Where Should I Crop?

[ShepherdLady]

I took this shot last weekend of my grandniece. We were doing a practice run for her senior portraits. This is another shot that I really loved!

However, I've read that you shouldn't cut off joints. And I've done it with her right hand/fingers. Should I just leave it as is, or crop? If crop, where?


Yes, I shouldn't have done this in the camera but this all is a learning experience for me.

[FotoMike]

For lack of a better phrase it seems to me that you are SOL lol. If you cropped in any closer on the left side it would look kinda weird because then you are chopping off her arm. I really love this shot though. This is a good learning experience...unfortunately lol

[ShepherdLady]

Originally Posted by FotoMike

For lack of a better phrase it seems to me that you are SOL lol. If you cropped in any closer on the left side it would look kinda weird because then you are chopping off her arm. I really love this shot though. This is a good learning experience...unfortunately lol

LOL, I think your right. When I tried different ways to crop it, well heck, it just looked like she was missing an arm.

I guess I was hoping for some magic!

I'm glad you like it, I do too. But I messed up, for sure.

[jdepould]

I think shifting the frame over to the left would work well in this instance. Obviously, you can't do it now, but for future reference. It'll give her some space to reach into, and lend itself nicely to a horizontal image. The right side of the frame isn't doing anything for you really, all that's there is her shoulder, and while it may be nice, it doesn't exactly draw me in.

This looks like an 8x10 crop though.

[trelaflip]

Ya this one is kind of tough. For what you have to work with I think this might be the best. You could crop in closer but it would be a shame to totally remove her hand because her facial expression goes along with the rest of the pose and body language. If that makes sense. Just got off work so I'm a little out of it lol.

[RoyL]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this shot, the tight framing is perfect. Take my word that if you had included the chopped limbs it would not have looked right.

The object is not to get everything in but to have a composition that draws you to the subject and this has been achieved well. Spend some time looking at images in fashion and womens mags and notice the number of images with cut limbs, cropped heads, etc.

And where were all these gorgeous young ladies when I left school.

[trelaflip]

Originally Posted by RoyL

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this shot, the tight framing is perfect. Take my word that if you had included the chopped limbs it would not have looked right.

The object is not to get everything in but to have a composition that draws you to the subject and this has been achieved well. Spend some time looking at images in fashion and womens mags and notice the number of images with cut limbs, cropped heads, etc.

And where were all these gorgeous young ladies when I left school.

As much as chopped limbs and fingers annoy me its very true. Many fashion photos you look at will have chopped limbs.

I was always taught on never to chop the limbs so that pretty much stuck with me.

[agresbach]

i'd agree with the last few comments that i dont find anything wrong with this shot at all. if it had been more of a posed shot indoors or something i could see it being more of an issue. However this to me looks more like a candid moment you caught and it worked really well. cropping it any tighter you'd loose some of the great colors in the background that i think compliment her nicely. May i ask what settings you used for this? (aperture, shutter, etc) good job

[Daoust]

I was gonna say crop the top a smidgen because her hair is a bit poofy, but don't do it if it makes the shot look off kilter.

eta. Your grandneice has beautiful eyelashes.

[PhilD41]

If the photo is really bothering you as it is, you could do a portrait crop. I did a quit one below to see what it might look like. I think it is going to just depend on what you like. It is fine as is, but there are options depending on what you are going for.