. Congratulations, Dawn!
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Congratulations Dawn!
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I’m glad I popped over here today and saw this post. Been a little blog-absent since I started back to work this week after the Christmas break! Such a wide-open subject choice – I don’t know what I want to shoot.
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No worries, Karma and thank you for the link back on your blog!
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I’m starting to look for some photos now Scott! I’ll be ready for the assignment. 🙂
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Hey Scott, thanks for inspiring me to go back and look at some old shots! I couldn’t decide which ones to post so I am putting a link to the set I created on Flickr so you can see them all. I look forward to participating more in your assignments throughout the rest of the year.
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That’s the spirit, Jeff! Thanks for contributing.
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Ooops – noticed the “before and after” part after I posted. Ahh well. I’ve been simmering (ok, more like stewing) a post on composition for several weeks now so this put me over the edge! http://photoaspire.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/elephant/
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You could always add it to the post if you want.
Well, I hope it is a good edge to go over! I think a lot of us over-think composition. I choose the rule of thirds as it is a concept most people can quickly grasp. Something to think about about before pressing the shutter button which is always a good thing unless you are photographing a sporting event. Which is where cropping skills come into play. 😉
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Another exciting challenge, this assignment! So exciting, that I have been sitting most of this evening refreshing the substance from the my art teaching (I have previously worked as a teacher). Visual Arts composition. Golden ratio (the golden triangle). And much more. Suddenly it occurred to me, that now was the time for me to work with a major series of photos I captured in West Jutland in the summer. So I began the hard work of selecting a few of them that I will use for this assignment…. – not finished yet, and time is well over midnight….
The conclusion must be: I’m in!
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Hi Scott this is my contribution.
In the above photo it is harder for me to see the rule of thirds right away since the subjects covered most of the frame but I think the focal point is at the face of the guy that hit the puck into the net.
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After looking at the photo again, must be the guy with his hands up in the air, must have scored the goal. see how little I know about the sport. 🙂
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You should check out a Carolina Hurricanes game sometime, Nye. It’s a fun sport and, yes, you are correct. When hockey players score a goal, they raise their sticks in celebration.
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Going to sit this one out, Scott. I probably have the rule of thirds applied to at least 90% of pictures on my blog…. I don’t even think about it anymore. I usually apply it in-camera and just leave a little room for final cropping.
At least everyone else will have a LITTLE better chance of winning that e-course 😉
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Oh, you are that good, eh? 😉 I understand. I wanted to make this a simple assignment to feed into the give-a-way and because it was so quick. Next one will be more challenging.
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Hi, Scott,
I almost missed this challenge if it weren’t for having seen Dawn’s post. Here’s mine!
http://wp.me/p12Axq-1vZ Have a good one!
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So happy you stopped by Dawn’s and now my blog to join in!
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Pingback: Rule of Thirds Assignment « My Life in CNY
Pssst… Scott… working on my assignment right now, but if you have a chance, could you add this post to your “assignments” widget? That makes it nice and easy to find this post! Thanks! 🙂
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Done! Thanks for the reminder!
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Thanks Scott, and here’s my contribution: http://karmardav.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/three-for-the-thirds/
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I don’t know how good I am at applying the rule of thirds, but a lot of times it happens after I take the picture. Usually, my priority is to make sure I actually get the shot. Here is one before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/noramar/6705429273/in/photostream
And here is the same picture, after:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noramar/6705429733/in/photostream
I work with a point-and-shoot. In this case, it was a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28.
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Really good odds so far for those who have submitted a link. Only three days left!
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Hi Scott!
I’ve been busy with the family – and with a computer / internet, which has teased. But now I made my contribution ready:
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Okay…here’s a few shots made better. Some are subtle, but I think the cropping saved them.
Thanks Scott!!
http://ahalfhouraday.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/rule-of-thirds-2/
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Here is my submission for the Rule of Thirds.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/110720365196094415019/albums/5692679790546525841/5698021895674556290
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I got some advice from an unexpected source for my submission: Wood Duck Advice. Wouldn’t you know it, the duck was right!
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It’s not even close to midnight!
http://chroniclecantrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/rule-of-thirds.html
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🙂
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Re-posting this information here from above:
Dawn if the first ever winner of the Views Infinitum assignment. She will be notified by Kent directly on how to claim her prize. Furthermore, Dawn will be reviewing the course later this year for us. Congratulations, Dawn!
Click here for Dawn’s Blog: Sahlah
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Whoohoo! Congratulations Dawn! 🙂
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