Do you crop your photos?

[Alan Edward Klein]

Yes, that pretty much explains it. Right now I am out of town but pulled up these two images as an example of what I’m doing with my own photos/drawings. The photo was shot in Death Valley on 35mm infrared film around 1980. This is a raw, full frame, scan of the negative. The other image is a drawing I did from that, white gel pen on black paper.

Nice. Very original.

 

[Bill Burk]

I know NB23’s style looks great full frame.

My norm is similar, full frame with dirty borders (partial negative rebate showing). But I just looked at some Library of Congress images and am jealous because they show full negative! You can see notch code and writing in margin. I like that.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ca3143.photos/?sp=3

I print what I imagine I would want to see in the future. If all I want to see is the dog and ankles, that would work. It sure is nice having those contact prints to illustrate where it came from.

 

[Vaughn]

...
I'm not going to risk missing a workable shot entirely to hem and haw over perfect edges and whether or not it would be better to have the camera a few mm to the left. Compose in the field for the core subject, adjust in post for the final print...

An excellent way of working!
All I am doing is carrying out the post-work up-front with the camera. I enjoy carrying out the decisions in the field (as a landscape photographer) that a lot of photographers wait to make later. I am heavily cropping all my images out of all the light reflecting off the landscape around me, I just spend the time to make sure I just crop once. I use equipment that allows me to easily do this. I certainly do not expect others to work my way, nor is my way of working, in anyway, superior to other ways of working. It is the best way for me to work, developed over 40 years.

 

[Pieter12]

Sounds good. I'll have to check with my wife.

Use your wife. A photographer I know will have her husband to walk into a scene when the light is right, so she can have a figure (often in silhouette or not facing camera) in the right place for her preferred composition.

 

[Pieter12]

You can see notch code and writing in margin.

As a side note, Avedon would sometimes add back the 4x5 film rebate in the darkroom if he cropped an image.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Use your wife. A photographer I know will have her husband to walk into a scene when the light is right, so she can have a figure (often in silhouette or not facing camera) in the right place for her preferred composition.

I'm sure my wife wouldn't want me to use a female model. Maybe I can hire your friend's husband?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

The main issue with cropping afterward is the angle of the shot. If you got it wrong because you rushed, or things are not in their right places, then cropping won't help later. Sometimes just a move of a couple of the inches to the left or right changes the entire perspective. If a person gets sloppy figuring cropping and editing will save all, they're going to be disappointed.

 

[DonW]

No NO!!! Not a thread on cropping!!!

 

[warden]

As a side note, Avedon would sometimes add back the 4x5 film rebate in the darkroom if he cropped an image.

That poseur.

 

[cliveh]

I would suggest that although not a general rule, that if you consistently crop, you are not using a camera with the ideal aspect ratio of your preference.

 

[Arthurwg]

And a mediocre craftsman.

That proves that it's better to be a great artist than a craftsman.

 

[Vaughn]

That proves that it's better to be a great artist than a craftsman.

or as the baseball saying goes...it's better to be lucky than good.

Well...maybe not the same...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Conformist.

Did you nose hurt when I tweaked it?

 

[Sirius Glass]

It is beginner amateur talk, always has been. Always adressed in photo-101 classes, rarely beyond.

as an artist, obe should aim for in-canera crop. As a pro, one should not care.

I care because if I have done a good job when I composed the photograph, I save time and work in the darkroom. You are free to create all the extra darkroom, matting and framing time you like. In fact I will send some to you just to keep you busy.

 

[Pieter12]

Stubborn folks who cannot see beyond their initial choice for composition in camera won't crop. A second, or even third look at a negative or print can sometimes result in a more impactful image.

 

[Roger Thoms]

No NO!!! Not a thread on cropping!!!

Hey, maybe we should start a film vs digital thread to go along with it.

Roger

 

[Moose22]

None of us are perfect. Believe me, I've tried. Cropping makes up for that.

I thought you said I was.

You mean I have to accept being me AND accept not being perfect? That's gonna' do a number on my ego.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Stubborn folks who cannot see beyond their initial choice for composition in camera won't crop. A second, or even third look at a negative or print can sometimes result in a more impactful image.

