Perspective and the Crop

Original un-cropped image

I enjoy the editing process almost as much as I do getting out and taking the photo. One of my favorite parts, and possibly the part I spend the most time thinking about, is deciding on the composition of the final image. Most of the composition work is done in the field with the camera as I am looking at the subject and thinking about everything that goes into creating the image I am seeing in my head. But, when I get home and get the image on the computer, I have a lot more choices to make in creating that image. I generally start with the composition of the image, or the crop.

As much as I try to get it right in the field, it is always fun to experiment with the image later. What if I changed the format of the image from rectangle to square, or landscape to portrait? What if I highlighted (highlit?)… What if I emphasized a specific part of the image by cropping the image a little differently? The crop can completely change the perspective. Sometimes it is a drastic change, but sometimes it is a subtle change. I spend a lot of time trying different perspectives by playing with different crops. Sometimes there are multiple crops that I like and choosing one over another is difficult. Sometimes there is a single crop that stands out and screams “Pick me! Pick me!”

All the images in this post are different crops from a single photograph. They are not drastically different, but each one has their own subtle charm. Comment and let me know which one is your favorite.