View Full Version : Question about the grid on XHA1


Kevin Lewis
May 25th, 2009, 01:15 PM
IM trying to follow what I belive is called the rule of thirds when interview a subject. From what I understand, the xha1 has a grid that can help with this. THere seems to be access to a few grids. Can someone tell me which grid to use and how to use it. Thanks.

Scott Nelson
May 25th, 2009, 10:35 PM
Ok, I assume you know how to get to the grid in the menu...

Menu > Display Setup > Markers > Grid


The Grid breaks the frame down into 3rds horizontally and vertically. The basic rule of thirds is that you want to keep your subject in intersection of the thirds. To give a more dramatic shot, rather than putting a character in the center of a shot while talking to some to the right of the camera, You would put his face on the left half so they look off the right of the framing, It give the impression they are looking towards someone. It spruces up the shot and makes it look more interesting.

An interesting but effective youtube video.... YouTube - The Rule of Thirds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZqcKN-R1DU&feature=related)

Wikipedia:
Rule of thirds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds)

And

Let me google that for you (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Rule+of+Thirds)

(Nothing personal, I just got turned on to that site)

I hope this helps you! It is a very useful tool to draw people in.

Kevin Lewis
May 26th, 2009, 10:10 AM
Scott, that helped a little, but I still need to know how to actualy use the grid and how to line up the subject.

Marcel D. Van Someren
May 26th, 2009, 12:53 PM
this should help:

Rule of Thirds (http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds)

Kevin Lewis
May 26th, 2009, 03:03 PM
Thanks Marcel. That was helpful. With the example of the guy wearing the tie,I noticed that his eyes were lined up with one of the horizontal lines, but it was not at an intersecting point. Is the alignment of his eyes coincindental or is that part of the rule of thirds?

Marcel D. Van Someren
May 26th, 2009, 05:38 PM
In this particular example, the main focus was to get the head on intersecting lines. The eyes are also close to the intersecting lines and for this particular shot, that means they would fall along the horizontal line, which brings his left eye very close to an intersecting line.