What is crop and why should I care?
The basic definition of "cropping" in photography is to get rid of the unwanted portions of the photograph. But why should you take the time to learn why it is important?
The simple answer is that an improperly cropped image can make your viewers feel uncomfortable when they are looking at it. Have you ever looked at a picture, and felt uneasy for some reason while you were looking at it, but couldn't really explain why? The reason was most likely the crop was off.
So one of the most basic pieces of creating a great photo, whether you are shooting on a cell phone or a $9,000 camera, is getting a good crop.
Rule of Thirds
When most people start taking pictures they usually try to center the main subject of the photo in the middle of their shots. Unfortunately this usually ends up producing a boring photo.
The "Rule of Thirds" proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.1
So in layman's terms, it basically means that your photograph can be dissected by a set of lines and where the lines intersect and along the lines are a good spot to put stuff in the picture.
Here is an example of an image using the Rule of Thirds:
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Here is the same image with a crop that is not using the Rule of Thirds:
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
As you can see the image doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing because of the weird crop.
Tip
Don't crop in the chin (like the above image). This is because it will most likely make the eyes fall below the top third line. In the first image of the girl, her eye is right on the top line, but in the second image, her chin is cropped dropping her eyes below the line. It is subconsciously unpleasant to look at and placing the eyes higher in the frame tends to give the subject more power.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
With this image, I tried to keep all of the action along the third lines as I was shooting it. Try frame your shots as best as you can when you are shooting them so you do not have to crop as much afterwards. The more you have to crop, the more pixels you will be losing and your image quality will suffer, so a good understanding of the Rule of Thirds as you are shooting is very important.
So why crop if my image fits the Rule of Thirds?
Some images are shot "perfectly" and all things line up on the third lines, but for some reason when you look at the picture you still feel that something may not be right.
Look around your picture and see if there is some sort of a distraction from the main subject that is pulling your eye away. Cropping can be used to get rid of distracting items so that you can force your viewer to look at what you want them to.
Another reason to crop and one that I think is the main reason I think beginner photographers should learn how to crop their images is to fix the horizon lines. You can have the most beautiful landscape picture you have ever taken, but if the horizon is crooked, it will look off.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
The Utah Salt Flats is an awesome place to take landscape photos, but if your photo is crooked, it just looks wonky.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Luckily everything can be fixed with a quick adjustment to the crop.
Tip
When shooting landscapes do not center the horizon in the middle of the photo. You want either the sky taking up the top two thirds of the photo or the ground taking up the bottom two thirds of the photo, or as close to that as possible.
If the sky and ground are of equal weight in the photo, then the image can be a little stale. If the main focus of your image is the sky because of the clouds, a sunset or sunrise, then you would want to show as much of that as possible, so give the majority of the frame to the sky.
Summary
There are many reasons to learn the importance of a good crop to your photography.
It can be used as a story telling tool to make the viewers focus on certain pieces of the photo.
It can be used to remove distractions.
To balance out the shot and apply the Rule of Thirds.
The main thing to remember is to plan your shot as best as you can to minimize the crop later on. If you can apply the crop in camera by placing the subject along the third lines or moving in closer to remove distraction, you can retain all the image quality and get an awesome shot.
I hope you enjoyed this first set of quick photography tips and maybe learned something to help you out. My goal is to try and make everyone a little bit better at photography.
If you haven't seen yesterday's contest theme yet, it is Furred Animals and you have plenty of time to get your entries in to try for a chance to win some SBD. Everyone has an equal chance of winning no matter what your skill level. Another contest opens tomorrow, so be sure to follow me for the next theme announcement.
Thank you all for stopping by. You are awesome!
