Have you ever heard the saying that there's an exception for every rule? Well, the rule of thirds is no exception.
(If you haven't read our post about Middle Management, aka how to use the rule of thirds to create stronger, more compelling images, go check that out first before you read any further.)
By now, you've had it drummed into you, whether from reading our blog post or taking our courses or some mix of the two, that the best place for your subject is not in the middle, but rather near one of those "power points" created by imagining a three-by-three grid superimposed over what you see through the view finder of your camera. And hopefully, you also have a handle on the concept of leaving your subject some space to move or gaze into, to give life and an element of story-telling to a static image.
Here's the part where I tell you when and why to forget all that and place your subject right in the middle of the frame. The key is one word: symmetry. In cases where you are photographing something (or someone) whose two halves mirror each other, the middle is the place for them to be. By its very nature, symmetry gives a strong sense of balance. Placing a subject that is so perfectly balanced in an off-center position would simply look and feel wrong. And, generally speaking, a symmetrical subject lends itself to a sense of stability and grounding. It doesn't require space to move into, because the story it is telling is more about serenity and stillness than about dynamic movement.
To take this from the abstract, let's look at an example:
You can see, I hope, the symmetry of this lovely model's pose. It's not quite perfect symmetry, but it's close enough to it that putting her off to one side of the frame or the other would look strange. The sense of a centered balance is enhanced by the fact that she's gazing down, rather than having her head turned to one side or the other. And, of course, the rays of light cascading from above in a symmetrical fan help also.
When I choose to put a subject in the center of a photo, it's because the symmetry is so overwhelmingly obvious to me that I almost can't make another choice. So, my advice is to pay close attention, train your artist's eye, learn to see when you have a symmetrical subject -- and only then to break the rule of thirds. It does take some practice and maybe some trial and error. The good news is that editing software lets you play around with different image crops, as long as you've shot your photo with enough space around the subject to work with. If you suspect you've captured a strongly symmetrical image, experiment with putting it in the center of your image vs. on one of the rule of thirds lines.
And if you find yourself befuddled or like you don't know how to judge symmetry vs. asymmetry, you might consider taking one or more of our photography courses. In Photography 2, we talk all about photographic composition, including the concept of symmetry.
