Rule of Thirds - Photography #6

The rule basically dictates that photos should be split into 9 equal parts; 2 equally-spaced horizontal lines and 2 equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important features within the frame should intersect with these lines at some point.

One thing I've figured out about photography is that the so called 'rules' are really just guidelines but it is good to understand them.

Here are three versions of the same photo.  The first is not cropped at all.  The 2nd is cropped so that her eye is at one of the intersections of the grid. And the 3rd crop makes her face really fill the screen with her eye again at an intersection point. Hmm....which do I like better?

The difference between #1 and #2 is subtle but I do think it makes a difference. And I prefer #2. The rule of thirds wins! While #3 fills the screen which is important, her hand position adds so much to the whole photo that cropping that out takes away from the power of the photo.