People often refer to “the classic rules of photography”: “This photofollows the classic rules…” or “he/she broke all the classic rules…” etc. Butwhat are those “classic rules” anyway? I gave it some thought and came up withthe following five rules, all longstanding and time-honoured, like you wouldexpect when something is called classic. But nothing is set in cement and rulessuch as these have been violated with superb results over and over again. Butthey are also there for a reason, since they probably represent something thatmost people mostly find pleasing most of the times. Not everybody all the time.So what are they, these classic rules of photography:

Rule #1 : F/8 And Be There!

This is rule number one and it has little to do with your camera andtechnical proficiency, as is the case with the other four rules. Read this ruleagain, breath it and live it. As simple as it sounds, it is the most importantof all rules in photography.

The part about f/8 refers to a camera setting, or rather a lens aperturesetting. It’s a technical detail and it’s not really important. But at the sametime it’s what makes this rule so memorable.

It’s not a bad advice using f/8, it’s a pretty standard value and often safeto use if you want to be sure to get your subject in focus without giving itmuch thought.

But it’s true value is that it boils all the complicated art and tech issuesdown to that simple 1-letter-1-number statement, f/8 (simply read f eight), thehidden message being: Forget the technical aspects, concentrate on the subject.Simple and brilliant.

In my experience it’s mostly used in the context of spot news photography,where it’s certainly important to be on the spot when something happens. But Iwouldn’t forget about it in the context of normal peoples lives, peacefullandscape photos and even photos for the family album. Whatever photo you wantto capture, you have to be there first. You have to get up and go out, walkthat extra mile, lose that hour of sleep, do whatever it takes for you to getthere with your camera.

A talented, but lazy photographer is not necessarily as successful as a veryactive, less talented one. Because you have to be there.

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Rule #2 : The Decisive Moment

A term coined by photography legend Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sort of atime-version of rule number 1. Together we could call these two rules: “Beingin the right place at the right time”.

But there’s more to this rule than just being there at the right time. Youhave to press the shutter button at exactly the decisive moment, when all theelements of the photo (perhaps including the photographer himself) suddenlycome together in a fraction of a second. A blink of an eye and it’s gone again.The man jumping over the puddle has touched down again, the guy in thebackground has turned his head away from the kissing couple and the dyingsoldier has fallen flat to the ground.

It happens so fast that it’s hard for us to see and react to before it’sover. But that is one of the big charms of photography. It can capture thesefleeing moments and make them last forever — on print. For Cartier-Bresson itwas an intuitive thing. “Think before and after you take a photograph, notwhile you are doing it.”

Sports photography arguably has a lot of decisive moments, but in my bookthey don’t really count, since it’s just a game and not truly a slice ofreality. I know Cartier-Bresson in his book set off with quoting someone“there’s nothing in the world that doesn’t have a decisive moment”, but I don’twant to get into the discussion here. Many people who are more sportsenthusiastic than me would probably disagree with me, but I do think thatthere’s more real decisive moments to be had on the stadium seating than on thepitch.

Rule #3 : Go Close

– And when you’ve done that, go even closer! Coined by another photographylegend, Robert Capa, who died following this rule, camera in his hand, as hestepped on a landmine in the French-Indochinese war. But not all situations ofcourse are life-and-death situations. So use it whenever you reasonably can,and your photos will in many cases have a stronger appeal and give a moreintimate connection between the subject and the viewer.

Again, it’s not just for spot news photography. If you are portraying normallife, it is equally important to get close to people. Get into their homes andinto their private lives where they are themselves. Do it in a way that isn’tprying and offensive. It will give you an honest and intimate view of life.

This rule usually implies using a wide-angle lens, which tends to give amore “open” perspective. Much good can also be said about the long tele-photolenses as well, and they have their place. Especially in fields like wildlifeand sports photography, where it is often impossible to be up close to theaction.

Rule #4 : The Rule Of Thirds

This is one of these rules that are great to follow and equally great tobreak. But photography would be a lesser thing without it. Briefly stated, ittells you to place you main subject, not in the center of the frame, but alittle to the left or right side, a third into the frame. And also to place anydominating horizontal lines in your photo, like for instance the horizon, athird into the frame from the top or bottom. Just not in the center.

This will arguably give your photo a more appealing look, pleasing to theeye by leaving a significant space on one side of the subject for thesurroundings. The rule, also known as the divine proportion and the goldenmean, have been used by painters for thousands of years. Having survived thatlong, there’s got to be something about it!

Rule #5 : Use The Light

The magic hours, the hour around sunrise and the hour around sunset have aparticular pleasing, soft light that works particular well for landscape andoutdoor photography. It’s always the light that creates the photograph. Forindoor and portrait photography, use a barn door or, if you don’t live on afarm, a big window without direct sunlight will also do. Place your subjectclose to the window and you will get a nice, soft light from different anglesfalling onto your subject. You can get the whole studio lighting set-up as wellif you prefer not to rely on the constantly changing natural light.

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