Eden Photographers Club Meeting - Tuesday, January 17th @ 7 pm EST (Topic: Cropping)

Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Welcome to the 11th meeting of the Eden Photographers Club! I hope everyone had a good month of thinking about photography and looking at the world through a photographer’s eyes. I want to thank all of you who are here tonight. Winter is upon us, and ... more
This should be exciting! Cropping comes up a lot, even for those of use who don't have nice cameras. Perhaps especially for those of us who don't.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
It still is a nice summer day here in California I regret to inform you all, tank tops and shorts for all.
Where is that middle finger emoticon.....
01/17/2012
Contributor: Curiouscat Curiouscat
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
You are welcome! It was me and antipova for like 4 straight months. HAHAH. Ill let you win today since your new still if you want. I can back down.
No you don't have to Thanks for being so nice though! Haha i'm not a sore looser
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
One can take a photograph with knowledge that it will need to be cropped afterwards and one can take a photograph and only after taking it realize it needs cropped (rescue cropping). I'll discuss the former in this post.

There are many reasons why one might wish to take a photo knowing it will be cropped later. For one thing, nearly every camera takes photos that are rectangular and usually at something like a 3:2 ratio. If that is the shape you want your final photo to be, then you're in luck. If not, you will need to crop. For me, the most common shapes I need my finished photos to be in besides a 3:2 rectangle is a square, and an elongated rectangle that can be used as a banner or border. Cropping is also necessary if I know beforehand that I want the photo to fit into a particular picture frame that is not also at a 3:2 ratio. When I need a photo of any of these sizes, I compose my photo knowing that there will be elements that will be cropped out, so I frame and apply the Rule of Thirds accordingly. In other words, I imagine the final image as I'm taking the photo rather than looking at the whole 3:2 rectangle.



In this photo, although what I was trying to do didn't quite work out (getting the color of the field of flowers in the background to show up in the water droplets), my goal all along was to crop out the space above and below the dew-covered grass and have a long, thin photo. Obviously I didn't go through that effort because the color from the flowers didn't end up in the droplets, but I'm sure you can see where I was going.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Where is that middle finger emoticon.....
hahahah sorry. I hate winter so hard. Thats why I no longer live in chicago or pittsburgh. I cant stand snow with every fiber of my being. Its pretty in picture and that is about all.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
It still is a nice summer day here in California I regret to inform you all, tank tops and shorts for all.
I'll give you a slight glare with one eye as I scan over to my winter jacket, hat, and gloves with the other, lol.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
One can take a photograph with knowledge that it will need to be cropped afterwards and one can take a photograph and only after taking it realize it needs cropped (rescue cropping). I'll discuss the former in this post.

There are many ... more
Yeah, well put-together!
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
I'll give you a slight glare with one eye as I scan over to my winter jacket, hat, and gloves with the other, lol.
You guys havent even had a bad winter though, my family has told me its been a dream.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Curiouscat Curiouscat
I can see some pinkness in the droplets, were the flowers pink?
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Yeah, well put-together!
I've seen your videos. "well put-together" describes you to a T.



Yes, the beer is kicking in.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Curiouscat
I can see some pinkness in the droplets, were the flowers pink?
It was actually a variety of colors, but pinks, reds, and purples were the most abundant.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
I've seen your videos. "well put-together" describes you to a T.



Yes, the beer is kicking in.
Enjoy it, and we all will too
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
We good so far?
01/17/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
We good so far?
Yassir!
01/17/2012
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
You guys havent even had a bad winter though, my family has told me its been a dream.
Haha, you're very right. But I would still very much like the shorts and tank top instead.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
We good so far?
Yes, sir!
01/17/2012
Contributor: Curiouscat Curiouscat
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Yassir!
Yar matey!
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Yup
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Another reason one might take a photo that will be cropped later is if there is simply no way to get a distracting feature out of the frame. There are simply times when no matter the orientation angle, or lens you try, something is in the photo that you can't get out of the frame and still get your subject in it. For me, this most frequently occurs on viewing decks for some natural wonder where the orientation and angle options are limited. In this case, compose the photo so that you place the distracting element opposite your subject so you can cut the distracting element out without taking anything away from your subject. Then, crop out what you don't want.



In this photo, I was in a viewing pad photographing this canyon. No matter how I oriented myself, I just couldn't keep the handrail from getting into my photo. So, all I did was say "Fuck it" keep the handrail in the photo, and crop it out when I got home.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Another reason one might take a photo that will be cropped later is if there is simply no way to get a distracting feature out of the frame. There are simply times when no matter the orientation angle, or lens you try, something is in the photo that ... more
The tree branches still kind of distract me a tad. I would have cropped further.Its such a pretty picture.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
It looks like the sound of music.hehe
01/17/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Another reason one might take a photo that will be cropped later is if there is simply no way to get a distracting feature out of the frame. There are simply times when no matter the orientation angle, or lens you try, something is in the photo that ... more
Are you then sad that the final picture isn't in 3:2? Or is it not that big a deal? Or do you steal some from an edge to keep its ratio?
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
The tree branches still kind of distract me a tad. I would have cropped further.Its such a pretty picture.
Oh, I totally agree. Believe me, this isn't the finished image I've kept. Actually, what distracts me the most is the blown out clouds, but cropping wouldn't help that situation.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Are you then sad that the final picture isn't in 3:2? Or is it not that big a deal? Or do you steal some from an edge to keep its ratio?
If I need it to be 3:2, I'll crop accordingly. I'll discuss exactly how in a later post.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Curiouscat Curiouscat
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Another reason one might take a photo that will be cropped later is if there is simply no way to get a distracting feature out of the frame. There are simply times when no matter the orientation angle, or lens you try, something is in the photo that ... more
I hardy noticed the railing at all. But I see what your saying. I've had to do this to from time to time. Just come home and crop it out later
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Curiouscat
I hardy noticed the railing at all. But I see what your saying. I've had to do this to from time to time. Just come home and crop it out later
The photographer always notices the imperfections.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Starkiller87
The tree branches still kind of distract me a tad. I would have cropped further.Its such a pretty picture.
Yeah. With the rest of the mountain and the hand rail, I didn't mind the branches. I may have cut off the bottom instead.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
Oh, I totally agree. Believe me, this isn't the finished image I've kept. Actually, what distracts me the most is the blown out clouds, but cropping wouldn't help that situation.
Ah I see what you mean. The one on the complete right is totally blown out. The rest make the sky seem like it goes on forever in the photo.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
The final reason you may know you want to crop a photograph even before taking it is if you want to magnify it. The sad truth is that no matter how long a lens is (that is, how much magnification it will get) it will never be long enough. There will always be subjects that are simply too distant for you to get the type of photo you want. This is especially the case when you are photographing wild animals. In this case, compose the photo so that you have your subject in the situation you want it, and take the photograph knowing a fair amount of the image will later be cropped out.



In the above image, the hawk was simply too far away and I couldn't walk off the boardwalk to get any closer (the hawk would have flown away even had I been able to get closer). I had a decent 10x zoom on this camera, but it wasn't enough, so I "zoomed in" even further by cropping to get in close.
01/17/2012
Contributor: Curiouscat Curiouscat
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
The photographer always notices the imperfections.
This is true!
01/17/2012