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Diagonal Method for composition in photography

L1017367 Diagonal Method for composition in photography

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diagonal Diagonal Method for composition in photography

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A popular topic during my one-on-one workshops is composition and many photographers have heard about the rule of thirds – I personally think the rule of thirds works better with the older aspect ratios 4×5, 8×10 as the frames weren’t as wide as the modern 35mm frame with its 2×3 aspect ratio. There are other methods like the golden ratio, or the golden spiral, or even the triangular method, all of which one can use in Lightroom as a crop guide overlay. I personally swear by teaching the “Diagonal Method”, as it allows for very dynamic compositions and the system is easy to understand. follow the link for more info and examples. Like any other rule, it is not hard and fast… feel free to experiment and put it through its paces by breaking it – that’s what great artists did for centuries to come up with inspiring pieces.

Lightroom has the guides built in, if you turn on the crop tool (R), you can change the crop guide overlay to diagonal tools > crop guide overlay > diagonals

Photoshop CS6 has a bunch of crop guides built in as well, and you can download a smart vector objectby simply clicking on this link

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  • J7CK

    I think the diagonal ‘rule’ is probably the primary one that i use too. 1/3s also is a natural way of composing for me also.
    The rule I like to contravene, every once in a while, is placing something dead centre; something fairly banal/commonplace. I guess ‘post-modernism’ has gradually made this ‘ok’, albeit somewhat cliched, now.

    cheers,