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Thoughtful cropping of even the best photograph can often enhance sound composition and direct the eye to a focal point. Here we explain how you can improve your pictures by careful use of the scissors and masking frame.
Probably the least qualified person to edit and crop a photograph
is the person who took the picture. After all, you've spent time
composing your picture and you are pleased with the final result.
A photographer can get very 'precious' about his or her own work.
But look at your picture again; critically and objectively. Are
you absolutely sure you have gained the maximum impact from the
subject matter? Does the picture really need that door at the
edge of the frame? Are there elements within the picture that
take your eye away from the main focal point? Ask yourself what
would the picture be like without the door or those other distracting
elements.
Cropping can have an immediate effect on a picture's message and composition. Cropped well, the message can be endorsed or perhaps even changed altogether, and the composition can be harmonised with focal points being emphasised for maximum effect.
Big pictures
So let's look at the picture above and see what happens when we
crop quite drastically. This picture was taken for The Sunday
Times travel pages to illustrate an article about the villages
of the north east coast of Scotland. It was in fact used full
size without any cropping at all. There are two reasons for this;
firstly, when the picture was taken The Sunday Times had a very
big travel section and needed big pictures that 'told the story'
and showed exactly what a location looked like. The picture was
taken with this important selling point in mind.
Balance
Secondly, and this is why it has been used as an example here,
the picture has the sort of composition that can be framed in
various ways without losing its essential message or balance.
The problem for the viewer, however, is that there is a lot of
visual information to take in when looking at the uncropped picture.
This is fine when printed big on the pages of The Sunday Times
- the reader is drawn to look around within the picture and so
gets added value from his newspaper. But looked at away from the
context of the newspaper, there can be too much information to
absorb for comfort. This poses several problems for the photographer
intending to sell his work - he must chose the right crop for
the right market. The photographer taking pictures for personal
pleasure can simply chose the crop that pleases him best.
Let's see how we can apply those scissors...
