need help on view finder stuff

junqi · Apr 7, 2015

Hi all,

Just an enquiry. Regarding about rules of third and all the rules for photogtaphy. In order to picture the rules of third you need to cut photo into 3 part. Does professional photographer use grid lines on view finder to capture those photo or without grid lines.

Kindly advise.

Thank you.

tecboy · Apr 7, 2015

There are focusing screens that have grid lines, and you can able to see through the viewfinder.
Grid Lines Crop Guides - KatzEye Optics

junqi · Apr 7, 2015

tecboy said:
There are focusing screens that have grid lines, and you can able to see through the viewfinder.
Grid Lines Crop Guides - KatzEye Optics

But my enquirers is when you become a professional photographers does we need to use grid lines at all ? because from i not using grid lines at all. i am using just focus point. should i enable the grids lines ?

tecboy · Apr 7, 2015

It is really up to the photographers to use the grid or not. It is your decision.

petrochemist · Apr 7, 2015

The 'rule of thirds' is very much a guideline and actually contradicts the similar 'rule' based on the golden ratio.
I keep it visible on my EVF as it helps me get subjects looking level, and it's never seemed a distraction to me. It might also help remind you to place your subject of centre (unless you have a reason for making it central).
I expect some professionals use the grid & others don't - it's very much a matter of personal preference. From what I've seen some 'Professionals' don't even know the rule of thirds & I don't just mean they break it when appropriate.

TCampbell · Apr 7, 2015

Don't get too fussy about being precise about that "third". Instead, understand why the compositional rule works.

When you look at someone, your brain "centers" your subject in the view. A car, a person, etc. Your brain never thinks "gee, wouldn't be more artistic to look at this car off to the left side of my vision rather than in the center." That doesn't happen. Your brain naturally "centers" everything and this is exactly what your brain expects.

Hand someone a camera with absolutely no composition training... and they'll tend to just "center" everything. That's what people do. That comes naturally.

When you de-center the subject, it provides an unexpected view. The brain then wants to sweep the image with your eyes and take a look around. Suddenly it's not just about the subject... but the subject's relationship to a background. This stimulates a certain amount of interest in the brain and the image becomes more appealing. You are, in effect, forcing your viewer to "look around" to take in the whole scene rather than just look at the subject.

When I shoot and I want to follow a "rule of thirds", I don't necessarily use grid-lines... I just push he subject over to one side of my frame and it's "approximately" at the position where the gridline would have been drawn. That's enough to motivate the brain to look around.