Cropping personal change
Often when I take photos I make a terrible, terrible mistake, I frame the photo in the camera, I try to capture the image I want without having to post crop. It isn't a mistake if you know what you are doing but it limits potential later if just a little more space is needed or (what happens to me often) I have to straighten the image and in doing so, clip off vital parts of the image. Remember that I am an amateur that just plays, I don't think that professionals have to worry so much as they likely have a much better eye for it and technical checkpoint habits like, shooting horizon lines straight.
What is a saving grace these days with the latest cameras is that the image resolution is very high meaning that very hard crops are often still possible without losing too much quality or introducing a lot of noise. On top of this, post processing is also much better than once upon a time so corrections can be made to improve an image relatively easily. I use Lightroom mostly for my post as I am pretty terrible with Photoshop.
Cropping an image can completely change the feel and of course use case of an image which allows for a much higher degree of versatility of a single picture. Again, I am no pro when it comes to these things but one doesn't really have to be for a crop, they just have to find a length that they like and a balance they are comfortable with. With the amount of pictures some people (including myself) take these days, it is easy to skip simple things like cropping well, even though it just takes a bit of experimenting.
I was having a look at some images in folders before and came across this one which I remembered was a crop. I like the image, I like the detail, the white space and the offset position.
This is the original:
Quite a different image isn't it? Besides the colour / b&w of course, the entire feel of the image changes and the more dramatic feel of the first is washed away in the second in my opinion. The original image although capturing the moment, doesn't tell much of a story whereas in the second, the added detail can be focused on and a narrative built around it.
For example, if you were looking at the second image alone, what would you write a story about, what would you focus on, what tale would you tell? In the second there are little points that could turn into much larger narratives and, there would be a supporting image for it.
- Large boat out of the water, small boat happily in
- Broken lamp shining a light on the plight of the land-bound ship
Those two points alone could expand out into a much larger story but even though they are present in the full, uncropped image, their potential meaning is lost in the sea of other points of potential interest. It is the reverse of the forest from the trees perspective, sometimes it is better to cut most of the forest from view so that the uniqueness of a tree can tell its story.
I write a lot and over many topics but one of the reasons I am rarely stuck for ideas is that I try to crop the world around me into manageable positions I can better understand and then, tell that narrow story. There is a larger perspective and narrative as well that guides other pieces but facing it all at once means the details required to activate it are much harder to find. What I end up with is a kind of mental patchwork quilt that I hope covers my daily needs suitably enough to manage my life. It isn't always successful but repatching a piece isn't as hard as creating an entire blanket. Don't get me wrong of course, the entire blanket, the forest needs to be reviewed also to make sure that where each piece is pointing has a chance of getting to where I want me to be.
I write this because sometimes I have faced a life where the problems by volume or size seem insurmountable and impossible to overcome and that often turns me passive. Th only way I have been able to ever get out of those positions is to review the over all picture and my intentions and then, crop by crop, chip away with small actions that generally turn into large movements down the track. It isn't a fast process and for some things, has taken many years to grow.
It is a personalised version of think globally act locally I guess where our long-term, personal global position is influenced by the many small movements and decisions we make each day. I wonder how many problems in this world that we face are actually unsolvable and how many are just a process of cropping them into smaller stories to develop upon?
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Sometimes situations that seem insurmountable, when broken into smaller units don't seem quite as intimidating . Your comparison of cropping an image to breaking down an endevour which may require much effort, is a great way to tackle something that otherwise seems to be so cumbersome, completing the task seems impossible. With most undertakings of any substance, to have a game plan going in that has more or less outlined the end result one is looking to acquire, increases the chance of success. Tackling situations by, as you put it, cropping them also allows you to achieve small victories along the way. This in itself provides you with the positive reinforcement required to accomplish the larger task.
Yep. I am a pretty visual person so once I hold a picture of a concept, I am much better at approaching the parts of it. When I was at school I didn't realise how I could do this myself with something like math so, I was not much of a student. If I could go back I think I would be a much more independent learner and even less reliant on teachers.
Breaking it into small parts does mean small victories and, small failures. Small failures are generally not cataclysmic to the overall goal so can be accepted and attempted again more easily.
I've realized I should do more work when taking the photo, because I never get the time to edit photos later.
Yeah. I take way too many in my opinion and have too many to sort. I don't get much time in my office (slash baby room) o edit so I need to learn to be more discerning with the shooting.
Touche. Reminds me of a saying "The best way to bring the big tree down is to keep chopping the little pieces". Once we reduce our problems to small, confrontable portions they are a lot easier to handle
There is also the risk I guess of trying to perfect every piece which can lose the overall goal but I think if like an artist painting one takes steps back often enough, the risk is low.
I'm in the habit of shooting pretty much what I want to see in the finished photo without having to crop heavily. That's because I used to shoot jpeg until very recently and didn't know much about editing. I use Darktable. I'm very slowly starting to get the hang of it but there's a ton to learn still.
giving a little more space will give some additional options. I wouldn't normally shoot expecting to crop so heavily though.
Big problems need big solutions but it they are broken down they become manageble and sometimes you find that certain pieces of the puzzle are fine or help solve the next. I think the importance is to remain calm and have perspective on how to approach the task.
What I am hoping is that through decentralized but connected communities the big probles will have their smaller parts distributed and tackled from numerous sources. Even though each unit might not know what the others are doing, as progress is made it can click together large solutions, very fast.
great articles and good pictures contain useful philosophy. Thank you @tarazkp