Crop, Crop, Crop!

"There is a vast difference between taking a picture and making a photograph." Robert Heinecken

The last time I had a critique session with Tony Sweet (tonysweet.com) was several years ago and the thing he pounded into my head was cropping images down to their heart and soul. I wasn't an avid cropper prior to that lesson as my framing and matting of images is usually always to an 18"x24" frame with mat. My image is usually an 12"x18" size. Since I have a regimen of reusing both frame and mat to save both myself and my customers some cash, I've learned to make my crop within the camera or in the editing process. I still have an argument with myself, but that's the hard headedness coming out.

The blog image above provided the perfect example of the value of cropping. The funny thing is that had my Photoshop screen not been set up for a crop in a previous edit, I would have never seen the value of cropping the image above.

As you can see, I hope, the effort of cropping has gotten rid of the distractions in the upper right side and put the focus on the subject. It was hard to admit it and I don't really like square crops, but it definitely proves the point.

The image was taken several years ago at a preserve in Minnesota. I felt fortunate that I got the capture and the lighting at the same moment.

Thanks for taking the time to join me here. Take care and have a good weekend. Oh, and one more note...I'm back on Facebook.

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Comments

[Mike Houge]

Very nice

[Daniel Ruf]

Thanks much.