Cropping photos

So I've been playing around with cropping a bit recently, I really can't quite fathom what to crop out and what to keep in. I'm still learning the art of framing a good photo, and often end up with a bit of something else in the edges of an image. I first imagine it's best to crop them out so as not to distract the eye, but often I'm not sure whether it makes the image feel out of proportion.

I've got two examples below, uncropped then cropped slightly. (It's more for illustration of what I mean than the photo)





IMGP0447 (2) by ldsandford, on Flickr



IMGP0447 by ldsandford, on Flickr

What do you reckon? Do other people crop their photos a lot?

You can only crop out the subject if you know what is there to be cropped out in teh first place... This image has to many confusing subjects in it...

Are you trying to capture the hanging basket, the sign, the balcony or the man??? Once you know this then you can decide what you need to crop..

I crop a lot. Even with a zoom lens I seldom manage to frame a shot perfectly, and when I see it on screen I have a much clearer idea of what needs to be in the picture and what doesn't.

As Cabstar says, you need to be know what your subject is before you can make cropping decisions, and you should have known what the subject was when you tripped the shutter.

In this picture, if the man is the subject, I would crop from just above the sign to just below the hanging flowers, with a little bit off the sides to remove irrelevancies.

G

I do crop, but tend to go for a standard aspect ratio even if it means a slight compromise. In your cropped shot I would crop more sky above the sign, and crop the lower part of the building to just below the blue line.

Best advice here is to join a camera club that has regular competitions, simply by listening to a judges comments even on other peoples images will improve your composition skills no end. But just remember at the end of the day you take pictures to please yourself and not someone else so dont be afraid to experiment.

I remember my Dad telling me that a Photo should have only one thing in it. (He meant one message, of course).

Here's the Eiffel tower with Auntie May and a juggler: without looking at the photo you can predict it'll not be a good picture.

I remember standing on the Rialto Bridge, trying to get an interesting picture of it in a crowd of about a million tourists. A Scots woman, next to me, told her companion very loudly and with great authority: "A picture with nobody in it is boring". Auntie May and the Eiffel Tower rides again.

The only thing you should usually avoid cutting off it people's feet cos that will usually look like a mistake. Get in close for a start or you'll need to crop so much that you'll end up with a 2Mpixel picture to play with.

I reckon that applies even when you use a 14mm lens for a landscape.

I crop my pictures a lot also. The composition in my pictures is often moe important to me than the subjects. Granted, you can't have a good image if the subject matter is not right, but you can make a good picture into a stunning one with the right cropping.

I agree with cabstar on the examples you have posted. There's far too much going on and this particular image eithr needs a heavy crop (depending on what you are trying to achieve), or none at all.

Regards
David

I never crop. Visualise and consider before pressing the button!

What if the visualisation requires a different aspect ratio, or moves too fast to frame properly, or a slightly longer lens...?

(Relocating does not always replace using the right focal length, it changes the relative proportions of near & far objects)

I prefer not to crop, my K100d only has 6MP so I've not got much spare resolution. But sometimes to get the shot I'm after there is no choice.

Sometimes I see something new when the image is on the screen, & wish I could crop to a reasonable resolution of that portion.

With non-100% viewfinders it's also inevitable you're going to crop sometimes, depending on the subject. If you use a prime lens sometimes you have to compromise to take the shot, and a little cropping sorts it out later. It is perfectly possible to 'visualise' your image after cropping when you take it.

Visualise and consider, does not mean no cropping in my case. I'm often too far away (or have too short a lens). I also find square photos often suit my subjects. I often know exactly what I want before pressing the button, but have to crop to achieve it.

I did manage to avoid cropping in the olde days with slide film, and chose my subjects accordingly. I consider the ability to easily crop as progress, and a very handy addition to our tool box

A nice ideal but not always achievable in practice. I have become addicted to square images and often visualize the crop as I take the image. Sometimes the lens isn't quite long enough, and you know you'll need to crop something out. With a 93% viewfinder you often get things in the edges that you didn't want. Sometimes you only have a split second to grab a shot which results in the need to trim something out. As a principle, it is an excellent one to try and aspire to (after all less cropping = more pixels which may equal better IQ...) but out of the studio it shouldn't be something that holds one back.

K.

I usually crop to get around my own equipment inadequacies - I don't have every lens going.

As in, if there's a shot begging to be taken by a 400mm for maximum impact, and I've only got a 300mm, then I'd crop that to give a 400mm field of view.

The flipside would be not to take the pic cause I don't own the perfect lens for it. Beggars can't be choosers

My editing typically involves slight tweak of exposure / black level, slight rotation to get horizons or vertical/horizontal references spot on (I never seem to get this perfect when taking the photo and it's something that really bugs me) then cropping to frame the image as I originally intended.

This may all mean I'm a rubbish photographer and hence rely on post processing. However, whilst I'm improving on my photography skills I'm happy to post process to make images I can be proud of.

Likewise, as others have also said, in addition to minor crops to frame an image nicely - I do crop to zoom; my current 200m lens isn't long enough for some shots but I'll happily drop some resolution in order to 'make' the photograph I had in my mind at the time I pressed the shutter.