Cropping and Street Photography

Pieter12 · Jan 26, 2020

I shoot a fair amount of candid street photography. I often shoot from the hip, pointing the camera instinctively at the subject, firing as I pass by without slowing down. I sometimes do the same, deliberately using a slow shutter speed and panning with the subject--knowing I will get some blur, but also get some of the energy of the street. Techniques that would be difficult to execute with a hand-held large format camera. Not every frame is a hit of course. And I crop whenever I damn like to.

https://pdekoninck.cargo.site/Street

awty · Jan 26, 2020

Pieter12 said:
I shoot a fair amount of candid street photography. I often shoot from the hip, pointing the camera instinctively at the subject, firing as I pass by without slowing down. I sometimes do the same, deliberately using a slow shutter speed and panning with the subject--knowing I will get some blur, but also get some of the energy of the street. Techniques that would be difficult to execute with a hand-held large format camera. Not every frame is a hit of course. And I crop whenever I damn like to.

https://pdekoninck.cargo.site/Street

I can shoot from the hip to even with an old Kiev a3 at f2......doesn't everyone. Not tied to any technique or hardware, often carry a 35mm for those things and a 6x6 for other things a LF just makes it more interesting.
not cropped

BTW nice website and pictures, I always like to see others work and not just talk.

Sirius Glass · Jan 26, 2020

Vaughn said:
With experience and determination, I believe a person can do both at the same time -- capture the moment perfectly, have it well composed, and full-frame. Its is all a matter if the photographer wants to work that way or not...it is a matter of learning how to anticipate the action and being aware of ones surroundings. Is it easy, no. Will one miss some images, yes, but that happens anyway no matter what ones method is. Does it mean one never crops, no.

I have been doing both for many years, it is part and parcel of composing a photograph instead of taking a snapshot.

removed account4 · Jan 26, 2020

sorry if i sound like a jerk but i never understand these threads that ask if it is OK to do something. the point of "art" is there are no rules. one uses a camera ( or brush or knife or ink ) anyway they can to make whatever they want. i can't imagine man ray
or carnie asked if it was OK to expose their plate / film to light when they were developing it, or if gaudi asked if it was OK to
put scintillating objects in the facade of his undulating casa mila or if pollock asked if it was ok to splat his paint ...
just do it, life doesn't end if it doen't look like you expected or your friends, family, confidants don't like it ...
and if YOU like it and others don't .. its their loss

CMoore · Jan 26, 2020

jnantz said:
sorry if i sound like a jerk but i never understand these threads that ask if it is OK to do something. the point of "art" is there are no rules. one uses a camera ( or brush or knife or ink ) anyway they can to make whatever they want. i can't imagine man ray
or carnie asked if it was OK to expose their plate / film to light when they were developing it, or if gaudi asked if it was OK to
put scintillating objects in the facade of his undulating casa mia or if pollock asked if it was ok to splat his paint ...
just do it, life doesn't end if it doen't look like you expected or your friends, family, confidants don't like it ...
and if YOU like it and others don't .. its their loss

No,...... YOU do not sound like a jerk.
And these arguments are ridiculous.
Now it seems there are people, that claim they can predict the random, spontaneity of life, and can be there, because of their divine anticipation.... ahead of the event... to compose the "Correct" frame.
This has tail-spun into the bizarre.

NB23 · Jan 26, 2020

Shooting from the hip.

cropping.

stand developing.

The holy-trinity of “why the F am I even wasting my time with photography”.

The next level up must be blind photography.

Helge · Jan 26, 2020

Hey, that's the dirty word: Lomography.

WTH would cropping, stand developing and shooting from the hip make you give up photography‽
The first two are just nonsense. Shooting from the hip though has a bad rep for a reason, because it is incredibly hard. But, it can work if you really grock your lens field of view, have luck on your side and are ready to crop.

Vaughn · Jan 26, 2020

jnantz said:
... if pollock asked if it was ok to splat his paint ...

