14) Project: Cropping and extending. Exercise: Cropping - Page 46.

Deciding the subject.

Similar to the balance exercise, this exercise required shots already taken, then to be cropped to alter the image.  Chosen were three different subjects as required

Setting up.

None required the crop was done digitally.

Equipment used.

Camera: Canon 500D
Lenses: Canon 18mm-55mm
Tamron 70mm-300mm
Picasa (digital crop)

Settings and results.

IMG1102ee – Original Image

Camera setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 92mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 146mm
Shutter speed: 1/500
Aperture: f/4
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 400
White balance: Auto






IMG1102e – Cropped Image

You can see from the original image to the cropped image, all I have done is removed some of the water to the right and below the bird in flight, thus placing greater emphasis on the bird itself.


IMG1714ee – Original Image

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 3200
White balance: Manual













IMG1714e – Cropped Image















The choice of crop here was to place an even tighter crop on the child’s face, bringing out the finer details of the child.  I was once told, when doing certain portraits “when you think you are in close...get in closer” and I think on this occasion by doing just that using the cropping tool you can see that it has worked.

IMG3982e – Original Image

Camera setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 70mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 111mm
Shutter speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/10
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Spot
ISO: 400
White balance: Manual






IMG3982ee – Cropped Image











You can see my choice of crop on this photo doesn’t conform to standard photo sizes, however, I feel this shot lends itself to almost a panoramic type crop.  Elongating the track and removing some of the excess grass behind the vehicle really, in my opinion, brings out the best in this shot, to make it the type of shot I can see hung on a wall on a custom made canvas!


Findings and conclusion.

This being about the only type of editing I know how to do with ease at present, I love the way you can take an image and alter it completely.  The uses of cropping is so vast, from changing the entire composition of a shot, or simply removing a little of the edge to make the subject appear bigger, brighter and make the image perhaps a more dynamic one.  I really enjoy seeing the results of cropping an image, perhaps an image you were not so fond of but can change so dramatically that it can become a favourite.