Do ytou ever crop your pics?

[TubularBelle]

When I crop a photo I always line it up with a natural edge in the photo, like in this photo I lined the right hand side up with the edge of the structure at the back of the photo and I lined up the top of the photo with the roof of the building. I personally think it makes a noticeable difference.

[corydoras]

When I crop a photo I always line it up with a natural edge in the photo, like in this photo I lined the right hand side up with the edge of the structure at the back of the photo and I lined up the top of the photo with the roof of the building. I personally think it makes a noticeable difference.

But now you have changed the focal point of the shop away from the chap crossing the road to the "Take Away Service" sign.

[Steve Randles]

I've waited to see if I am he only one who does this, surely I cant be?

 

I crop through the viewfinder, preferring to change position, move left/right, up/down or get closer etc etc to get the photo as I want it when I press the shutter. I took this tip on from a pro a good while ago that if you have to crop then your reducing the quality of your photograph, so get it right at the camera first time.

 

It would be a fair comment to make that most of what I shoot are landscapes and as such they dont move much ..allowing me the time to get the composition correct and I may miss some shots due to moving about too much, but that thing is now part of my photography and a very hard habit to break.

 

It'll be a huge contributory factor into why I dont post any wildlife pictures, I do take them but mostly I discard them if they need cropping. Sometimes, I am just too picky and I am my own worst critic!

 

Steve...

[Cameraman]

I also tend to crop in camera, and try to fill the frame. I also crop in photoshop but normally only for portraits, never seem to be any use with wildlife. My wife is my critic - if I can please her I can please anyone LOL

[corydoras]

I've waited to see if I am he only one who does this, surely I cant be?

 

I crop through the viewfinder, preferring to change position, move left/right, up/down or get closer etc etc to get the photo as I want it when I press the shutter. I took this tip on from a pro a good while ago that if you have to crop then your reducing the quality of your photograph, so get it right at the camera first time.

 

It would be a fair comment to make that most of what I shoot are landscapes and as such they dont move much ..allowing me the time to get the composition correct and I may miss some shots due to moving about too much, but that thing is now part of my photography and a very hard habit to break.

 

It'll be a huge contributory factor into why I dont post any wildlife pictures, I do take them but mostly I discard them if they need cropping. Sometimes, I am just too picky and I am my own worst critic!

 

Steve...

That's not cropping thats good composition.

 

You don't need to lose any quality when you crop, as long as you don't try to blow up the cropped image. This cropped image for example has lost nothing as it had any edits after the crop. I know it is huge but in this instance, that was intentional.

Edited August 19, 2006 by corydoras

[Steve Randles]

Well yes, composition it is. But I compose so that I dont need to crop, hence the cropping at the camera.

 

Steve...

[TubularBelle]

But now you have changed the focal point of the shop away from the chap crossing the road to the "Take Away Service" sign.

 

Yes I definitely see your point there as YOU find the man crossing the road the integral part of the photo, but I don't like to chop a sign in half and I think the couple in the front, esp the lady with her mouth full, are just as interesting. I also did see a light deterioration in the quality of the larger photo you posted as an example to Steve.

 

I always try and crop my photo how I want it when I take it, always. The goal for me is to NEVER have to crop afterwards but of course I do often.

 

 

 

Steve, when I accidentally post under HellBellys name, can I remove the whole post?

[corydoras]

Well yes, composition it is. But I compose so that I dont need to crop, hence the cropping at the camera.

 

Steve...

I don't like this 'cropping at the camera' phrase. Maybe I'm just being pedantic. I can 'crop at my camera' retrospectively, it has a cropping tool like photoshop does. After all, no one composes with the intention of having to crop afterwards.

Edited August 20, 2006 by corydoras

[corydoras]

Yes I definitely see your point there as YOU find the man crossing the road the integral part of the photo, but I don't like to chop a sign in half and I think the couple in the front, esp the lady with her mouth full, are just as interesting. I also did see a light deterioration in the quality of the larger photo you posted as an example to Steve.

 

Whoa, slow down, your going too fast. Remember this shot was just me messing about with the camera. At the time I was really was not paying much heed to my composition. When I got the camera home and opened up the image in photoshop I noticed the chap crossing the road. I decided that if I cropped the image I could make a new, different photo from it by cropping this guy 'into his own photo'.

 

The degradation you can see in that image I posted for Steve can only be down to it being re-saved as a jpeg once more. I'm not sure what you are comparing it with as it is the best quality image I have posted so far. Here is the full size un-cropped image (but it will be huge). None of the images I have posted in this thread to date can be better than this is the original full size image.

 

 

I always try and crop my photo how I want it when I take it, always. The goal for me is to NEVER have to crop afterwards but of course I do often.

What your goal is is good composition. It should be every photographers goal. I seldom use cropping to cure my bad composition, but rather to get a free photograph out of an existing one.