The first thing you learn in terms of composition as a photographer is the rule of thirds, and that you should not put your object in the center of the picture. What you then wonder is why you shouldn’t place an object in the center. One of the reasons for this is, that the center is the most powerful part of your picture. If you place your object at this point, your eye can no longer escape from it, so the rest of the picture no longer matters. As a result, the picture is often considered boring. Very often the rule of thirds is followed, but what if this completely destroys your photo balance. It is often forgotten that you have to put enough weight on the object that is placed one third of your picture. The weight can consist of another smaller object that you place on the other side, or a part of negative space. If you place a small object more towards the edge, its weight would increase and this will help you balance your photo. You can also balance your photo with the size of the negative space. If there is enough symmetry in your photo, it is sometimes better to place it in the center. You can also place your object in the middle, but then a third of the way from the top or bottom of your picture. In the photo of the blue tit you can see that it is placed at the center of the picture. The framing by the tree branches created a sufficiently symmetrical image, so that the best position of the bird was in the center. In the photo of the fox, everything is neatly placed on a third. The water a third of the way down, and the fox in the intersection of the left side and top. In the photo of the chicken you can see that it is placed in the middle of the picture, but it is a third of the way from the bottom. I balanced the weight of the right tree and chicken by placing the tree on the left side on the edge. The rule of thirds is definitely a beautiful rule, but it is not sacred. If the rule of thirds causes imbalance in your photo that you cannot balance away, look for the point where your photo does balance out. A photo that is out of balance is much worse than a photo where the object is in the center.