Eric Weir wrote:
I crop often. Sometimes radically. To focus more clearly on what interests me
in the image. Am I a terrible photographer?
Probably, but not for that reason. :-)
My thoughts on the matter, probably worth less than the paper they're
printed on, this being email and all...
From 1973 through the mid nineties, I had a 58/1.4 and a 2x
teleconverter. My "zoom lens" was to raise the head of the enlarger.
As such, I've never considered the initial exposure to be the final
product, and for me, the final product is what matters, not how many
shots I need to take, or what I have to do in post processing to get there.
In theory, filling the frame with exactly what you need and not cropping
will give you the very best image possible. However, with my K-1, even
if I throw away half the area of the image, I'm still left with an 18MP
APS sized chunk of sensor that I can take from any place in the image.
If I am shooting a landscape, still life, or some other static image,
I'll do my best to frame things exactly. However, if I'm shooting
dancing, martial arts or some other very dynamic scene, I will often
shoot loose and crop tight. It is my experience that I lose far fewer
photos from a slight loss of resolution than I do because just as I
pressed the trigger someone stuck their hand, foot, or even their head
outside of the frame that I'm shooting.
This may not be true for better photographers than I, but I have found
that very few of my photos cannot be made better by cropping. There is
an initial tendency, to put as many good things as possible into the
picture, however I find that what works best is to take out as much as
possible that isn't great.
Another advantage of cropping is that it gives you an opportunity to go
back, try different compositions, learn from what works, and in theory
get better at seeing that final composition before you take your next
set of photos.
So, cropping in post isn't good or bad, it's a tool. Relying on cropping
may not always be the best tool when taking photos, but it may be the
tool you need to get a great photo out of a good exposure.
The proof is in the prints, not the proofs.
--
Larry Colen [email protected] (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
[email protected]
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