No, smart photographers walk around the area while taking the photographs so they can see the subjects from various views and angles. In the process they will see beyond the initial composition because they are actively looking to improve their work. If that is done correctly, there should be no need to slice and dice in the darkroom. But then that is what is considered smart photographic practices. Hoping to do better in the darkroom after one quick look is just short selling oneself.

 

[Vaughn]

Stubborn folks who cannot see beyond their initial choice for composition in camera won't crop. A second, or even third look at a negative or print can sometimes result in a more impactful image.

When I come to that point and the full image is not good enough, I say to myself, "See better next time." I already have plenty negatives of 'impactful' full-negative images that I have not gotten around to printing yet...I can afford to be picky about adding new ones.

I would prefer to be considered patient and resourceful rather than stubborn, but there you have it...

 

[Mike Lopez]

When I come to that point and the full image is not good enough, I say to myself, "See better next time." I already have plenty negatives of 'impactful' full-negative images that I have not gotten around to printing yet...I can afford to be picky about adding new ones.

I would prefer to be considered patient and resourceful rather than stubborn, but there you have it...

All of this and more. I could spend the rest of my life revisiting and reimagining negatives, but I'm not even sure I'll print everything I've exposed before I'm gone. And my kids have me making new negatives (portraiture) all the time. Side note: there may be a psychological effect to only making contact prints which helps to push one away from cropping. Back when I was making enlargements it was easy enough to raise or lower the enlarger head, move the easel blades, etc. In making contact prints exclusively, I find that there seems to be a bit more discipline. I know this approach isn't for everybody. But I'm in love with it.

 

[Pieter12]

When I come to that point and the full image is not good enough, I say to myself, "See better next time." I already have plenty negatives of 'impactful' full-negative images that I have not gotten around to printing yet...I can afford to be picky about adding new ones.

I would prefer to be considered patient and resourceful rather than stubborn, but there you have it...

Why not crop the image instead of rejecting it altogether? I do not take disposable images. If I did not see the instant a leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person just nudged into the frame when the shutter opened but everything else is the way I want it, I am going to print the image with that cropped out, not just toss it away.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Why not crop the image instead of rejecting it altogether? I do not take disposable images. If I did not see the instant a leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person just nudged into the frame when the shutter opened but everything else is the way I want it, I am going to print the image with that cropped out, not just toss it away.

If you are using a TLR or SLR MF camera the view finder is large enough and bright enough to spot the leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person in time before the shutter is fired. And if the shutter caught the leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person then take another photograph.

 

[Pieter12]

If you are using a TLR or SLR MF camera the view finder is large enough and bright enough to spot the leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person in time before the shutter is fired. And if the shutter caught the leaf/bird/car/cloud/airplane/person then take another photograph.

Quite possibly one is waiting for a cloud to line up with another element, or some such thing. By the time the bird/car/airplane has cleared the frame, the cloud is in another position, composition lost. Just as a hypothetical. And if you are concentrating on that cloud, you might not notice the bird approaching. And if you're shooting large format, you certainly can only guess if the bird is on the edge of the frame or not when you trip the shutter. Not cropping is for the weak, who need hard and fast rules to operate.

 

[Mike Lopez]

Quite possibly one is waiting for a cloud to line up with another element, or some such thing. By the time the bird/car/airplane has cleared the frame, the cloud is in another position, composition lost. Just as a hypothetical. And if you are concentrating on that cloud, you might not notice the bird approaching. And if you're shooting large format, you certainly can only guess if the bird is on the edge of the frame or not when you trip the shutter. Not cropping is for the weak, who need hard and fast rules to operate.

I must be weak.

But several posts back you were talking about viewing negatives and prints two or three times to decide upon the most impactful image. What does that have to do with birds and cars and airplanes or clouds or whatever else you're pointing at that you can't control? Which is it?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Quite possibly one is waiting for a cloud to line up with another element, or some such thing. By the time the bird/car/airplane has cleared the frame, the cloud is in another position, composition lost. Just as a hypothetical. And if you are concentrating on that cloud, you might not notice the bird approaching. And if you're shooting large format, you certainly can only guess if the bird is on the edge of the frame or not when you trip the shutter. Not cropping is for the weak, who need hard and fast rules to operate.

And that is the skill and it requires staying observant.