Introduction

In this post I will be showing examples of different photography tricks and skills, that will better your photographs. The three categories are: Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, and Depth of Field. Each one of these will help you to really understand photography, or even help you take more skillful photos.

 

Rule of Thirds:

The photo was taken by Kim Seng, and can be found on https://captainkimo.com/portland-maine-ocean-lighthouse/ The Photo is of a lighthouse in Portland, Maine. I really like the style of the photo, the colors, and the contract between the ocean, background and lighthouse.

 

This picture displays the rule of thirds by having many different important elements throughout the photo. There is one line that is directly above the horizon line it shows that this photo is more sky, which is the most common type of examples when it comes to rule of thirds. The most important parts of the picture is where the lines meet, like the light house.

 

Photo taken by Cesilee Eggleston

I chose to take this picture this way to capture the scenery, as well as allow my husband to be the scale for it. I really enjoy how my husband is in the bottom left corner because that allows for the view of the photo to focus more on the scenery. The blue/gray sky is right above the horizon line, which also helps break the photo down into thirds.

Leading Lines

This photo was taken by Kevin Jones, and can be found on https://www.flickr.com/photos/kj-an/3060098369/in/photostream/. The photo is of the Taj Mahal, which is located in Agra, India. I’ve always thought that the Taj Mahal was really cool, and I really like how this type of picture with the reflection pool is great.

I really like how the leading lines are in place, and that there are people scattered on the sides following the leading lines too. This will help viewers to not only look at whats the main focus of the picture, but also its surroundings up until that point. With such strong leading lines in this picture it has one main focus, the Taj Mahal, which is in the center of the photo.

Photo taken by Cesilee Eggleston

I took this photo outside of my apartment one day because it displays a very large amount of leading lines. There is a sense of wonder, because the photo leads you down this path, but you don’t know where it will take you. In my opinion these leading lines almost distract you enough from the two other sides of the photo as well.

Depth of Field

The photo is by Jason Kiner, and can be found on  http://jkiner.deviantart.com/art/Your-move-21991976. I really like the photo because of the focus on the king piece, and how the king piece is bent at the top, giving off this feel that it has been a long and hard chess game.

This picture clearly shows the amazing effects of depths of field. When looking at this picture you know right away that it is a chess board, even though the background in blurred, and the board is blurred. But the main piece that is in focus, gives off the hints for you to understand what the whole picture is displaying. Since the large chess piece is in focus it helps us to better understand what the picture is as a whole.

Photo taken by Cesilee Eggleston

I love this simplicity of this photo. The bright colors of the apple itself, draws you in enough to understand that it is the main focus of the picture. Not only do the bright colors show that, but so does the blur behind it. Although you can tell that it is a home in the background, there is less interest in it because it is blurred and behind the apple.

Summary

Learning about these photography skills was very informative. I have never taken the time to learn about photography but I have definitely been interested. There is a lot more to photography than I ever realized, but learning about it has given me more of an appreciate for photographers. I think that not just anyone can pick up a camera and become a photographer. You need to do your research, and take classes, because theres definitely more to it than you would think.