Saturday, 9 April 2011

Exercise 14: Cropping

For this exercise I had to select three previously taken photographs and crop them to produce two further versions.  The idea was to find photos within the image and note down why I has chosen that image within the image (This was much harder than I first thought it would be).

Photograph 1: Original

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, 35.0mm, f/4.5, 1/40s, ISO100

I took this photo of the Yarra river and Melbourne sky line. I thought it might be a good place to start with cropping as there are quite a few elements to the photo.

Photograph 1: Crop 1


For this first crop I decided that the bridge and buildings either side were the main focus point so cropped out the river foreground and some sky.

Photograph 1: Crop 2
I liked the red and yellow buoys in the original photograph so I kept them in this crop including the buildings on the right hand side also.  I think this photo works quite well and is another image that works well in the vertical plane.

Photograph 2: Original
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, 24.0mm, f/4.0, 1/20s, ISO800
I took this photo in Melbourne Aquarium and liked the coral.  I thought it might crop into a couple of different images.

Photograph 2: Crop 1
For this first crop I chose to concentrate just on the coral.  I think the shot looks somewhat artificial (It was in a man made aquarium so that isn't that much of a surprise) with little interest.

Photograph 2: Crop 2
I still thought the coral was interesting so wanted to include it.  I extended the crop to include the fish in the background and the large fish left of frame.  I think this photograph works well and is possibly better than the original.

Photograph 3: Original

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, 58.0mm, f/4.0, 1/60s, ISO125
I took this photograph in Melbourne Aquarium and really liked the procession of penguins.  I wasn't sure if this image would crop very well as I couldn't easily see other images within it.

Photograph 3: Crop 1
For this first crop I concentrated on the procession of penguins coming down the ramp. Because of the strange lighting in the background I'm not entirely convinced this photograph works.  The eye is easily distracted by the 'red' light and pattern and it detracts from the focus of the image.

Photograph 3:Crop 2


In the original photograph I liked the emperor penguin in the foreground and the penguin jumping from the ramp. Therefore, I have included both in this crop. I like this photograph and its content.


This short exercise was interesting - to try and find images within photographs and work out the different options available for each. I think the majority of the time I prefer the original composition but see the value in cropping an image to create another.