If ones shoots from the hip like Pollock splattered his paint, the work will be incredible. But it takes a lot of discipline to reach that level...and one does not start out by splattering.

Soeren · Jan 27, 2020

logan2z said:
The difference that I've been trying to point out (unsuccessfully ) is that once you take the time to stop and accurately frame what I've been referring to in this thread as a 'street photograph', you've probably already missed the moment you were trying to capture - and by 'moment' I mean the relative positions of people, their facial expressions, a gesture, etc. If by 'street photograph' you are referring to an urban landscape comprised of mostly static objects, then I agree that there's no excuse for not accurately framing/composing.

Thats where anticipating what will happen beforehand within a scene then wait for the moment raise a prefocussed camera carefully frame and press the shutter comes to mind
Its not that Im against cropping, on the contrary but coming from 35mm slidefilm getting it right in camera was pretty much the way of doing things. Today a slight crop to tighten up a composition is not un heard but cropping to fix a mistake.... nah

miha · Jan 27, 2020

NB23 said:
...The next level up must be blind photography.

http://www.evgenbavcar.com/

miha · Jan 27, 2020

cliveh said:
There are some very interesting opinions on this subject and I don’t really understand what street photography is. I would like to think of it more in terms of environmental photography. There is nothing wrong with cropping, but if you are of the Bresson school, I would suggest it is more a case of framing and then timing. To quote HCB “If you find an interesting composition and wait long enough, it will become more interesting.” Also a cropped image shows the same perspective as a wider shot from the same subject to camera distance and so when you crop, you show a narrow viewpoint from the scene in general (not that there is anything wrong with that, although as some have said “why not get closer in the first place” and have others have said “you may miss a decisive moment.”

This brings me to another point that could be worthy of its own thread. If you take a modern digital camera and record video and then select a single frame from a sequence, is this the same as pressing the shutter at a given moment to arrest that decisive moment. I would say not, but the laws of physics may say otherwise.

Good reasoning here and some food for thought.

RalphLambrecht · Jan 27, 2020

logan2z said:
I know the subject of cropping comes up from time to time and I usually fall on the side of not cropping my photos. But I've been shooting more street photography of late and find myself considering cropping some photos in order to make them stronger. I'm sure there are some people who shoot street photos who manage to frame their photos well enough in camera to avoid cropping after the fact, but I sometimes find it quite challenging on bustling city streets to get the framing of a photo just right.

I've been making some prints in preparation to show some of my work locally and have been going through some older contact sheets. I found one photo that I had previously rejected, but I now realize that a somewhat aggressive crop will turn a mediocre photo into something much stronger. I like the cropped photo quite a bit and think it will fit into my series well, but I can't shake this niggling feeling that I'm somehow 'cheating' by using a significant crop to get to the end result. I don't 'spray and pray' or shoot from the hip and I recall focusing on the subjects of the photo because I felt they were interesting, so perhaps I'm being too hard on myself. I also know that some very well-known photographers (HCB, Robert Frank, Elliot Erwitt, etc.) cropped their photos (significantly in some cases) so perhaps I'm in good company I've also been looking closely at the work of Leon Levinstein (the Steidl Levinstein monograph is terrific, BTW) and, although I've never seen photos of his contact sheets, I'd be very surprised if his photos aren't cropped rather heavily.

Despite the fact that I shoot street photos using 35mm film, I don't print very large (8x10, sometimes 11x14) so I don't think image quality will suffer greatly if I crop this particular photo the way I'd like. I'm just struggling to get past the fact that I have to crop it at all in order to produce a strong photo.

Am I making too big a deal about cropping some of my street photography in order to produce a stronger result? I've made myself feel sufficiently guilty that I'm considering not including the cropped photo in my series

FWIW, some 'famous' crops:

Henri Cartier-Bresson:

Robert Frank, 'The Americans'

Radical crop by Elliot Erwitt

whatever it takes to make your photographs stronger is OK as far as I'm concerned, Remember, You are already cropping by selecting a focal length and by pointing the camera into a specific direction. It is all part of photography. I crop in camera and in printing without hesitation.

