Rule of Thirds

It is all too common to get into the habit of placing the subject in a position in the photograph where they appear quite motionless and uninteresting. The most common placement error is to position your subject, most commonly a loved one, dead smack in the center of the photo.

This practice normally leaves very little to the imagination and there are very few situations where it can work for the picture.
A much better way to compose the scene for your photo on canvas is to follow the very simple rule of thirds. This is done by drawing four imaginary lines in your viewfinder: two horizontal and two vertical, as if you were playing tic-tac-toe.

Your subject is most dynamic, or lively, when positioned at one of the four cross hairs that these lines create. If your subject is elongated either horizontally or vertically (like the horizon of a landscape), then it should be positioned along one of the imaginary lines. Simple as tic-tac-toe.