I assume everyone here knows about the rule of thirds. Most people probably know about the Golden Mean - the rationale behind it. The famed ratio, first employed by ancient Greeks, divides 1 onto (approximately) 0.618 and 0.382. This of course is quite far from accurate division into "thirds" - that would be 0.666 and 0.333, but usually the difference is small enough not to worry about.
Nevertheless, out of curiosity, here's the difference:
(image divided into thirds)
Here it is, the familiar and reassuring Rule of Thirds.
(image divided according to the Golden Mean)
And this monstrosity is the genuine Greek formula.
As you see, there IS a difference. Note how in the latter picture the recommended place for objects is closer to the center of the image. There probably is something to it.
The golden mean wasn't used just to divide things into parts, however. It was also used to create proportions between sides of rectangles (such as walls of buildings). However, using the golden mean as photo format wasn't possible here - until recently, when the rules were changed. Now it is possible, so perhaps someone should try it.
A rectangle defined by the golden mean is a bit 'thinner' than the usual 640x480 (or simply 4x3) format. For comparison, here're both variants:
(a regular 4x3 rectangle, like a 640x480 photo)
(a rectangle defined by the golden mean)
If you want to use the latter format, crop your images to 640x396 (or 396x640). |
