I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s creative juices flowing as they looked at either past photos or created new ones for this assignment.  The Rule of Thirds is a good thing to learn and keep in mind as you are looking through your viewfinders or LCD displays.  It helps to create a strong and more interesting composition.

I would like to thank Kent Weakley for offering a place in his Composition eClass (which you could still join in on if you are interested).

The first person to submit a link is a new upstate New York photographer I meet on Google+, Michael has a 365 Photo blog called Picture Day where he shared a golden sky and lamp photo improved with just a tweak to the lamp’s positioning.

Regina knows how to get my attention with a vastly improved photo from one of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World featuring Professor Cumulus Isobar and the town of Tumbleweed.

Next up is our prize winner!  Dawn put me to shame with her Straight Out Of the Camera (SOOC) photo composed with the Rule of Thirds of a twilight sky. Very well done!

My good friend and fellow Disney nut, Jeff, links us to a flickr set of four before and after photos where he applied the Rule of Thirds to improve them.  I found the ‘after’ photos much more compelling.

This assignment struck a strong cord with one of my Ithaca photobloggers.  Turns out Barbara had been wrestling with what makes for a good composed photo.  Her examples fit this assignment very well but still challenges the reader.

Experimentation is how we learn.  Nye shows us her starting photo and then applies three different compositions based on the Rule of Thirds.  Sometimes it is good to bend the rules. 😉

I do love The Petal Pushers photo for this assignment.  For the life of me I have no idea why a plastic bottle is hanging from a tree. Sure made for a great photo and a good link, too.

I challenged Debbie on one of her previous blogs about composition and she responded with before and after versions of the photo which I feel really brings home the concept of the Rule of Thirds AND how to improve a photo with it.  Oh, and those tiger cubs are so cute, too!

Karma shows us not one but two and a half photos which she improved with creative cropping.  The rainbow sprite show captured is my favorite of all the submitted photos.

Nora is another Google+ contributor.  She used flickr for her before and after versions of an artifact she photographed in Walt Disney World’s Tower of Terror.  The ‘after’ photo is the clear winner.  Something to show new camera owners.

Truels fought off some computer gremlins to bring us a series of summer images he masterfully re-cropped into a stunning set of warmth.  Make a good start to a photo book. 🙂

People must think I like Walt Disney World or something. 😉  KD strongly improved the composition of photos from her last trip to Orlando.  Epcot’s World Showcase really popped out at me from the set.

Lauri is one of those up and coming photographers I see so much of on Google+.  Her brilliant beach composition really nails it.

Sybil had a little difficulty with the assignment. I do have to agree with her that the before photos were better and followed the Rule of Thirds better than the ‘after’ photos.  So, I say to her, you got it!

Deanna not only improved a wonderfully wacky photo, she still is looking for the answer to the mystery of her daughter’s eyes.

I got some advice from a waterfowl which really improved an okay photo into a much more interesting one.  I need to talk to animals more often.

I would be remiss not to mention Birgitte’s musical salute to my assignment.

Now that you are well versed in the Rule of Thirds, find ways that work which break it! 😀  I’ll be back in March for another assignment and accompanying prize offer.