FOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY
COMPOSITION
KIT
M A S T E R T H E R U L E O F T H I R D S I N YO U R
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

T H E WO RK B O O K
Pa rt 1 :

USING THE RULE OF THIRDS

What to ask yourself before you start

TH E BAS I CS

The rule of thirds works by dividing your frame into 9 equal rectangles, using two
vertical, and two horizontal lines. Start by reading this article.

This workbook is designed to help you plan out your photo before you start, Answer all
of the following questions for each photo, then print off as many of the grid pages as
you need to start sketching and planning.

1. What camera angle will you use? (straight down, 45°, straight on)

2. What is the main subject of your photo? (i.e. a whole cake, a piece of cake etc.)

3. Where in the frame will you place your subject for the biggest impact?

4. Additional thoughts/notes such as props you will use, colours, garnishes etc:

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Part 2:

P L A N N I N G YO U R C O M P O S I T I O N
Here is an example of a sketch I would do (in real life, I’d print out the grid and sketch
in pencil). You’ll see in my notes on the right how I answered the questions on the pre-
vious page, and you can see the final photo in this blog post

Go to the next page to print out your own grids.

NOTES

1. In this example, I chose a

straight down camera angle.

2. The main subject of my photo

is the bowl at the bottom of the
picture.

3. I placed the bowl along the

bottom line, over the two bot-
tom intersects. I placed my
secondary subject on th e top
right intersect and intentionally
cropped it to convey less impor-
tance than the bowl at the bot-
tom.

4. In order to add interest to the

shot, I framed the bowls with
extra oranges, garnishes and a
cloth.

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Pa rt 3:

TA K I N G A C T I O N
Pri nt off t h e s e g r i d s a n d p ract i se yo u r ow n sketches

Note s Notes

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© T H AT S S A G E . C O M FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY COMPOSITION KIT | 5
 COPY R I G HT © LAUREN SHORT, THATSSAGE.COM.
A LL RIGHTS RESERVED.

You may print a copy of this document for your person-

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means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permis-
sion of the author. Requests to the author should be ad-
dressed to Lauren Short, lauren@thatssage.com.

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