Bending rules or breaking them?

KWJams

Senior Member
Is there a rule about cropping?

During the 4th of July fireworks show we had an incredible sunset and I was trying to get some bracketed shots which was difficult because people in the crowd were moving around too fast.

I managed to get 3 exposures of this scene with this lady who looked very tired from pushing a baby stroller in the grass around the park.

July 2011_6234 (Small).JPG

I was disappointed with all the motion blur and power lines and other visual clutter. While reveiewing the images in my camera I zoomed in on the photo and was amazed at the detail of her silhouette. You can see her eye lashes. I decided to see if I could crop the photo down to isolate her with out the back ground clutter and had to go to the smallest crop setting on my camera before cropping and saving.

WoW! Did I take that is all I could think when I got home and viewed it on my computer.

castle_rock_2011.jpg

So is it considered proper to crop this small or did I bend some rule?
 

theregsy

Senior Member
Personally my opinion is that you are making the image that you want, as long as you aren't cropping that much that you pixellate then its up to you, in this case I think that you have indeed produced a great image from a decent one :)
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Good shot. I have two suggestions, crop in the portrait format and don't crop it so tight. Cropping is an important part of a composition that many photographers forget or don't consider. While cropping in it's self is not a "rule" it can make a mediocre shot great. What about the guy on the right in the baseball cap? Try doing the same thing with his silhouette. It should not be too hard to clone out any lines you don't want.
 
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KWJams

Senior Member
I was hoping that since the crop was done in the camera, pixilation would not be a factor since I shot it in JPEG Fine & Raw. I felt that if any rule would be broken by cropping, it would be pixelation.

Absolutely right Joseph, I can't recall if there is anything in the camera manual that mentions switching the in camera crop box from landscape to portrait?? Granted it can be done on the computer in post processing but I was under the assumption that the best results would be if you can do some of the editing in the camera first.

Good eye Chris, only thing you got wrong was there is more prairie than desert around here and she was watching the rock and roll band playing on a portable stage. :) But seriously now. In my opinion, when a picture opens up the imagination with the viewer like this picture did for you -- then the odds are that it surpasses from being a snapshot to being a great shot (line stolen from Jeff Revell) regardless of rules. The first picture whispers its own story but the cropped version shouted out loud to me.
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
. . . and here's another version: include the silhouettes of both the woman and the man in the baseball cap, eliminate the pole and wires, and you might have a picture that tells a story.

It's your vision, Ken.
 
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