Cropping Photos / An Important Part Of The Picture
Table of contents for 8/Writing
- Mr. Spock Did Not Complain
- Cropping Photos / An Important Part Of The Picture
- Sunday Morning Acclimations / Sploofus Win / February Triva Questions
- Juno Revisited / StumbleUpon Employee Resigns
- 1969 And Life In The City / The Who Come To Town
I am not a professional photographer by any means and am simply trying here to share what I have learned in the past few months. And to encourage others to enjoy this pastime. With the cameras that are available today it is really not difficult to take interesting photos. And it is much easier to practice without the need to develop each shot in a lab.
One of the most important parts of taking photos in my estimation is cropping them in a way that makes the end product more interesting. I sometimes feel like this effort is the most important part of the whole process. Because in most photos there are interesting parts and parts that seem rather uninteresting. It is rare that I find a photo that requires no cutting.
This is an exciting moment for me. Taking the photo is exciting but seeing it in the photo editor is perhaps more exciting. At this moment I am looking for potential. What is here that deserves to be “brought out”? Because when you start to eliminate parts of a photo you naturally are emphasizing other parts. There are fewer things left to notice. And this subject matter had better be pleasing to the eye or I have failed in my effort.
What makes it pleasing to the eye? There are a variety of elements that please me. Color combinations are important. I enjoy taking photos that reflect sunlight because it adds drama to the photo. Here is a good example of this effect.
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These birds are flying towards the sun and it brings out wonderful colors on them. It was a simple process to crop this photo but absolutely necessary to bring them much closer than they appeared in the sky to my naked eye. I would have missed this completely without my camera and a telephoto lens. So photography helps us appreciate and enjoy the world around us.
Symmetry is also important. Quite near where this last photo was taken I took this photo.
I cut this photo to eliminate any distractions from either side of the bridge. So the viewer is forced to look in one direction if he is interested in the photo. Something inside me relaxes when I look at a well balanced photo.
One of my weaknesses has been straightening the horizons on photos. But that’s another story. Here the focus is on eliminating extraneous material. Sometimes I have to play with the vertical and horizontal lines. Trade offs are made. I can get this in if I eliminate this other thing.
There is a growth process happening as we move along and hopefully receive good comments and criticisms from readers who can see what we are doing. Compliments and encouragement are wonderful of course. But we should not expect it all the time. We need feedback that helps us grow and I have been fortunate to have all of this over the past eight months.
But you cannot know how good it feels to bring home a number of new photos until you have tried it yourself. Some of them will jump out at you with their obvious potential. You may not find others interesting for some time. And then one day you will see something beautiful in a corner of the photo. It is almost as if it was hiding from you. You capture it with your cropping tool and feel as if you have been on a hunt. Photography is very much like hunting in some ways. And thankfully very different in others.
I hope this will encourage you to take more photos and make them an integral part of your blog. Any post you write can be enlivened by a photo. It doesn’t have to be something strictly related to what you are writing about. Let your mind relax and find something that maybe adds another dimension to what you are saying. Our conscious mind is made up of layers of thought. A photo can bring out some of these as you go about your business.
Perhaps I will demonstrate that in another post but there is certainly no room for it here!
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5 responses so far
I like the birds - and you’re following the rule of thirds with that crop.
The only thing to bear in mind when cropping and resaving the originals is you are loosing some of the picture quality each time you press save. So it’s also good practice to use things like your cameras ‘grid’ lines to help you compose shots how you’d like them the first time.
Helena’s last blog post..Aspects of Love
Absolutely. I should do another post at some pt and connect some of the dots with this one.
I just love your site. You have some really great information here. Thanks.
Love and Blessings,
Angelbaby
Angelbaby’s last blog post..A Message from the Angels just for You
I like the bridge although I would have done it as a vertical but that’s just me.
There is no right or wrong way to take a photo (there is from a technical standpoint) but from a compostition side, it’s what makes you happy that matters.
R(etc…)
Ron in L.A.’s last blog post..Sunset - San Borja, Bolivia
Cool. I really like what you said. I am trying to write a post about blogging that discusses the fundamental reasons why we blog. And “What makes you happy” is right up there.