For the life of me, I DO NOT understand the ROT - I thought that I did, but EVERY time I post a picture on another photography board of mine, they call me out for not using the ROT. I guess I just don't get it. Is there anyone that explains it pretty well?
Heather - D50/50mm 1.8/18-200 VR/28-75mm 2.8/SB400
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I honestly have no idea what ROT is..........I don't ever recall hearing that term before. What does it stand for?
Melissa
Sorry Melissa - Rule of Thirds
Heather, here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
-Jill
Canon 40D and Digital Rebel XT
50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8, 17-70mm f/2.8, 430EX
HWolff: Sorry Melissa - Rule of Thirds
LOL......I should have figured that out LOL. Well the thing about the rule of thirds is that you don't have to follow it all the time! It is something keep in mind, but I don't stress about framing all my photos that way.
Photography Composition Articles has a lot of articles about the ROT/Golden Mean (I think Tammi linked to the site too). It took me a while to understand too, although reading about the Golden Mean also helped.
juliet
canon 40D | 50mm f1.4 | 85mm f1.8
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Heather, I think we are going to be doing some "lessons" on composition, and hopefully some assignments on the topic as well. :) Stay tuned.
~~Tammi~~
d300, MB-D10, sb800, sb400, 18-200VR, 18-50 f/2.8, 28-75 f/2.8, 90 f/2.8 macro, 50 f/1.4, Pocket wizards, sekonic L-358, and an aresnal of reflectors and other light modifiers....and maybe more. ;)
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heather-
go take a piece of paper and fold it lengthwise you will have three even columns. (and two fold marks)
Then take the same paper and fold it horizontal wise so you have the three even columns (with two fold marks).
Your results will look like a tic tac toe board.
No imagine your camera frame like this. You want your subject to be at either one of these lines or where they intersect. At least what you want to focus your attention to. Not the center. TTechinically, one's eye is never really "centered" when they look at a piece of art so you are just off setting yourself from the direct center. Does that makes sense? Only a few photos I take are ever spot on center... and I did it just for that reason.
If you are using LR- I love that when you go to crop the rule of thirds lines are built into the editing software so you can keep your object in the rule of third.
Here are some photo examples from recent shoots to hopefully help you understand.
Okay- so look at your paper that you folded. (what? you didn't do it? go- do it now!! )
Turn paper horizontally or verticle according to photo.
Bottom left corner of ROT: (where the car is)
Boy on right line of ROT
3 angles. The logo on top line. ME on left line. Car that looks like it's going to hit me on Right line.
Right line.
Left line (and perhaps left top corner?) of ROT
This is where I might have thrown away the rules ;) though I bet if I pull it into LR their eyes may be hitting the right line (guy) and top line (girl). ;)
Hope that helps.
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rebeccalinhrodgers.com/blog
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Do you have an example of a pic where they said it wasn't ROT?
Constructive Critism is always welcome. I am here to learn so let me know how I can do better.
Canon Rebel XT Sigma 28-90mm (less used: Sigma 70-30mm and Canon 18-50mm kit, 430 Speedlite)
Interesting, I didn't realize ROT was about being on the lines, I thought it meant being in the squares. My video camera has a feature that puts the grid on the screen so you can see it while you are shooting video. I've been using it wrong, I guess. Thank you for the explanations and the photo samples!
Elisabeth
Nikon D40, 18-55mm kit lens & 55-200mm VR lens