Weekly Vocabulary 2/1

Rule of Thirds: A guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

Perspective Photography: defined as the sense of depth or spatial relationships between objects in the photo, along with their dimensions with respect to the viewpoint (camera lens or the viewer).

Distortion (Optics)

• In barrel distortion, straight lines bulge outwards at the center, as in a barrel.
• In pincushion distortion, corners of squares form elongated points, as in a cushion.
• In mustache distortion, horizontal lines bulge up in the center, then bend the other way as they approach the edge of the frame (if in the top of the frame), as in curly handlebar mustaches