Why is centered not good?

[Asylum Steve]

CCC, looks like you're getting a nice assortment of comments, including a few wise folks that realize that the notion of centering being bad is not true at all.

readingr put it best with this comment:

"I have many photos that would look wrong if not centred and many in the rubbish which shouldn't have been centred..."

That's the absolute truth. The general rule of thumb is this: try to have a purpose if you decide to center an element in your photo. This usually means an attempt at strong symmetry, or an obvious desire to direct your viewer's eye to the center of the frame.

Those are perfectly legitimate reasons to center subjects in your shot, and tend to work very well with square format images...

Another important point that no one's made yet is that a photo has TWO major axis: a horizontal one and a vertical one, and centering along one almost always works if you use an asymmetrical balance on the other.

For example, take the beauty shot below. I made a very conscious effort to center model Julie left to right (as well as symmetrical lighting), but top to bottom I was closer to the rule of thirds (eyes, chin)...

Yeah, I realize a headshot is not the best example to use (you almost have to center it, eh?). I'll try to find and post a better shot if I can find it...