The Rule of Thirds and Bad News Photos

In tutorial, we discussed picture stories. Before taking this class I did not know about the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is when you take a photo using a digital or camera phone, you can either imagine a grid of three vertical and three horizontal lines or you can find a setting to make a grid on the screen. To make a photo more interesting, you should place your points of interest on the intersecting lines. I find this photography concept very interesting, because your eye is drawn to these points of interest. 

Today during class, each class member found an example of a news story with a bad photo based on the rule of thirds or relevance. I found the task to be easier than I had imagined. I found a story titled “Gunman holding fireman hostage killed; hostage OK.” The picture above is associated with this story and is a blurry, unfocused shot of a line of cars. If I was just looking at this picture I would not have known there were hostages being held. If I were the journalist I would have tried to capture a clear shot of the hostages coming out of the house. As a journalist it is important to capture a picture that tells the story. The picture should not be an after thought. 

Another article I found titled “Guess who is not coming to dinner?”, this article describes President Obama’s dinner with the GOP senators at the White House. The picture above is associated with the story and depicts President Obama giving a speech. If I were the journalist covering this story, I would have tried to take pictures at the event. I would try to capture a picture that is relevant to the story. I would have taken a picture of Obama and the GOP senators at the dinner table. In an ideal world I would be able to gain access to the event and capture pictures, if not I would try to capture a picture of the GOP senators entering or leaving the White House while being greeted by President Obama. 

When I am a journalist I will take pictures that will bring meaning to the story. For lecture recess I have plans to go to the Whitsunday Islands and Melbourne. I will be taking many photos this weekend. I plan taking pictures based on the rule of thirds this weekend to try to find a great story. I will have to think about other elements such as framing, focus, angle, exposure, timing, and capturing “the moment.” These elements will guide the photos I will be capturing.