Crop Circles...(actually Rectangles)

The day started out rainy and wet, so I guess the mood that was set (and a wrong turn), drove me to the cemetery. Call me morbid, but for some reason, I love taking photos here. Perhaps it is the genealogist in me. Perhaps the historian. Either way, I am constantly drawn here. In fact, this is my favorite tombstone in this cemetery. For those of you who are familiar with my web site, you will likely recognize this stone.

The reason I chose this photo for the opener is to demonstrate the "technique" of cropping a photo. The reason I put the word technique in quotes, is that I consider it a personal preference rather than a formula or any hard and fast rule. Rather than be excessively verbose, I'll just post the before and after shots of a few photos I took today to give a feel for how I "see" a photo. For example, here is the original of the above photo:

As you can see, the change is not too dramatic, but I took the photo from further back rather than trying to frame the photo in the viewfinder. One mistake that a new photographer tends to make is to try to create the photo cropped as-shot. In some cases that is a necessity. If your camera is older and does not have high resolution, you will not want to waste any pixels to cropping. Second, if the angle of your lens does not allow you to squeeze any more into the photo, you are left with whatever you can fit.

If you have plenty of pixels to play with, and a decent lens, don't be afraid to stand back a little and get some extra into the photo. For example, this photo has quite a bit of room to play with, so I actually changed it from a portrait to a landscape.

I found it a little more interesting without the kitty litter bucket, and a little more detail on the round things (sorry, I just don't know what they are) on the other side of the gate.

You may have heard of the "Rule of Thirds". This is one of the "rules" that you might need to consider. If you were to divide your photo into thirds from top to bottom, and also from left to right, you will end up with a grid of nine squares. According to the rule of thirds, a pleasing photo should have the main subject residing along one of the lines. I don't typically use gridlines, but I do try to resist placing items in the center of the frame. For example; this flower is nearly dead-on center. A big no-no if the "thirds police" are watching, and not all that stimulating.



Now, here is the same photo cropped to position the flower in the lower left corner. A little more interesting if you are into flower photography.



Another "rule" to follow, and I do consider this one to be very important, if not critical, is determining where the open space is. Take this photo for example:



Here is a cute little place that people could be sitting and chatting. The key here is that the subject should always be facing the open space. Sure, you can always find an exception, but I haven't really found one yet. A person (who might be sitting in one of these chairs) would be facing the open space. A boat in the water will be pointing to open space. A car, driving along, will be moving in the direction of open space. If you break this rule, it actually looks awkward. Here are the chairs, facing the open space, waiting for some people to sit.


Finally, here is another pair that are not too different, but I liked the slight crop on the top photo to show more detail in the flag reflecting in the window.