Having already experimented with cropping in an earlier exercise (Fitting the frame to the subject), in this exercise I was solely required to crop three images, all previously un-edited, to see where the process took me. I needed to look at my images in a fresh way and crop them to produce an new image within the original image. The results are below with comments as well as the original image with the cropped areas delineated.
Little India – Original with crop mark up.
This pretty typical street scene in Little India lends itself to expanding on areas of interest via cropping. There are many components at work here. Some are needed and some are not.
Crop 1
I wanted to isolate the man on his phone, as he is the focal point of the original image. I also wanted leave the signpost in shot to give a sense place. I feel as though I am right on the limits of what is acceptable compositionally here as I cropped very close to the sign. It would be far more acceptable to have more of the sign in the frame (i.e. the pole), but the original image won’t allow it due to obstructions.
Crop 2
I prefer this crop as it still puts the man in a place i.e. the market, but without me having to be so tight on the cropping.
Crop 3
A little too square here but I do like introducing more of the colour at the top of the frame. It really changes the dynamic nature of the image. The only problem is the top left of the frame where there is a white object disrupting the flow. If I crop it out I end up with virtually the same image as the first crop.
Crop 4
This is probably my favourite of the series as it gives a real feel for the scene itself. A little more hustle, bustle and movement is introduced in to the frame for the first time. The blue canopy across the top frames the images quite nicely. I like the panorama that it produces giving the idea that this is indeed a working street market.
Crop 5
The final crop tries to align the long slim yellow figure of the man on the phone with the vertical stripes of colour above. I would have preferred more length of stripe to work with and have tried to balance this out by adding more road in the foreground. I am not convinced that it really works!
NB in all the crops I have omitted the car on the right hand side and the white wall at the top as I felt these were both always going to be distractions to the final crop if left in.
Balian hut – Original with crop mark up
This hut in the Balian mountains has a lot of greenery around it, which can confuse the eye. I decided that cropping this image may define the hut a little whilst still keeping its jungle character intact.
Crop 1
This crop takes a large amount of the greenery out and makes the hut larger in frame.
Crop 2
This crop is really a continuation of the last one. I’ve taken out the foreground and focussed more on the hut. I realised at this point that the aerial is made out of bamboo! I’d not noticed this before.
Crop 3
This is my least favourite crop of the series. The hut loses it’s presence (and aerial) and the foreground is muddled and confusing. It is weighted towards the top of the image, which unbalances it badly.
Crop 4
My final crop is also my favourite. I have removed much of the confusing and unnecessary foreground and left in more blue sky, which weighs off well against the green. It also gives the full height of the palm tree on the left whilst still being tight enough to see the detail of the bamboo aerial and the hut with the clothes hung outside.
F1 – Original with crop mark up
My final original shows a fire marshall in protective gear watching the cars drive past him.
Crop 1
This makes quite a pleasing vertical crop from the image. I left just enough space on the right to show the direction of the marshall’s eyes whilst leaving the car in shot means you still know what he is doing.
Crop 2
Similar to the crop above but horizontal. This leaves more car in shot and now you can tell the he is looking past it in to the distance.
Crop 3
Again, pulling out to reveal more of the track, background and overalls. He is clearly not actually looking at the car in shot.
Crop 4
A square crop, which I don’t normally do but thought worked well with the triangular nature of the man’s head and the back of the car wing.
Crop 5
The final crop is an extreme close up of the head. I love the vivid colours of the headphones and glasses. I have still left a little space to the right of the eyes. If the focus was a little better I think this would make a great shot. I could possibly pull in a bit more tightly too.
NB in this photograph I have left the marshall in orange out of all the images, as he is superfluous to requirements and just a distraction to the eye.
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