heres a photo for you city folk. first attempt at rule of thirds.

[Flower Child]

took these across from my house yesterday. did i do the rule right? c&c

1.

2.

 

[RyanLilly]

The first shot is well executed. The second is not bad, but I would suggest having the combine in the left of the frame, giving it more "looking room" in the direction it is traveling.

 

[austriker]

it looks like you accomplished it well by the best of my knowledge ( but i am just a beginner too)

 

[FlyingFly]

It's good for rule of thirds. I'd suggest having the sky taking up 1/3 and ground takingup 2/3 of the photo area. Thus on the photo we can feel a lot of the harvest instead of the "empty" sky.

 

[Flower Child]

thanks for all your comments

 

[gsgary]

The first one i would had the combine higher in the frame because there is nothing interesting in the sky, more field less sky

 

[pm63]

The first shot is well executed. The second is not bad, but I would suggest having the combine in the left of the frame, giving it more "looking room" in the direction it is traveling.

Agreed. This is also a good tip for photographing people. If they are gazing into the distance, have the distance in front of their face as opposed to behind them.

OP: you show a good understanding of the rule of thirds. However, allow me to give you some general advice when photographic landscapes: you need some foreground interest, which is what the first image is missing. It can be anything, you can get down low and use the tips of the crops for example, a rock, something to separate the foreground and background and give a sense of depth. To give an example of mine:

http://flickr.com/photos/ozga/2625565950/

Some other general advice: the photos, in particular the first, could definitely to with a saturaiton and contrast boost.

Finally, keep in mind that the "rule" of thirds isn't somehting you ALWAYS have to follow. Don't try to force composition onto a photograph by thinking to yourself "if I imagined a tic tac toe grid and the points were here..." - just to whatever feels right. Often, I find moving the subject off-center, but not necessarily on one of the intersecting points works best. I say this because there seems to be too much of an emphasis on using this compositional aid all the time in beginner photographers.

 

[chrisburke]

nice pictures, but why are they so squished?? when you do your copping, you should make sure your cropping for an actual picture size.. like if you wanted to print that one out, and frame it, your not going to fine a frame that size..

 

[Flower Child]

The first one i would had the combine higher in the frame because there is nothing interesting in the sky, more field less sky

yes you are right. thanks for pointing that out.

Agreed. This is also a good tip for photographing people. If they are gazing into the distance, have the distance in front of their face as opposed to behind them.

OP: you show a good understanding of the rule of thirds. However, allow me to give you some general advice when photographic landscapes: you need some foreground interest, which is what the first image is missing. It can be anything, you can get down low and use the tips of the crops for example, a rock, something to separate the foreground and background and give a sense of depth. To give an example of mine:

http://flickr.com/photos/ozga/2625565950/

Some other general advice: the photos, in particular the first, could definitely to with a saturaiton and contrast boost.

Finally, keep in mind that the "rule" of thirds isn't somehting you ALWAYS have to follow. Don't try to force composition onto a photograph by thinking to yourself "if I imagined a tic tac toe grid and the points were here..." - just to whatever feels right. Often, I find moving the subject off-center, but not necessarily on one of the intersecting points works best. I say this because there seems to be too much of an emphasis on using this compositional aid all the time in beginner photographers.

THANK YOU so much for your help!!!!! you make a lot of sense. hahaha--tic tac toe---thats a good way to put it. i think i kinda pulled a tic tac toe on the first one. thanks again for your help.---your example photo was beautiful.

nice pictures, but why are they so squished?? when you do your copping, you should make sure your cropping for an actual picture size.. like if you wanted to print that one out, and frame it, your not going to fine a frame that size..

thank you, yes cropping them all weird has kicked me in the ass many o time. i printed them off at walmart one day and they came out all butchered up. im still learning about all that stuff through trial and error. i will pay more attention to my crops now.

 

[christm]

Some good pictures

However the rule of thirds is useful however, don't always follow it exactly as it can make a photo look wrong as well as amazing. So great attempt and in this case it worked, just don't use it every single time too exactly.

 

[chrisburke]

thank you, yes cropping them all weird has kicked me in the ass many o time. i printed them off at walmart one day and they came out all butchered up. im still learning about all that stuff through trial and error. i will pay more attention to my crops now.

its pretty easy to not mess up.. when you select your crop tool (assuming your using photoshop) there is a place at the top of the screen where you can set the size.. you can make it 8x10 or whatever size your wanting.. then when you use the crop tool, it will keep it in the right proportions for a 8x10 or whatever size you pick

 

[Flower Child]

thanks christm!

and i will use the size setting tool from now on, chrisburke. thanks

 

[Flower Child]

heres a try with everyones advice.

 

[DRoberts]

Actually the cropping is completely as individual as any other aspect of photography...while I tend to agree with some of the "standard" opinions of cropping stated here, I do however disagree with the advice for this specific shot...
What is the purpose of the harvester? By cropping it to the right in the image (as the original is) you show the story of the harvester with the visialization of what it does. In front you have enough standing plants (soybeans??) for contrast of what is behind.
As I said before, cropping is completely individual. There is no "right or wrong" it all depends on your style and what you are trying to do with the shot.
My real one advice to consider when cropping... is the story behind the subject or in front of it.
Nice shots.

 

[Flower Child]

thank you very much for your thoughts DRoberts. i really value your opinion