rule of thirds be damned by summerfield

rule of thirds be damned

rule of thirds for landscape: "When taking a picture of a landscape, it’s natural to want to center the horizon in the frame. However, pictures often look better if the horizon falls on the upper or lower horizontal dividing line. If the focus of your image is on land (i.e. mountains, buildings), the horizon should fall near the upper third and if the focus is the sky (i.e. sunsets, sunrises), the horizon should fall near the lower third." blah! blah! blah!

in freeman patterson's book "photography and the art of seeing", he encourages us to break the rule of thirds. so in this shot, i did. because i wanted to. because that's the only way i could include the swan family, the fountain and the beautifully shaped clouds in this shot without looking cramped.

hmmm....what's the rule again?
Somehow it all seems to be "breaking the rules"! But you need to be individual and it works here!
August 4th, 2013  
Well, I'm sure you've heard it before, but "rules are meant to be broken". Nice shot you have here...
August 4th, 2013  
Well for me the shot works! There's a lot to take in. Love the inclusion of the swan family.
August 4th, 2013  
It looks perfect to me, those clouds are lovely, and the swan family, is this the family that you have been showing us? I'm glad you broke the rule!
August 4th, 2013  
Just love the puffy clouds in this one.
August 4th, 2013  
Very cool. Like the new profile pic :)
August 4th, 2013  
I love breaking the rules and it works here
August 4th, 2013  
@maggiemae - thank you, maggiemae.

@rafesmar - thank you, rafa.

@salza - that's why i wanted this as my post. thank you, sally.

@678tabby - thank you, june. yes, this is the same family of swans.

@denisedaly - thank you, denise.

@abhijit - thank you, ab. it's always nice when one of the stars come around and visit. :-)

@ness50 - thank you, Vanessa.
August 4th, 2013  
Sem
Hi Summerfield, I have been thinking about what to challenge you to all day, you seem to have done everything but here's my challenge to you :
In one frame capture a piece of story, like a single frame from a comic book, something like that.
I'm terrible at giving challenges, if it's unclear or just a crappy challenge, please let me know.
August 4th, 2013  
@semjaja - whoa! what kind of challenge is that?!? hahaha! kidding! actually, sem, that's an excellent challenge i'm starting to have a headache trying to think of something to meet this challenge. story eh? challenge accepted. now, where the heck is my thinking cap now?
August 4th, 2013  
break a rule every day! This is a beautiful scene!!
August 4th, 2013  
the rule of the beauty of a shot trumps the rule of thirds ~
August 5th, 2013  
Proof positive that some rules were made to be broken (at least once in a while). (o;
August 5th, 2013  
very very nice
August 5th, 2013  
and a great result ...posted more trees for you in today's pic
August 5th, 2013  
this is wonderful. i really enjoy how you are doing this challenge, it makes sense to me. fav.
August 5th, 2013  
Beautiful shot
August 6th, 2013  
This is gorgeous! And that horiz. line is right smack in the center, but it still looks great. what a sky! Those clouds! And the "hiding" swans. Fav! You rocked this.
August 7th, 2013  
Hee hee, awesome title. It definitely works here, love it!
August 8th, 2013  
beautiful!
August 10th, 2013  
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