Do You Often Crop Images? Technique?

[raid]

I wonder whether people here leave the images uncropped or whether often they crop from the original a new look.

Here are a few version of an image I recently caught in Lisbon (Portugal). The man did not move at all. He looked very depressed, and I was sad seeing this scene. Anyways, I wanted to see next if cropping a certain way enhances the look of despair or not:

1. uncropped

2. cropped with man on right

3. man on left

4. cropped to a thin image horizontally

5. vertically

Is the uncropped a better image or is cropping more effective here?
If so,how would you crop the image?

Thanks.

 

[Keith]

I'm not quite sure why Raid but I would have him here at top left which uses the steps more as an added feature!

 

[Morca007]

I choose to almost never crop, unless I originally wanted a square format.

 

[DrLeoB]

My try

My try

The feeling that I tried for was that of someone seeking a cloister, unable to climb further, while the world walks by.

Actually, I like the minimally cropped image. Usually I try to get my initial photo framed so that any cropping is minimal (ca. 10%) if at all.

Nice shot overall.

 

[drewbarb]

Cropping is an incredibly useful tool. I do it all the time. I like to make a full-frame test print, and use a pair of cropping "L"'s to decide on how I want the image to appear.

 

[Doug]

I almost always crop to reach the "final" image, though I make the exposure to minimize the need. What happens in the cropping is that the image seems to "want" to be cropped in a certain way, dependent upon feelings at the time about what the photo is about.

I'm never concerned about adhering to any proportions convenient to the available paper sizes, and this does result in struggles with commercial printers to follow my instructions!

 

[mervynyan]

if i am using wide lens, 35 or wider, i don't crop. if i use long lens, ie. 75 plus, I will crop to fill the frame. However, I like square format the best, therefore my Hasselbald w/ standard 80 would not be cropped.

 

[ruben]

Hi Raid,

In general i do crop when needed. But in the sample you are bringing, to my taste and view, you are not making any serious difference by cropping, unless you could show all cropped images at aprox the same total square size as the former.

Kindly excuss my translation freedom overtaken without previous notice.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Nando]

I always shoot crooked for some reason. I think its because of an eye injury which also forced me to switch from being right-eyed to being left-eyed. I always need to rotate the image 1-2 degree clockwise. Because of that I need to crop. I usually try to keep the cropping to a minimum - just enough to cut off the slanted edges due to rotating the image. Sometimes I crop to a 3:2 ratio to maintain the aspect ratio of 35mm and also because I like that ratio the most. Most often I just don't bother as I'm too lazy to check if its really 3:2 - if it looks close, I leave it.

I used to crop a lot using the Power Retouche's Golden Section plugin for Photoshop as a guide. I've gotten to the point now that I can visualize golden sections, golden triangles, etc. while looking through the viewfinder so I don't use it much anymore. Recognizing golden sprials in a scene is damn hard though.


Don't we all wish that we could be like HCB? I mean, how perfect is that?

BTW, I like your uncropped version the best.

 

[sienarot]

I almost never crop because it's not how I composed the photo when I photographed it.

And of your examples, I prefer the uncropped version the best by far.

 

[daniel~]

I definitely try my best to do the "cropping" with my viewfinder frame before I press the button. I crop only when the original image just doesn't turn out "right" and the cropped works much better. It does happen sometimes, especially when I shoot without composing through the VF.

As for the photo here, I would probably crop it into something between Keith's & Ruben's samples.

 

[wgerrard]

I crop if I see something in the photo that I did not see in the viewfinder. Or, if i bbotched the composition. Sometimes, too, a crop will produce an entirely different kind of image.

I like the first, uncropped, of your pictures. The space of the wall and the steps conveys the "aloneness" this man must feel.

 

[rbiemer]

I try to get the shot I want on the neg but I don't worry much* if I later decide a different crop looks better. I tend to keep cropping to a minimum simply to save me post processing work/time.
*unless the better composition is such a small part of the original negative that image quality is a problem.
For the shot you posted, Raid, I'd have a hard time choosing between your uncropped photo and Keith's version. Nice work.
Rob

 

[FrankS]

I try to get the framing/cropping I want while taking the picture, but sometimes a little cropping helps improve the final image. I much prefer Keith's crop (perhaps include just a bit more space all around, but with the man on the left.) The original pic has the man dead center. I only compose with a dead center subject if there is an overwhelming reason to do so.

 

[pesphoto]

I'lll second Keith's crop. For me it depends on what Im shooting. If IM shooting people on the street where iM shooting quickly I'll tend to crop final images more,
If Im not shooting people I tend to be much more careful about in camera composition and dont crop nearly as much.

 

[Dektol Dan]

Cropping off talent

Cropping off talent

Folks who lean on cropping are most likely amateurs. If I have to crop I have terrific angst and self doubt of abilities. Composing on the fly is the mark of the professional craftsman and artist. Too often I have to lie to myself about it. If I have to fudge a bit I always crop with the same porportion of the viewfinder in order to hide my failure.

Things are different now. We don't have to be a slave to Kodak or printmaker porportions. And while the Golden Mean still is the Law, it still can be represented in a compromised 35mm porportion.

The moment is everything in photography. If one cannot master that he should find some other hobby. Even though St. Ansel was a darkroom magician, his compositon was created in the camera as it should be. This is ultimate proof of skill, especially if the camera is all manual.

Cropping is for snapshootists.

 

[pesphoto]

I dont think cropping makes one an amateur.
In fact I think HCB himself cropped a photo or two.
Ansel's subjects didnt move and he could spend hours composing his photos.

 

[Finder]

I never crop - how else I am going to print that dark border around my images? I find shooting full frame has made me a better photographer. I also find photographs more magical if they are not "fixed" later.

This does not mean I don't enjoy others work that crop - HBC's Gare St. Lazare is cropped and Arnold Newman has used the technique often. But I found I perfer the photographers that don't crop - Salgado, Mark, etc.

But for me, shooting full frame is an important challenge. To be engaged with the subject at that moment in time and to come away with an image that is significant is utter magic. If I blow it, I blow it. I don't care that others can see a failed attempt or to make my failure presentable by trying to fix it. I just work harder the next time around.

 

[Finder]

Folks who lean on cropping are most likely amateurs.

Like Arnold Newman?

All genaralizations are false.

:angel:

 

[Finder]

I dont think cropping makes one an amateur.
In fact I think HCB himself cropped a photo or two.
Ansel's subjects didnt move and he could spend hours composing his photos.

I have never seen a cropped image by Salgado or Mark. Their subjects are quite dynamic.

See above about generalizations.

:angel: