Apparently I have a sense of humour, if you are to believe my friend Marco Ryan. So this one’s for you, Marco. I spent a few hours wandering around Times Square waiting for dusk. The sheer number of people was overwhelming and I found it difficult to feel anything worth photographing. Until I saw this policeman on his horse. He probably thought I was strange because I couldn’t stop laughing (ok so he might be right). It was a difficult image to frame properly for the best composition so it has been cropped and worked on in Photoshop. Bryan Peterson’s motto is “crop is crap” and he encourages us to get it right in camera. Sometimes that doesn’t always work and you just have to make the image knowing that you’ll have to do some work in the post-processing. I think this one was worth it. What do you think? Do you crop or do you do everything you can to avoid it?
Hi Sabrina,
I’m all for cropping after the fact when it improves the photograph. Nice juxtaposition in this photograph. I think you made a good choice in cropping here.
Hi Eric, welcome to my blog. Thanks for the feedback. During our image critiques, I became aware of how much cropping had gone in the workshop. I think it was important for us to know when an image was cropped and why. We don’t always get that information.
I crop. However, I do everything I can to get it right when I shoot. I’m also one those who tilt my horizons, to the left, on a regular basis, which is another reason I sometimes need to crop.
I like your sense of humor. He has no idea what’s behind him. Well seen.
Oh yes, I sometimes have to correct my horizons as well. It does frustrate me though when I try to straighten it, that I lose something important in the details.
Sabrina, great photo and yes, you obviously do have a good sense of humor.
I crop when needed without guilt, mostly. I try to make the shot I want in camera but there are times when I just can’t get the framing I want or when post-processing I see something in the image I didn’t recognize initially and decide to crop for that.
LOL Earl…truth be told, I have to work on cropping out the “without guilt” piece. The Bryan Peterson school of photography has it drummed into me so it might take a while for the guilt to lift. Thanks for your feedback!
The aspect ratio of my DSLR was determined by distant engineers for reasons other than mine. Sometimes the best composition does not fit those dimensions and I know beforehand I will have to crop in post.
Sometimes circumstances prevent me from composing out distracting elements and I know beforehand I will have to crop in post.
Sometimes I completely miss it and I realize afterward that I will need to crop in post. If I can learn from it for the next time, it’s valid.
If I get an image that pleases me, I don’t really care most of the time.
I’m not sure I will ever understand how engineers think, Richard. I agree with you that sometimes we don’t realize it at the time we compose and maybe that’s what I should strive for when making images. At least then it is with intention versus something that feels like an accident. Although happy accidents are not a bad thing when it comes to images.
Lol
I rest my case Sabrina. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome Marco. I missed you in NYC and can’t wait for our next trip with the #chicagophotogroup.
Nice one Sabrina
I think trying to get it right in-camera is good for exercising one’s composition skills, but I have no problem whatsoever with cropping in post, and do so quite a bit when I feel it’s an improvement.
I think you do have to be careful not to crop an image excessively though, especially if you plan to print it at any decent size. I have a 3.5 year-old 30D and have to be mindful of this.
Thanks for sharing Sabrina!
I think I have only one rule. I’ll call it “Everything”. It goes like this… Everything that helps you communicate your vision is a viable option. Everything! Rules are suggestions; everything is an option.
I agree, why would you limit yourself? This reminds of the folks who think shooting film is somehow better and more “pure” than digital.
Love it; I must adopt this rule! One Rule to rule them all
That’s a great rule!
Ha, this is great, Sabrina! Wonderful sense of humor!
I always forget about cropping. Sometimes I’ll chop a tiny bit off the side to get rid of details I don’t want, but I never think about cropping tightly or to make a completely different image than what I’m staring at. It’s something that I’ll have to actively think about more often. The only cropping I really think of doing is square.
I do love a square crop too, Preeti. Sometimes I think in 6×6 maybe because many of the images I was exposed to when growing up were square.
Oh, this is so good…
Thanks, it still makes me giggle, Erin!