Rules of Photography



I started taking photography seriously some 3 years ago, when my husband gifted me my Nikon P510, just before our flight to New Zealand. This was an interesting change from my previous point and shoot camera with limited features. Once in New Zealand, we registered with the local library and I started getting books on photography regularly. Below image include some that I read:

I thought of giving a brief on when I read about and started applying certain Rules of Photography before starting writing on them.

Let's get started

Rule 1:

Rule of Third's

This rule involves dividing the scene in a grid of 3*3 as shown below. It says to position your subject or important elements in your image along the lines or at the points where these lines intersect for creating more visual interest and drama in your images. This is the most discussed and applied Rule of Photography. Most of the high end cameras come with the setting to overlay this grid on the photo which makes our job much easier. 

Below are some images with the Rule of Third's in work;

                                      

Rule 2: 

The f/ Rules

Sunny 16

This rule helps to get correct exposure outdoors on a bright sunny day. This rule is also called the f/16 rule. The basic rule is "One a bright sunny day, set the aperture on f/16, shutter speed as the reciprocal of the ISO setting". 

For example: 

If your camera's ISO setting is set on 100, and if you are shooting on sunny day, then set your aperture at f/16 and shutter speed at 1/100sec for the ideally exposed shot.

Sunny 16 rule lays basis for some other f/ rules for different lighting conditions.

Light Conditions    Aperture Value

Sunny Day                  f/16

Partly Cloudy             f/11

Cloudy                        f/8

Overcast or shade       f/5.6

Sunset                         f/4

The above table gives you the ideal aperture values for different light conditions where you can set your shutter speed as the reciprocal of  ISO value. You can use this as a guide to capture images with good exposure.

In the end I want to say that Rules are meant to be broken and no image is good bad. It's photographers' perspective of the world. Saying so, it is good to keep these rules in mind as it will force you to think about the shot more carefully.

Hope it will be helpful.

Happy Clicking!!