Project 52, Week 5, Cropping

Here we are starting the 5th week of the 52 week project and at the end of the first month of the Project 12.  To re-cap, this month we've been learning about the Focal Point, the main subject, the reason for taking the picture in the first place.  We've learned some techniques for concentrating on the focal point:

• Simplification
• What to do if there is more than 1 focal point, including the Rule of Odds
• Rule of Thirds (One of the Golden Rules of photography composition)
• Cropping (this week's topic)

Cropping:
Cropping is a fundamental composition tool which helps you to focus on the subject so you can tell your story more effectively.  It's more than just cutting away the edges of a photograph.  Effective cropping can turn a "snapshot" into a "photograph".

• Decide on your subject. Why are you taking this particular photograph?
• Decide on your story. What do you want the photo to say?
• Focus on your subject.  Do you want to show more close up detail or do you need to include more background to compliment the story line?
• Remove excess negative space.
• Remove distracting elements. 
• Apply the Rule of Thirds or other Golden Rules, when applicable.  (Remember rules can be broken.)
• Cropping portraits:  Be kind
• As a general rule, don't cut off a person's limbs at the joints.
• Don't lop off too many limbs 
• Don't cut off the top of a head (Unless you need to for composition's sake.)

There are 2 ways to "crop" a photograph.  One is "in camera" while you are composing the picture (the preferred method) and one is in the computer with photo-editing software.  (There is a third way - after the photo is printed, trim it with scissors. )

In Camera Cropping  --  To remove distracting elements. 

• If possible, physically remove or move the distractions. 
• Usually removing distractions isn't practical so you may need to move the subject.  Sometimes just moving the subject a little to the left or right will give you a whole different picture.
• Move yourself to get a different viewpoint.  You can't move a mountain (for example) so you may need to move yourself.   Move left, right, up, and down to find the best point of view.
• Rotate the camera. Change from landscape (more wide than tall) to portrait (more tall than wide).
• Fill the frame with the subject. 

In the computer, post-production re-composing:

• See all of the above rules.
• Use photo-editing software of your choice
• Microsoft Office Suite allows you to crop photos easily.  I sometimes practice cropping "professional" photographs to see if I can improve the composition.  (Correct composition is in the eye of the beholder.  It helps if you have a trained eye and good eye sight.)

Suggested Readings and Photographs:
Using Focal Points in Photography by Darren Rouse at Digital Photography School

How To Crop a Photo for Better Composition by Elizabeth West at Photography 101
Cropping Photos: Every Picture Tells a Story at caddpower.com
In Camera Cropping by Wendy Folse at photoinf.com
Cropping in Photography Composition by Rolando Gomez at Lens Diaries
Composition - Cropping by Geoff Lawrence at photoinf.com

Composition - Cropping in Lightroom 3 at Serious Amateur Photography
Use Crop Guides for Better Composition (Photoshop Elements 10) at AdobeTV
Cropping Photos Using the Rule of Thirds (Photoshop) by Sara Horton at Scrapper's Guide

Project 52, Week Four, The Rule of Thirds

Last week we studied the Rule of Odds.  Not coincidentally, this week's topic is the Rule of Thirds, probably the most well known photographic composition rule. 

Basically, the rule says to divide your scene into thirds vertically and horizontally so you have 9 sections (like a tic-tac-toe game).  Place the most important elements of the scene at (near) one of the four intersections, the points of focus, or along the lines.  For example,

• Avoid placing the primary subject smack in the middle of the photo. 
• If the primary subject is vertical (more tall than wide like a lighthouse or most people), place it along the left or right lines.
• If the sky is more interesting, place the horizon along the bottom line and at the top line if you want to emphasize the foreground. 
• For portraits, place the eyes along or near the top horizontal line.  This applies to pictures of people and animals.
• If the subject is looking left or moving to the left, place the subject along the right vertical line to "give them room".  Then conversely, if the subject is looking/moving right, placement is along the left vertical line.

There are times to break the Rule of Thirds without hesitation or guilt. That time would come when the composition of your photograph is better without the rule than with it.  Perhaps when your composition wants to emphasize the symmetry of a scene.

To practice viewing the Rule of Thirds in action, I inserted photos into PowerPoint and pasted a grid like this over them, re-sizing it as necessary to fit the photo.  I then noted if I thought the Rule or Thirds was followed and if it enhanced the composition.  I cropped some photographs that I thought did not follow the Rule and then overlaid them with the grid again to see if that improved the composition.

Suggested Reading and Photographs:

1. Composition: Rule of Thirds from Cambridge in Colour
2. Creativity and the Rule of Thirds by Jim Altengarten, and Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition: Rule of Thirds from photoinf.com
3. Break the Rule of Thirds from Digital Photography School
4. The Rule of Thirds from Silverlight
5. Photographic Composition: The Rule of Thirds and the Horizontal Line from Valerie Hayken's Photo-Talk

Photography is Golden aka The Golden Rules

There are other Rules based on mathematical equations that are somewhat (a little to a lot) more complicated to understand than the Rule of Thirds.  If you're interested, here are some resources:

1. The Golden Mean from Photozone
2. The Golden Ratio from An Open Ended Course in Photography, includes The Rule of Thirds, The Golden Triangle, and The Golden Spiral
3. The Golden Ratio from ThincTanc
4. The Golden Spiral from fabiovisentin.com
5. Dividing the Frame from The Art of Photography, includes The Golden Section, Golden Triangles,and The Golden Spiral
6. Diagonal Method from Diagonal Method

Nature's Best Photography Students - a free e-magazine

Nature's Best Photography Students is a blog and free e-magazine whose mission, to quote the website, is to "create a nature-oriented online publication and media platform that is developed and primarily produced by young, talented, and motivated students who seek to involve and inspire a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts.  NBP Students are 21 years of age and younger."  Nature’s Best Photography Students is the student version of the award-winning, quarterly magazine, Nature’s Best Photography."

Unfortunately, it appears that the magazine is not published regularly, but it's free so I'm not really complaining.  I use the word "unfortunately" because it's a very nice magazine: informative, colorful, and inspiring (not to mention free!).  There have been 13 issues published since it began in 2008 with the last one dated July 2011.  

The Table of Contents for the 38 page July issue looks like this:

• Ranch Life in Texas
• Interview with Photo Editor Steve Freligh
• Tips and Tricks: Photo Books
• NANPA Scholarship Program

The last blog update, Shooting Moving Water, was on January 12, 2012.  There are several blog contributors, all young enthusiastic photographers.  Sometimes their youthfulness is annoying to an old lady like me.  One or two of them exhibited self-confidence bordering on cockiness, but I might be a little cocky myself if I had their talent.