How to use the golden ratio
Instead of using the spiral, create a grid like in the rule of thirds, but one that uses a 1:1.618 ratio, instead of dividing the frame into equal parts. There’s one other way to use the golden ratio to compose a photograph. The direction it heads isn’t important, it’s the shape and the distance between the loops that matters. So, imagine this shape is placed over the image, and place your subject in the smallest part of the spiral: If you place a point of interest on the smallest part of the spiral, the eye will naturally flow through the rest of the image. Thankfully, you don’t have to understand the math behind the golden ratio in order to apply it to your photography, you just have to become familiar with that spiral. How to use the golden ratio in photography In photography, the golden ratio can be used to identify the main subject while still leading the viewer’s eye through the entire image. The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, for example, are both paintings that use this golden ratio. Because of this, the golden ratio crosses from math over into art. The golden ratio is perfectly balanced, and that balance makes it pleasing to the human eye. If the numbers are over your head, you can just remember the spiral shape that those numbers create. The numbers don’t have to make sense to you to apply the concept to a photograph. You can arrive at the same shape by using what’s called the Fibonacci sequence, which is a set of numbers that’s found by adding up the two previous numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 32, 34… (0+1 = 1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3…) If you create squares using those numbers to determine the size, you will end up with the same spiral.Ĭonfused? That’s okay. If you keep dividing that shape based on this principle, you’ll end up with a shape that looks like this: When you do all the math, you’re left with a ratio of 1 to 1.618. When a line or shape is divided into two parts based on the golden ratio, it will be divided in such a way that, if you divided the length of the longest section by the length of the smallest section, it would be equal to the original length of the shape divided by the longest section. It’s found by taking a line (or sometimes another shape) and dividing it into two parts.