Author Topic: Cropping (Read 1759 times)

pretzston · « **on:** March 29, 2011, 08:11:58 AM »

Who crops? I rarely do. I know there is a common idea of shooting at 4:3 and cropping it in post. I just can't bring myself to subscribe to this. For the most part, whether I shoot in 16:9, 2:3, 6:6, etc... what I compose and frame in camera before I take a shot, is the way is stays in post. There are exceptions, but they are rare.

I have nothing against those who shoot full frame and crop, but I feel like it is digital cheating. Thoughts?

popo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2011, 08:30:50 AM »

I'm the opposite extreme I guess. I crop more often than not. My main area is wildlife though, and that often suffers from "I need a longer lens" syndrome. Even where that is not the case, there is often enough motion you can't accurately frame so you have to allow a safety margin.

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2011, 10:36:27 AM »

I try to use the whole frame, but, if I must crop to have the impact that cropping can afford the image, I will, With film, I am much better at using the whole frame. Go figure.

I have no zoom, so I my zoom are my feet.

pretzston · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2011, 11:49:05 AM »

Sports and wildlife seem like pretty good excuses for cropping. Otherwise, I like the challenge of cropping it 'correctly', however that may be, in camera.

I tend to use prime lenses as well and do not do much zooming. I find it is better for creativity to use the primes as much as possible. Forces me to move around, find perspectives. Even when I am using my m Zuiko 9-18mm I am usually as wide as can be. Very rarely do I zoom up at all.

corgifan · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2011, 12:27:07 PM »

There was a famous photographer (contemporary of Adams and Weston) and who's name escapes me at the moment, who thought everything had to be done in camera. No burning, dodging, cropping, etc. That's a pretty rigorous standard to set for one's self.

I'm like PoPo, I crop more often than not. While I try to compose carefully in camera, most of the time I'm not satisfied with the result and find slicing off a bit here or there gets rid of unwanted details, edge distortion, or whatever.

Sometimes the picture I saw through the viewfinder turns out to really be just a portion of the over all shot. Although I don't typically do wildlife shots I find that I frequently cannot get into a position where the camera can frame the shot I see. The shot I posted the other day of the neon sign on the Cook E Jar Cafe was cropped. To get it right in camera I'd have had to stand in the middle of a busy intersection...I settled for standing the crosswalk and cropping the shot.

I realize that for commercial shooters there are some standard formats that need to be adhered to but I'm not shooting commercially and have not plans to, so my only interest is in make a final image that says what I want.

I read something recently about framing images in non-standard aspect ratios and the basic thrust of the piece was "Which is more important, the image or the mat and frame?" I think the mat and frame have to conform to the image, not the other way around.

Doug

lisandra · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2011, 07:01:19 PM »

I try to compose perfect too, but theres always a tiny thing to crop out or a more interesting crop that I didnt see while shooting. Sometimes you see a detail in a bigger screen that doesnt look as pleasing as it did on the LCD and you can crop it and of course, sometimes an even more tighter crop than you originally thought is just better. Its not the same (to me) being in the moment (whatever that may be) and framing that being in your house, relaxed, with all the time in the world and re-looking at the photo.

Luckypenguin · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2011, 07:09:14 PM »

Cropping is just another aspect of post-processing, and doesn't necessarily imply a failure of the original shot but can be used as a way to tell a different story to the original image.

voyager · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2011, 01:10:00 AM »

I crop the shit out of my photos.

Seriously, I'm used to having cameras with 6 megapixels, so I figure that I can get rid of half of my photo and still have it be just as good.

acidfood · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2011, 02:23:45 AM »

I crop quite a lot of my photos. Many of mine are of my 2 year old son.... perfect framing is generally out of the question.... he moves like a damn rat!

Brianetta · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2011, 04:51:20 AM »

Quote from: corgifan on March 29, 2011, 12:27:07 PM

There was a famous photographer (contemporary of Adams and Weston) and who's name escapes me at the moment, who thought everything had to be done in camera. No burning, dodging, cropping, etc. That's a pretty rigorous standard to set for one's self.

I like to do this. It's easier now, though, since "in the camera" includes a pretty powerful image processor and some editing software. (-:

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:32:21 AM »

Quote from: Brianetta on March 31, 2011, 04:51:20 AM

Quote from: corgifan on March 29, 2011, 12:27:07 PM
There was a famous photographer (contemporary of Adams and Weston) and who's name escapes me at the moment, who thought everything had to be done in camera. No burning, dodging, cropping, etc. That's a pretty rigorous standard to set for one's self.
I like to do this. It's easier now, though, since "in the camera" includes a pretty powerful image processor and some editing software. (-:

can you imagine dodging or burning in "In-Camera"...

That "Famous Photographer" was lazy IMO. Film and worse, Digital, can never record the large dynamic range that real life has in it. Adams knew this as a scientist 1st, then applied it in his photography, by exposure plus darkroom manipulation.

Today's Digital, having some software in it, is a great advance in photographic technology.
I Can't imagine having "red-eye" removal with my Leica, how can it be done -- In camera?---

Back to topic:

Because, our current crop (no pun intended), of camera's offer a high IQ, and a good pixel count to begin with. Cropping after the fact is not a big IQ lose issue anymore. It is always better to try to frame as tight as you can, but, you can be limited by your lens, and or subject distance. And, it is better to try to get the best frame you can, than not take the photo, that you may regret later for not taking it.

corgifan · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2011, 01:01:39 PM »

Quote from: M5-User on March 31, 2011, 06:32:21 AM

Quote from: Brianetta on March 31, 2011, 04:51:20 AM
Quote from: corgifan on March 29, 2011, 12:27:07 PM
There was a famous photographer (contemporary of Adams and Weston) and who's name escapes me at the moment, who thought everything had to be done in camera. No burning, dodging, cropping, etc. That's a pretty rigorous standard to set for one's self.
I like to do this. It's easier now, though, since "in the camera" includes a pretty powerful image processor and some editing software. (-:

can you imagine dodging or burning in "In-Camera"...