NB23 · Jan 27, 2020

miha said:
http://www.evgenbavcar.com/

Yes, and?

Too bad there’s no credit given to all who helped him.

miha · Jan 27, 2020

NB23 said:
Yes, and?

Too bad there’s no credit given to all who helped him.

Based on your post #131, it seemed - at least to me - you were not aware of the fact that blind photographers exist.

NB23 · Jan 27, 2020

miha said:
Based on your post #131, it seemed - at least to me - you were not aware of the fact that blind photographers exist.

of course I am. There was even an exhibition of blind photographers not long ago.

Which I find pathetic, if you ask me.

Sure, there is tremendous philosophical value in it, but absolutely zero value otherwise. I would say almost insulting.

removed account4 · Jan 27, 2020

personally, i can't even talk in the same room with a photographer
who doesn't make their own PEEro.
what a bunch of posers and wannabes !

Luckless · Jan 27, 2020

NB23 said:
Shooting from the hip.

cropping.

stand developing.

The holy-trinity of “why the F am I even wasting my time with photography”.

The next level up must be blind photography.

As opposed to all the other options on which one can waste their time with photography on?

awty · Jan 27, 2020

Vaughn said:
"Photographers were a lot tougher back in the old days."

So were the horses! When I go backpacking I have to ask myself, 5x7, or just 4x5? Or really wimp out and enjoy myself with the Rolleicord? With a porter or two, I could do 8x10...but they are expensive, even if they are ones own sons!

But with LF for street photography...with the 11x14 for example, I'd be setting up very conspicuously. It would almost be street theater. Again, a couple of assistants to hold and hand me gear as needed would be nice -- and safer.

.

I think he and others just attached the camera to the tripod and carried it on their shoulder, probably carried a port with film in the other hand. I was using a collapsible two wheeled trolley for my home made 14x17, but that kept collapsing every time I hit a bump, need a better trolley.......and lens. Pinhole is just too slow for street work, model cant stay still for 4 minutes.
14x17 cropped to fit a3 paper, no ground glass, not hard to work the angles and position with out a view finder.

Vaughn · Jan 27, 2020

Even in the landscape the models can get impatient. Only 8x10, but my boys did a good job at holding still for two minutes. Carbon print...

And even when the model is yourself (another two min. exposure, 8x10 carbon print).

removed account4 · Jan 28, 2020

NB23 said:
Yes, and?

Too bad there’s no credit given to all who helped him.

being legally blind does not necessarily mean completely sight-less.
the photographer could have made the photographs with no additional help.
a photographer on the large format page happens to be blind and it seems like he does very well.
https://www.largeformatphotography....7853-ArtCessability-group-Show-in-San-Antonio

NB23 · Jan 28, 2020

jnantz said:
being legally blind does not necessarily mean completely sight-less.
the photographer could have made the photographs with no additional help.
a photographer on the large format page happens to be blind and it seems like he does very well.
https://www.largeformatphotography....7853-ArtCessability-group-Show-in-San-Antonio

Oooooooohhhhh... blind but not really blind. A lot, but not quite, yeah?

Is that like a vegan that still eats meat? Vegan but not legally vegan?

hehe

BradS · Jan 28, 2020

NB23 said:
Yes, and?

Too bad there’s no credit given to all who helped him.

Blind or not, when is the photographer's assistant ever given any credit...for anything?

NB23 · Jan 28, 2020

BradS said:
Blind or not, when is the photographer's assistant ever given any credit...for anything?

Yeah, it would probably kill the hype. Why steal the sunshine of the dude that’s done 1% of the job, after all?

removed account4 · Jan 28, 2020

BradS said:
<... >when is the photographer's assistant ever given any credit <... >

not sure, maybe when hawes became a partner of southworth, i think he started as his assistant.

Cropping and Street Photography

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