I think young Bozza is right here, echoing Capa - "if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough".
It's you who decides whether or not your pictures are good enough, and your question suggests that perhaps you do think that. Cartier-Bresson was famous for (almost) never cropping, and the reason for this was that he had a very highly developed eye for composition, and that he shot that composition within the framelines of his camera, so any cropping would ruin the composition. This was a discipline he chose for himself, along with the less strict rules of only shooting black & white, and only using a 50mm lens. By doing this he consciously restricted the type of photographs he would take, and reduced the variables, thus simplifying and maintaining control. The result was a genius. This approach has been used numerous times in the past in different arts. Consider for example the theatre of Corneille, which obeyed the classical unities, was written in Alexandrine couplets, and dealt with classical heroic themes. Less is more. If you do feel that your pictures are not good enough, I would recommend studying composition, doing exercises the way people do scales for the piano, and reducing the number of variables you have to deal with, so that you can really focus at the time of shooting on what interests you in the image, and use the principles of composition within the frame to bring that to the fore. The way learn composition is to learn about proportion and grids, and to learn to recognise it when you see it, so you can photograph it. Then you won't need to crop much. Two Magnum photographers I really like, who shoot fantastically good, complex compositions, are Harry Gruyaert and Alex Webb. There used to be a whole load of stuff showing grids overlaid on their work, discussing the composition, but it all seems to go to something called pinterest now, usual bullshit of closing the web. But google their names with 'composition grid' and you might find something helpful. I try not to crop very drastically, mainly to straighten horizons or verticals when I use the full frame, or to use either square or double-square (tatami mat) when I see something that suits those formats. I used to shoot slides a lot, and didn't have the luxury of cropping. Again, limiting the variables. This guy has some interesting ideas on his blog: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2016/01/27/100-lessons-from-the-masters-of-street-photography/ B On 24 Jan 2017, at 14:27, Boris Liberman <bori...@gmail.com<mailto:bori...@gmail.com>> wrote: Absolutely terrible. Please kindly stand in the corner for 5 mins. Seriously, maybe you can walk closer to your subjects should conditions permit... On 24 Jan 2017 15:37, "Eric Weir" <eew...@bellsouth.net<mailto:eew...@bellsouth.net>> wrote: I crop often. Sometimes radically. To focus more clearly on what interests me in the image. Am I a terrible photographer? ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Eric Weir Decatur, GA USA eew...@bellsouth.net<mailto:eew...@bellsouth.net> "Man has been a murderer forever." - Peter Matthiessen. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net<mailto:PDML@pdml.net> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net<mailto:PDML@pdml.net> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
