OK, when I started this blog I fully intended to update it regularly, as I guess most people do when they start out. I have no excuse for not updating this since November, except laziness, procrastination and always having something else to do.

Today’s selection is really to publicise the fact that following a massive scanning session I’ve just added 9 new photos to my main site – some from a trip to Australia in 2002 and a couple of even earlier ones from Greece in 2000. So click here to see which sections have been updated with the latest photos.

The photo I have selected shows the Central Business District of Sydney, Australia in January 2002. In front of the office buildings you have Circular Quay, in the foreground there is a replica of the HMS Bounty which takes tourists on trips around the harbour and to the right of the skyscrapers is Darling Harbour. The day before I took this photo I did the Bridge Climb (more of a walk than a climb, but definitely worth doing if you ever get the chance) but was disappointed that I couldn’t take my camera. Fair enough, you can’t have anything being dropped from that height onto the traffic below, but still annoying for a keen amateur photographer like me But the next day I discovered the museum in the south eastern pylon of the bridge, and found that the open top floor gave a fantastic vantage point for photos of the city like this one, as well as an unusual angle onto the bridge itself.

The main reason for picking this photo is to discuss breaking the rule of thirds. For those of you who haven’t heard of this, it’s a theory on composing photos that says you should try to place the main focus of your subject at the points made by imaginary lines dividing the photo in 3 vertically and horizontally. In its simplest form it says don’t put the horizon in the middle of the photo for a landscape shot, put it a third of the way from the top or bottom, and you will have a much more visually pleasing photo. But don’t take my word for it, the link in the first sentence of this paragraph explains it much more clearly than I can.

So, having said all that, let’s look at my photo. The horizon goes straight across the centre of the photo, so the rule has clearly been broken. But I think that it needs an expanse of clear sky above it to contrast the busy city, so putting the horizon on the top third is ruled out, and with the horizon on the bottom third I would have reduced the effect of the road which leads the viewer into the photo. Speaking of the road, the left hand lane of traffic is pretty much on the vertical third line, so I haven’t completely ignored the rule…

What this shows, as far as I’m concerned, is that the rules are good guides to bear in mind, but don’t treat them as written in stone – if you feel a shot would be improved by breaking them, go for it!

As always I welcome your comments, apart from people trying to sell viagra and other crap. Don’t bother, almost all the spam I get is caught by the filter, and any that does get through has to be manually approved by me so it never appears on the page

Taken with a Nikon F60 and a Nikon 28 – 80mm lens at 28mm on Kodak Royal Supra (or was it Royal Gold back then?). Shutter speed unknown, Aperture unknown.

View photo page on main site