Photo tip: Get 'em out of centre.

I see so many people line people up dead centre of their photo. I guess we may have been taught to do this - everyone seems to do it. But there is a thing in photography called the 'rule of thirds'. Our eye tends to drift to a spot that is not dead centre, and we are taught to place our focal point there instead. 

If you draw two lines through horizontally and two lines vertically through a photograph, where those lines meet is supposed to be the sweet spot. There are four spots you can choose from. 

Try it next time you take a pic. Leave some empty space to one side. Put your focus on something in the top left or bottom right - anywhere but centre. And then take the same pic, but centre the focused object. Which one looks better?

If I had taken this photo, centring the man, I would have lost the amazing shadow play to the right of him, and the framing of darkness that surrounds would have altered. I also love how he is looking down and out of the frame, as if his mind is elsewhere. A time of reflection, emotion and power. If I had gotten more body, it may have not let my eye delve so close, to see his emotion, the chin strap sitting tight around his face, the shine of light on his jacket.

But, of course, rules are made to be broken, and sometimes, it's just better with focus in the middle.

I guess that is art for you. Do what you want. Just tellin' ya what I know.