To crop or not to crop

Making photographs is mostly about the moment and overall composition for me, so I crop. Sometimes I crop a lot, usually very slightly. But almost always I crop.
 
I'm not shooting for commercial purposes, so I have no scribbles I need to follow.

But then - I often catch myself not framing my shots correctly. Things frequently need to happen very quickly when I'm shooting street. Also, when I view my shots after having developed my film, frequently some better ways to crop will come to my mind. So it's inevitable I have to correct my mistakes after the fact by cropping, straightening horizons etc. No major crops, but I have to do it very often.
 
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For what they are worth here just my $0.02 :
If you are not cropping at all, you are most likely not shooting people walking around on the streets of a busy city. In a dynamic shooting style getting focus and exposure right is difficult enough and perfect framing might be the icing on that perfect shot. It doesn’t happen for me too often and I crop to enhance the message of a picture, to show what’s important for me. And I eliminate what’s distracting. If you crop before the shot by waiting at a corner until someone steps into your perfect frame and you expose when that person is in the perfect position, you are also making a selection. For me there’s no difference if you select / eliminate before exposure with your camera or at the time you hit the light button of your enlarger or the print button of your PC menue.
If someone feels strongly that cropping after exposure is evil like eating meat is evil or like drinking alcohol is evil, than for heaven’s sake be happy with your purist life 😉.
 
back alley said:
i see cropping as a form of editing.

do you think a writer doesn't edit his work?
or a composer does not edit his score?
Click to expand...

I have to agree Back Alley here....
I tend to over frame..that is, frame just bit more than what I "see". Then I can crop to my exact needs and the image will be what I "saw". It is about the final image, not constricting the creative process by limiting yourself to the tools limitations. If I see a Square Image, I will still use a 35mm or DSLR and crop it square later.
I am not going have a bunch of different format cameras, when I can do it myself with exceeding equipment.

Now, giving yourself a self goal to try to not crop later, is alright too. It will help sharpen your creative eye to not include extraneous things.
 
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