Crop Craziness

[NgaiHill]

Originally Posted by autofocus

For those of you around the world who are fortunate not to know what the DMV stands for...it is our Department of Motor Vehicles. amazing what they can do with trained monkeys now a days!

Thanks to shows like CSI, NCIS etc, we all know what DMV is. And AFIS, BOLO.....

[BryanC]

For me, it's the first one, hands down. There's a very symmetrical feeling to your model and pose. The way her face is, straight on, the expression, one side can almost be a mirror image of the other side. The pose of her arms, her outfit, even the way her hair falls on either side suggests symmetry. I think the centered composition continues this feeling and adds to it. It's my feeling that the negative space is as important as the model for what makes this interesting to me. The way it surrounds her. I don't get that from the second crop where a lot of it seems "wasted" and doesn't seem to be an as important part of the image.

I don't get a strong feeling of emotion, one way or another, from the model. I don't mean that in a bad way, either. I think her expression is just about perfect so as to be left open to interpretation by the individual viewer. Add that to the composition with the negative space and it becomes even more so "individually interpreted". Personally, I think this image is one of those images, depending on my mood at any particular time, would be the feeling I would get from it. And that, I believe, is a very cool thing.



I also thought it was interesting that you prefaced this submission by saying, "But look at these two images before reading what I'm asking please as I want them to hit your retinas with no pre-thought." Yes, I'm one of those that think that the "YOU MUST ASK A SPECIFIC QUESTION!" rule can be stupid and stifling a lot of the time.

[Donal]

The first one feels like it has too much empty (negative) space and my eye was drawn around the frame looking for something that wasn't there and the second one seems unbalanced.
Because I'm a dumb newbie, I would have cropped the second image tighter or put something in to off set the imbalance and changed the size of the empty space in the first one to be more of a portrait.

But then I guess I'm not seeing the bigger picture that the more experienced people here will see.
That's a genuine observation and compliment and in no way is it meant to come across as a smart comment.

[JFSanders]

I am not feeling it. Either one. I think it has to do with the massive amounts of negative space. The overall image reminds me of the futuristic movie with all the people walking around in white jump suits in white buildings with white walls. Very antiseptic. Feel free to ignore this comment as I probably need a nap.

Jim

[BigFuzzy]

Haha you guys are NOT making it easy on me. I guess I have to be honest that I went into this thinking I (and you) like the first one with her in the middle more, but was trying to see if the odd cropping of the 2nd worked at all. Apparently it does work.
I'm not sure which I prefer now. haha
And, so you know, one of these is my entry into a montly competition in my local photo club and the theme is "Moods".. so now you have full disclosure.

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Second one for me. When I saw the first, my eyes immediately went to the negative space around her, then settled on her. In the second one, my eyes immediately went to her, and the negative space simply added to the image....

Hmm.. I'm trying to think whether or not I really want her to be the focal point immediately. I like that the negspace becomes relevant, maybe even immediately as I want the viewer to put the negative space into their viewing of the image instead of going straight and only to her her and thinking of it as just another portrait.. but the eyes going away from her immediately might not be good either.

Originally Posted by IABoomer

I prefer the offset one. With the centered one, I'm seeing differences between her left and right sides that I gloss over when she's offset in the frame. I also notice a bit of color difference in the centered one, like the background lighting didn't cover the whole wall.
If I had to assign an emotion to each image, I'd say the centered one feels isolated, while the offset one feels like there's potential there, like she's waiting for something to fill the other side of the frame.

Thanks! Yeah, the centered one needs some more PP on it, definitely, just wanted to get it to you guys quickly.
Interesting what you say about the differences in the left/right side.. though it didn't work with you I like that it felt isolated to you, a bit of what I was going for to be honest.
The whole, "waiting for something to fill the rest of the frame is an interesting concept which is what makes this decision so tough for me now.

Originally Posted by BryanC

For me, it's the first one, hands down. There's a very symmetrical feeling to your model and pose. The way her face is, straight on, the expression, one side can almost be a mirror image of the other side. The pose of her arms, her outfit, even the way her hair falls on either side suggests symmetry. I think the centered composition continues this feeling and adds to it. It's my feeling that the negative space is as important as the model for what makes this interesting to me. The way it surrounds her. I don't get that from the second crop where a lot of it seems "wasted" and doesn't seem to be an as important part of the image.

I don't get a strong feeling of emotion, one way or another, from the model. I don't mean that in a bad way, either. I think her expression is just about perfect so as to be left open to interpretation by the individual viewer. Add that to the composition with the negative space and it becomes even more so "individually interpreted". Personally, I think this image is one of those images, depending on my mood at any particular time, would be the feeling I would get from it. And that, I believe, is a very cool thing.

I also thought it was interesting that you prefaced this submission by saying, "But look at these two images before reading what I'm asking please as I want them to hit your retinas with no pre-thought." Yes, I'm one of those that think that the "YOU MUST ASK A SPECIFIC QUESTION!" rule can be stupid and stifling a lot of the time.

Some interesting points here that i"m glad to hear. I was really liking the symmetry as well, I think it's why I like the 1st over the 2nd in the end.
As for lack of emotion in her, it's exactly what I was going for. I wanted her lack of expression combined with the (hopefully) interesting composition to draw something from the viewer..didn't want to spoon-feed anyone by putting an obviously sad/happy/angry person in the image which I assume 99% of the entries will look like.
And yeah, I wanted people to look at the image first before knowing what I wanted them to look at. This hopefully allowed them to have a personal, and visceral reaction first before 'knowing' what to think/look for.
But I disagree about the 'specific question' thing. It's very relevant for me to have asked a specific question here, I needed specific answers. But I do agree that at times, it's difficult to have one. On the other hand, having a specific question kind of forces one to shoot with an idea in mind instead of always just taking snap shots of something that looks cool/interesting/nice... Keeps me from just snap-shoting away hoping others will tell me what to think.

Originally Posted by Donal

The first one feels like it has too much empty (negative) space and my eye was drawn around the frame looking for something that wasn't there and the second one seems unbalanced.
Because I'm a dumb newbie, I would have cropped the second image tighter or put something in to off set the imbalance and changed the size of the empty space in the first one to be more of a portrait.

But then I guess I'm not seeing the bigger picture that the more experienced people here will see.
That's a genuine observation and compliment and in no way is it meant to come across as a smart comment.

First, your opinion matters no matter how little/much experience you have. Not all viewers of ones images will know anything about photography in this case, I wanted a more emotional response to it as opposed to a technical review/critique.. so your view might be better than many in fact!
I like that the negspace had such an impact, it's why I put it there. The fact that it made you really look at the frame and think about it is also good. Whether or not you really liked it is sometimes irrelevant for me, but you DID think about it.. and that's always good. Thanks!

Originally Posted by JFSanders

I am not feeling it. Either one. I think it has to do with the massive amounts of negative space. The overall image reminds me of the futuristic movie with all the people walking around in white jump suits in white buildings with white walls. Very antiseptic. Feel free to ignore this comment as I probably need a nap.

Jim

Not feeling either is fine, really. I actually thought I'd have more "don't like" it responses to be honest. Very antiseptic.. very interesting indeed. I wanted simplistic so as there wasn't a whole lot of detail detaching from the overall composition in relation to all the negspace.. which clearly didn't work for you, and that's ok. Thanks Jim! Now go take a nap!

Thanks everyone, this has been a really helpful exercise. I'll make my decision tonight and let you all know late Tuesday how it went.

Much appreciated!

[crockny]

The first one struck me more forcefully - I got an immediate sense of isolation. The second one is just uncomfortable somehow ... feels unfinished ...