Cropping can be a very useful tool when editing your photos. I have to admit I try to frame my subject how I want in my viewfinder when I take a picture so I don't have to crop it each time, but I have found it fun to use when I've been wanting to scale down my picture and focus more on the subject. Here are a few examples of where it can be useful.
This post was interesting to me and when I got to editing it I really liked the barbed wire, that hook sticking out and that leaf hanging so gently. To focus more on those three things I cropped it in:
You may have noticed I favor my portraits framed to one side. Here is a shot of Grant making a funny face, just him in the center. To focus more on his face and silly mouth I cropped in having him to the left a bit more:
Cropping can be very useful in macro shots, as many times the focal point is not very big leaving much blur around the subject. Also if I wanted to focus more on a tiny insect that may not have let me get too close:
If there is an unwanted structure in the background of your picture cropping may just solve your problem. Here I didn't want the house in the background, so I cropped it out, used the black in the corner to my advantage and burned the corner a bit:
Cropping to a square is fun, I especially like it for framing purposes (with a large amount of matting and a small square in the center). Here is a close up shot, not cropped too much, but enough to form a square:
Being an amateur photographer at best, I hope this was somewhat helpful. Tell me what you think?
10 comments:
I've already found myself wondering "how would Kim do this?" as I've tried to frame shots or edit my photos. Thanks for giving me some answers to that. I'm excited to learn more!
Thanks for the tips, Kim. How did you "burn the corner" of the shot of Grant in the grass? I notice people doing that in portraits of people aka, wedding or senior photo. Is there a special photoshop tool for that? Also, how do you make collections of photos in one frame? That's such a neat way of compiling pictures for viewing. Thanks for the pointers, and the great eye candy. My daughter really liked the hot pink "polka-dot bug". =>
I think it is time to stop thinking of yourself as an "amateur" as you are NOT that in my book! I love the tips. I too am curious about the burning tip...
I use Photoshop CS2 to edit my photos. The burn & dodge tool is on the tool bar at the left and I select a brush size and play around with the hardness. I still have SO much to learn in Photoshop and it is quite complicated to be honest (well, at least for me)...with that said, I do my storyboards in my Microsoft Photo Editor, because it's SO user friendly and easy. I get a blank canvas (size it the way I want), insert pictures and type and save as a jpeg. The same can be done in Photoshop, it is just faster for me to use my other program :)
I love todays post. It's fun to see how you crop them and what you are thinking. And yes, you are a pro my friend!
P.S. I did not mean for us to have similar posts today!
love it! had the same question about burning - thanks for the answers!!
ps - how much to we owe you for the online tutorial ?:)
What a great photo lesson, please do more of these. I have learned so much from you and my photography has improved dramatically. I used to hate taking pictures of anything but people, and since I have studied your photos, I have been able to enjoy taking photos of scenery and nature. Thank you for all your help!
That is super fun to see the differences in cropped and non. Fabulous info!!!
You must have been a yearbookie : )
Great ideas...I still think what I need a new camera and some more time to tweak my pictures!
Thanks, Kim!! I would definitely agree you are no amatuer. If I had more money I would probably be asking how much you charge => You really are gifted.
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