the center of interest—thus, the face should be posi-
tioned to fall on an intersection or on a dividing line.
Usually the head or eyes are two-thirds from the bot-
tom of a vertical photograph. Even in a horizontal com-
position, the eyes or face are usually at the top one-third
of the frame—unless the subject is seated or reclining. In
that case, they would generally be at the bottom one-
third line.
Some DSLRs feature an in-viewfinder grid of the rule
of thirds that can be activated at any time. I own two
ABOVE—In this pleasing portrait by Stacy Bratton, the baby is well
centered, but the center of interest—her face—is past the center
line of the image, implying movement and direction.
LEFT—This is a formal children’s portrait by Drake Busath. The
child’s seated form mimics the classic L-shaped composition, and
the line of the portrait, starting with the floral urn in the upper left
corner and ending at the lower right corner, is an elegant diagonal,
with several contrasting diagonal lines visible in the upper right
hand corner. Note that the simple posing of the hands is adequate
but not overdone and the young girl’s expression is subtle, denot-
ing a complexity warranted by such a formal composition.