One of the things I love about photography is playing around with composition…either while I am shooting or in the editing process.  The Daily Post this week focused their challenge on the rule of thirds…so I think I will piggyback this challenge with theirs.

You’ve probably seen more seagull photos from me than you ever wanted lately.  And I’ve been playing around with different angles and compositional elements.  Here’s an unedited one of a seagull standing on the rocks in the surf.

And this one is also unedited…on a gray day I captured this seagull in flight, in the upper lefthand third of the frame.

And it’s not always seagulls that capture my attention.  This pelican pair flew overhead, cruising the shoreline…they are almost in the bottom third of the frame.

And this egret was wading in the koi pond at Balboa Park…I especially love the colors and the way its mouth is open in this shot.

This was a favorite from the other day, taken with my iPhone…walking across the Target parking lot my eye was drawn to the gathering storm clouds in the sky…and the birds perched in this bare tree.

And just to prove that all my photos don’t include birds, here is a shot of a monarch caterpillar munching its way toward creating a chrysalis.  This shrub was full of caterpillars…and people were delighting in pointing out the crawlers.  We also saw a bright green chrysalis and a few butterflies too.

So, for this week, let’s play along with the Daily Post challenge and work on shots that follow the rule of thirds.  (For more information about the rule of thirds, look here)  You can frame your shots as you take them or play around with the composition in the editing process.

You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!)

I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #ruleofthirds for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

So play around with composition this week and see how the rule of thirds impacts your photos.