To crop or not to crop, that is the question

[acb]

I'm in two minds about cropping this some more. Already cropped a bit but I don't mind the DOF going on. Thoughts? Oh and I'm not sure this really classifies as a portrait??





Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 125
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[RLucas]

So far it's a nice picture. Sibling bonding? If it were me, I would crop some off of the right, and bottom. Since they are walking, being in the center of the image makes it look static and less dynamic. Almost confusing. Hope this helps.
Thanks for sharing!

[acb]

Thanks Luke - sister bonding indeed. They love each other to bits. Thank you very much for your suggestions. I agree slightly off centre looks much better. Like this?

[RLucas]

Yes, that is much better! glad to be of some help!

[BigFuzzy]

What Luke said is exactly what I would have said.. now add a VERY slight vignetting and though I'm typically against boosting colors, do it a bit. If you have Lightroom, I'd boost the Vibrance slider.. it's different than the Saturation.. more subtle.

Otherwise, crop wise, it's as good as it's going to get now... unless you do one of those "movie strip" type of thing with the "wide screen" black bars above and below the frame... "Midnight and Venus" is a great example of using that style.. really gives it a "story" vibe to his images.. try it!

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

What Luke said is exactly what I would have said.. now add a VERY slight vignetting and though I'm typically against boosting colors, do it a bit. If you have Lightroom, I'd boost the Vibrance slider.. it's different than the Saturation.. more subtle.

Otherwise, crop wise, it's as good as it's going to get now... unless you do one of those "movie strip" type of thing with the "wide screen" black bars above and below the frame... "Midnight and Venus" is a great example of using that style.. really gives it a "story" vibe to his images.. try it!

You know, I am not usually a fan of letterboxing a photograph, but it could actually work on this image. The crop you did may very well lend itself to that treatment. Heck, give it a try! You could always revert back if you don't like it.

[acb]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

What Luke said is exactly what I would have said.. now add a VERY slight vignetting and though I'm typically against boosting colors, do it a bit. If you have Lightroom, I'd boost the Vibrance slider.. it's different than the Saturation.. more subtle.

Otherwise, crop wise, it's as good as it's going to get now... unless you do one of those "movie strip" type of thing with the "wide screen" black bars above and below the frame... "Midnight and Venus" is a great example of using that style.. really gives it a "story" vibe to his images.. try it!

That sounds like a good idea. I quite like the movie strip style. I have LR 2 so I'll play with the Vibrance tonight. Now you have just made me want to go home early!

[LeeR]

I think there is some misunderstanding about the use of Vibrance. It is a wonderful little tool that allows you to adjust the saturation of an image without touching skin tones.

[BigFuzzy]

I'm not sure where I'm confused on Vibrance. I said only that it's more subtle without having to go into lots of details.

Skin tones are protected, yes. This prevents skin tones from taking on a red or yellow cast.
Highly saturated colors are protected against clipping. This avoids unwanted color shifts and loss of important detail.

So if we're being picky, it doesn't just avoid skin tones.

"Lightroom's Vibrance slider is a more selective version of the Saturation slider. Whereas the Saturation slider increases the saturation of all of the tones in your image, the Vibrance slider limits its saturation boost to primary colors, leaving skin tones and other secondary shades untouched. The result is an image that has what appears to be increased saturation, but without unsightly hue shifts."
Read more: Making sense of Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation in Lightroom 2

[tasmo2]

wow ... I didn't know the difference in Vibrance and Sat! *im still green with newbieness* LOL!

I like the crop that you have now.. it gives the story as others have said. Great suggestion!