rule of thirds research

"The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows."

In the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. If an image is taken it looks better and more focused if the image is directly in the middle of the scene especially with portraits or when the photographer is focusing on one specific object or try to highlight a specific part on a image or person. The rule of thirds is used a guideline when trying to capture an image and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.In a landscape photo the rule of thirds is used because pictures often look better if the horizon falls on the upper or lower horizontal dividing line. If the focus of your image is on land (i.e. mountains, buildings), the horizon should fall near the upper third and if the focus is the sky (i.e. sunsets, sunrises), the horizon should fall near the lower third.
The subject doesn't always have to be in the center of the scene because sometimes not having the image solely based in the middle allows more interest because the person viewing the image has more to look at this is commonly used more in landscape photos. For example the image below the lady isn't directly in the center of the image however you can still see her clear but this image gives more of a 'awkward' shot but what it does allow is an additional point of interest. If you wanted the person to be the main focus area zoomed in focused images are usually used when having close up or mid shots when doing portraits.

Rule of Thirds Example: PortraitsHere is an example of a rule of thirds portrait. As you can see, the eyes are lined up with the upper horizontal line and each eye is where the upper horizontal line intersects with a vertical line.