Shutter Sisters

zoom zoom

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I consider myself a full frame photographer. I use my entire view finder when framing my shot not unlike a painter might use a canvas. I use it ALL. But sometimes, you just don’t have the right lens for the job and cropping becomes a must.

When I want to travel light, photographically speaking, I just take my camera body and one lens with me. Usually that lens is my 50mm Compact Macro because in comparison to my more versatile 24-70mm it’s as light as a feather and a whole lot smaller.

Unfortunately, what I’ve found on many occasions is that the 50mm just doesn’t always do a moment justice. Then and only then do I exercise the right to crop like crazy.

Exhibit A: The before AND after:

You tell me, how could I have possibly resisted a really big zoom in?

Do you have a shot that seems to only work with creative cropping? Share your zoom zoom.

Comments

  3. The header on my blog is one I cropped to add to the overall effect. After photographing some teenagers there, I told my husband I wanted a shot of me in the same location. I set the camera, and asked him to stand right where I was and snap a few of me once I got into position. While leaving it as it was would have shown the vastness of the area around me, cropping it made tighter and added some tension to the shot.

    http://giftsofthejourney.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/when-drowning-remember-hope-floats/

  7. This self portrait that I took for Chookooloonks' Beauty of Different project was originally my whole face. I'm new at self-portraiture and framing is challenging for me. I originally got my whole face but I wanted to get closer, so I cropped in and was surprised by how happy I was with the result!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifergandinle/4889532089/

    I love this topic, and the responses so far, because it washes away yet another one of those photography perfection demons that whispers in your ear, "If you don't frame it perfectly when you first take the photo, you are a BAD PHOTOGRAPHER." Boo to that, I say!

  8. I love the zoom shot!! And I love my 50mm as well but usually when I'm out, I'll opt for a lens that offers some kind of zoom. With the fixed position of the 50mm, it can be hard to frame a shot – it's just not a very good "walking lens". But I do love it!

  13. My favorite tool, cropping!

    I love watching city carriage horses, and the people who walk up to them….some pensive, others as if they are greeting an old friend, and of course horse-crazy children brimming with enthusiasm! But the city scape backdrops distracts from the beauty and seems to diminish the presence of this elegant creature. The sun was right, the horse was perfect and here you go:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/humbirdhum/

  15. I shoot with a 20mm pancake lens, and unless I manage to run in fast and get close enough, I crop a good number of my photos. I usually crop my "close-ups", since I can't shoot macro and just can't get quite close enough to delicate subjects. One day I'll have a new camera and/or macro lens and I won't have to crop in anymore….

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-la-mosey/4896270317/

  19. I'm feel the same way as you do – I very rarely crop, but, if the image is good enough, I'd rather crop it than dismiss it. This is the only example I can think of, though I probably have one or two more.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/35014029@N00/4047891390/in/set-72157622544936367/

    I thought I was close enough, but after seeing the image on my screen, the sheep felt too far away. And the detail of the vegetation was getting lost.

    Great example in your post – the action seems much more dynamic with the crop.

  20. Great photo! I love the tighter crop.

    This photo required some cropping. A lot of statues in the Duomo in Florence were placed behind bars, at a distance from the visitors, because so many years of graffiti had nearly destroyed them. I wanted to capture both the age of the centuries-old statue (the chipping and cracking) and the graffiti covering every inch. Because of the bars (and my 50mm lens) I wasn't able to zoom in when shooting and had to do it later, by cropping.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniecourt/4803933074/

  21. I too rarely crop but find I have the most need to crop when I'm shooting a moving target.

    Here's one of the best examples I could find. It's one of my nephew surfing. I cropped out two other surfers and zoomed in as much as I could to capture the look of intensity on his face. I was happy with the result and so was he.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/52055227@N07/4905117100/