Composer or Cropper?

[postcardcv]

Originally Posted by robski

So Peter are all your prints 12x18 or 6x9 ?

On the rare occasions I do try to compose in camera I try to leave a bit of slack for those minor tweaks. If I do get them printed they tend to be 7x5 or 10x8

yeah I only offer prints in that ratio - I mainly do 6x9, 8x12 and 12x18, but will do any size print so long as it's a 2:3 ratio. For me I take photos in that ratio and I find cropping into other ratios a real pain as it often doesn't work.

[miketoll]

Seems to be a bit of a divide on the type of photography, my compose in camera as much as possible is for landscape or other essentially fixed subject. When I try action shots, especially birds then its a case of trying to get them sharp and if birds in flight then I have to add trying to get the exposure right too.

[gordon g]

As others have said, to a certain extent it depends on the subject matter - birds, especially in flight, and action sport I will frequently leave myself room to crop, but landscapes or plant life, I far prefer to compose correctly in camera. (That said, I do sometimes compose with a square or 5:4 composition in mind, but in these cases, the crop is preplanned).
Why I do this I'm not quite sure, other than the fact that I enjoy the process of composition, and find I generally produce better images when I have thought about using the whole frame rather than taking an image that has the finished product 'in there somewhere'. But then, in this digital age, I also still try to get as much of the exposure etc right in camera too, so spend some time balancing ND grads etc rather than merging exposures afterwards. The time spent is probably similar, but in general I would rather spend it outside in the landscape than inside at my desk!

[Glenvic]

Me - a bit of both really. Try to compose in camera - rarely fully succeed and end up cropping! As long as I am happy with the image a crop if okay with me.

[Gidders]

Originally Posted by surfg1mp

I really quite anal about this......

If I do crop, i will generally always try to use the shift key, so i keep the aspect ratio.

Originally Posted by postcardcv

I don't like cropping if I can help it but ...

I am a bit obsessive about keeping shots in a 2:3 ratio, when doing paid work I only offer prints of this ratio.

I'm afraid I don't get why you guys insist on having you image dimension dictated to you by you sensor dimensions ... I meant why limit your creative opportunities and have potentially dead space in your images

I will often find myself thinking even at the taking stage that I want to remove some of the uninteresting foreground, and if I move in to do that in camera, then I lose some of the subject matter. So I compose with it all and the crop the image to what ever dimensions work best.

So for example: -

Watchinmg_the_World_Go_By.jpg
I think this image has been improved by removing the blank sky above the bridge and the expanse of boring grass in the foreground

Little_Jo_3085_copy.jpg
Here I've removed some blank wall

Kirkstone-9929-Edit_copy.jpg
Again I've cropped out some uninteresting sky & cluttered foreground

Angie_eyes_3655v2.jpg
Here I think the impact would be totally lost if constrained to 3 x 2

As always just my two penneth

[Al Tee]

Turning out very interesting reading everyone's opinion, viewpoint. Some with a rigid format in mind, others with a more flexible approach. Everyone to their own.

Quite honestly I can further admit, without exaggeration, that a good 70% of my shots are taken without even looking through the viewfinder; SLR or compact; of the last 40 or so that I've posted probably more like 85%. (OK it shows, I know)!

I consider shallow or deep, adjust in AP mode & fire from all sorts of angles. In my opinion that's what the recycle bins for!

Has anyone else tried this approach? Would you try it?

Al.

[gordon g]

I'm afraid I don't get why you guys insist on having you image dimension dictated to you by you sensor dimensions

I understand your point Clive, and on occasion I do the same. But it is much easier sourcing mounts and frames in standard ratios than custom ones. When I get round to doing my own (probably not this side of retirement, so dont hold your breath anyone...) then that might change.

[Birdsnapper]

I go along with Clive 100% (and great images there, Clive).

[Lee]

me ,tend to do both,if i have a specific shot and allow myself the time , then all in camera,but when wandering around and something changes my eye (sometimes in the strangest of places.....) then there will be an element of cropping... as the majority of my shots are handheld think that it would work out at a 70/30 split in favour of cropping...

[Tugboat]

I always have something in mind when I take photos but, I can't see that well in the viewfinder/LCD screen, so I take lots of shots from all angles and its not till I open them up on the computer that I can see what I have and I nearly always crop something, I always crop to what I think makes a good image, mind you I have never printed out anything I have taken yet, things may change as I learn more...my recycle bin gets a good work out!!!!