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How would you crop this photo?

Hosermage

Active member
First, the full uncropped image, titled "Smile":


I'm worried the image is too busy with all the cars and stuff on the street, or it may be too "wide" so that someone may miss the guy in the middle. So I'm thinking about cropping it and therefore enlarging his face. However, I still want to keep some of the street stuff so people can tell that the bus is really in the middle of the traffic.

So here's my attempt:


What do you think? There's a lot of helpful people here, and I admire a lot of you in the forum and love your work, so I want to pose this question: How would you crop it? Feel free to download and modify the original to illustrate your point. Thanks in advance!

A little background on the image... I still carry the M9 with me everywhere, and on my way driving to work, I saw this guy singing/rapping to some songs at the back of the bus. Didn't have two hand to focus, I just set it at F8, framed it, and shot it with one hand, hoping the "F8 and be there" rule will work.
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
I guess I see what attracted you. Unfortunately the image isn't quite sharp enough for such an extreme crop. Plus, it feels cramped. My own personal preference would be to let the smiling face be discovered rather than pasted dead center. I'm sure you can do better than this with your RAW file, but maybe a crop like this could work.

Tim
 

Hosermage

Active member
Here it is.. based on your suggestion... I added some vignette to try to keep the interest on the bus.

 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Yes, like the second version, but would take down the vignetting a bit....it seems too intentional. Great image, David!
 

Hosermage

Active member
Thanks, Ashwin! I've updated the image on my blog to use the lighter vignette, it does look more natural.
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Just a quick note, I'm sure you've already noticed, but you have a fairly dirty sensor there. Nothing personal!

Tim
 

Hosermage

Active member
Haha... yes... I've already taken out the piece of lint caught in the UV filter. The other dots are from my windshield, I think.
 

Hosermage

Active member
Hey, awesome free PP lessons! Here's the latest version, with some dodging and spot removal:



I was surprised to see "teeth whitening" dodge tool in Lightroom :D
 

ShiroKuro

New member


Here's my take on cropping the image ......

My thinking is this .... Letting the elements within the image draw your eye to the man in the van instead of forcing the viewer to see what you want them to see ,you allow them room to explore the image and find the man .
Instead of darkening down the corners of the image to bring the eye to the man, I choose this crop and PP. The left side your eye is led by the white line on the road and then stopped by the back of the truck , directing the viewer back into the image .On the right side the diagonal flow of traffic and telephone lines also lead the eye . The Thai cigar sign also adds to the image . Unlike the left side where the truck acts as a visual obstruction, the right side needs something to catch your eye from wandering off and getting lost in the the image and missing the intention of the photographer .. The guy in the van . I think the sign acts as a small anchoring point .
So thats the crop ....

The other adjustments ....

Darkened the sky to add mood.
Dodge the lines and the wear spot in the road.
Darkening around the man for the purpose of bringing attention to the man. Dodge the bumper on the van .
Sharpen and contrast to the wheelchair symbol to help bring attention to the man sitting in the van .

I did not see a link to the original file so I worked on the jpg.

........and yes your sensor is dirty ; )

Charles
 

250swb

Member
I think Tim nailed a great crop, right size, balance, and B&W removes distractions of colour. The vignetting is horrible in your similar version David. And you do have a very dirty sensor, it needs a wet clean.

Steve
 

Bildifokus

Member

Maybe you think it´s to much PS work, I did a little bit more work than crop? :)
I think it's an effective way to draw your eyes into the image.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Honestly, I would say this one is probably one of those, "almost" images. There is something in it, but it is neither prominent enough or composed compellingly enough to consider it a successful image. I say that not to be petulant, but because people here will rarely say anything negative.That can be great for the overall camaraderie of the forum, but it is not particularly helpful when you are seeking criticism. I do think Tim and Charles's crops are an improvement, but overall I think you would be better off shrugging this one off as a near miss and moving on to taking the next image.
 

Hosermage

Active member
Thanks Stuart, for the honest comment. I know the shot doesn't have enough going for it, but this exercise has taught me quite a bit about what other people considers when they are cropping an image, and that was all I intended. Thanks everyone for their participation!
 

oc garza

New member
I agree with Stuart and again, purely constructive criticism here. A "miss." Crops can help an image, sometimes. But the man's head is just too small to have the prominence it needs to capture the viewers attention. Some images just cannot be "saved".. That is how we learn, that is how we improve our images.
No one, Bresson, friedlander, Winogrand, no one, captures them all perfectly. Learn from it and keep clicking.

OC
 
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