Repetitive Viewfinder
26 Apr 2022Rule of Thirds
As a photographer, one of the first rules taught is the “Rule of Thirds.” It is a simple rule, but it will control the way many people aim their camera at their subjects. When taking a picture, there is a grid of three rows and three columns. The sections of this grid create a guide that may enable for easier framing and composition. For example, if the subject is facing towards the right of the frame, place them within the six sections to the left.
This rule may also be extended into other styles of photography, with nature being one of my favorites. The best implemtation of this will be if you were to try and take a landscape shot. Because of the rule, you are required for a subject to fill at least one of the rows or columns of the frame, so you are prevented from letting the horizon run through the middle of the frame. This may seem counterintuitive, as the horizon running through the center will help evenly halve the photo. However, by deciding whether you want the sky or the landscape to take up most of the frame, you are forced to have a more focused subject rather than having two equal subjects share.
Patterns in View
Despite The Rule of Thirds being a generally good concept to reference, I oftentimes find myself dogmatically treating it as law rather than what it should be: a rule meant to be broken. It is a tool, and it is up to the photographer to decide when they would like to use such a tool. The mistake of scrapping and blundering what could have been amazing shots has helped me become more aware of the things I restrict myself to, and I believe that this lesson is carried perfectly into how I write code.
I enjoy optimization and efficiency, and I gravitate to any solution that may result in this. A preference I have developed is to create a generic and bare bones solution, which is oftentimes a function or file that still needs to be filled in, and copy this solution into any instance where it may be useful. This correlates with the prototype design pattern, which I suspect I will learn more about and use more, as I have a liking towards the user interface and front-end portions of software development.
Keeping the many patterns and repetitive solutions in mind can be very helpful, and referring back to such concepts may be your safest best. However, straying away from conventions and discovering another solution might be more enjoyable. This flexibility of having other solutions in view will continue to be an extremely useful skill to have.