That "Famous Photographer" was lazy IMO. Film and worse, Digital, can never record the large dynamic range that real life has in it. Adams knew this as a scientist 1st, then applied it in his photography, by exposure plus darkroom manipulation.

Today's Digital, having some software in it, is a great advance in photographic technology.
I Can't imagine having "red-eye" removal with my Leica, how can it be done -- In camera?---

Back to topic:

Because, our current crop (no pun intended), of camera's offer a high IQ, and a good pixel count to begin with. Cropping after the fact is not a big IQ lose issue anymore. It is always better to try to frame as tight as you can, but, you can be limited by your lens, and or subject distance. And, it is better to try to get the best frame you can, than not take the photo, that you may regret later for not taking it.

Lazy? Hardly. A perfectionist would be a better way to look at it. I wish I could remember the guy's name. He was a contemporary of Ansel Adams and Adams writes about him in his autobiography.

Doug

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2011, 02:46:17 PM »

Yeah, I know, I was just being mouthy

I was going to say "Perfectionist", but, I went the easy route. As an Adams contemporary, I am sure he had his ducks in a row, technique wise. :-[

cosinaphile · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2011, 03:15:32 PM »

cropping is just a thing.......

voyager · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2011, 05:41:30 PM »

It's just a thing that I do a lot.

lisandra · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:13:23 PM »

a sometimes necessary thing...

corgifan · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2011, 08:20:04 PM »

Quote from: M5-User on March 31, 2011, 02:46:17 PM

Yeah, I know, I was just being mouthy

I was going to say "Perfectionist", but, I went the easy route. As an Adams contemporary, I am sure he had his ducks in a row, technique wise. :-[

Anyway... I was pondering the cropping thing (no actual life here) and I realized that I often shoot with some extra margin around the subject of interest. Too often I've taken a shot, had something like the horizon just a bit off, and then when straightening the image lost the balance of the composition or some element near the edge that I really wanted. Of course if I hurried less I would get it right to start with, maybe. :-[

Doug

Brianetta · « **Reply #17 on:** April 01, 2011, 04:39:08 AM »

Quote from: M5-User on March 31, 2011, 06:32:21 AM

I Can't imagine having "red-eye" removal with my Leica, how can it be done -- In camera?---

On the astoundingly rare occasion I have an image with red eye on my E-P1 (which, to be honest, sometimes requires me to photograph a photograph with red eye in it) then it's just another option in the JPEG edit menu. The camera already knows what faces are; correcting red eye isn't difficult for it.

Do Leica not include any tools like this at all?

Edit: Oh, your Leica is one of them thar filmy thingies.

NaturalWoman · « **Reply #18 on:** September 09, 2011, 11:15:38 AM »

Quote from: pretzston on March 29, 2011, 08:11:58 AM

Who crops? I rarely do. I know there is a common idea of shooting at 4:3 and cropping it in post. I just can't bring myself to subscribe to this. For the most part, whether I shoot in 16:9, 2:3, 6:6, etc... what I compose and frame in camera before I take a shot, is the way is stays in post. There are exceptions, but they are rare.

I have nothing against those who shoot full frame and crop, but I feel like it is digital cheating. Thoughts?

old thread, but i hardly EVER crop. what i see in the viewfinder was meant to be there 99% of the time.

ratobuhler · « **Reply #19 on:** September 09, 2011, 11:30:06 AM »

I almost always crop a bit because, in my mind anyway, the best composition rarely fits into a standard format. Also I like to throw in a square format every now and then to brake the monotony in a sequence of pictures.

Somewhat related to the subject: I find myself using the "Distort" feature of PS Elements to line up verticals and horizontals probably more than I should. I was wondering how and how frequently that feature is used by some of you.

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #20 on:** September 09, 2011, 12:55:17 PM »

Back to A Adams... He Dodged and Burned the crap out his images.... to make them the way he saw them in his mind. With the Zone System Exposure metering/developing system, many of the tones were out of the zone he developed for, so he had to adjust them in the printing stage.... (The Zone System: which he invented, -- but he was more of a technician and photography was the tool to express this, -- his own admission)

voyager · « **Reply #21 on:** September 10, 2011, 12:03:03 PM »

I now only really crop when I need to straighten a photo.

flittell · « **Reply #22 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:19:13 PM »

Definitely agree with corgifan. While one can "fix" various things with programs such as Photoshop, I feel the best practice is to learn the equipment and become proficient enough that little to no adjustments are needed. In the digital world, however some camera models take photos that need cropping to fit a certain format, such as 8X10 or a special request to make a portion of a photo into a panoramic style.

I still do adjustments but the need has decreased. I'm not sure that I will ever arrive at the point where I will not need to, but believe the effort is worthwhile.

GrandadHarry · « **Reply #23 on:** September 24, 2011, 12:19:36 AM »

I suffer from slopping Horizons! therefore I need to crop!
When it can help a compostion then I see nothing wrong in cropping ie a Square format or letterbox.
Do It if will help! these rules sre not set in stone so break'em!

Author Topic: Cropping (Read 1759 times)

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