One of the skills that can both help us to improve images we've already taken, and potentially help us to compose better images in the future is cropping. Cropping can be used to remove extraneous or distracting elements from a composition and better focus the viewers attention on the primary subject, or it can be used to "tweak" the position of elements within the scene, or better
balance the composition. Unfortunately, we often get lazy and forget that many well known photographers believe that an "uncropped image is an unfinished image."
Black Angus
Black Angus, cropped
Even if there are no distracting or extraneous elements that need to be removed from the composition, It is very rare that a subject lends itself perfectly to being presented in a 2x3 ratio, or that the elements within a scene are perfectly placed within that 2x3 frame, or that the compositional elements are perfectly balanced across the frame. Cropping can help us turn an average image into an exceptional image by arranging the "whole" of the composition so that it is greater than the sum of its parts. By experimenting with different crops for an image, we can also teach ourselves what "works" and what doesn't work with respect to image composition and balance, and use this knowledge to improve our compositions as we are shooting.
The assignment for the week of 12 - 18 April is "Cropped." Please upload your images to the "Cropped" Album in the Weekly Assignments category of the gallery no-later-than midnight, Mountain Time (GMT -07:00) on Sunday, 18 April 2010. Please upload your uncropped images as well, so that we can compare the versions and see how you have improved the images.
I'll look forward to seeing your images.
Keith
