Cropping Choices

lifeinfocus

Here is the same shot that has been post processed almost exactly the same - except for the crop overlay.

Three crop options: 1. "rule of thirds", 2. "golden spiral", or 3. "golden mean".

The horses eye was used as the intersect point for rule of thirds, sweet spot for the golden spiral and intersection for golden mean.

(BTW, these options are available in LR by selecting crop and then toggling through choices by entering the letter "O" repeatedly.)

Do you have a preference?

"Rule of Thirds" crop



"Golden Spiral" crop



"Golden Mean" crop



Here they are side by side:




Uncropped version.

Juano

I favor the golden spiral, it is more pleasant and also, for some reason, allows to focus better on the horse in the background.

black mamba

Actually, Phil, I'm not too fond of either of the cropped versions. Not seeing the entire horse's head bothers me a bit. I'd be in favor of an additional effort here and go for another crop that included the entire head. I might even consider a square framing to achieve my goals.

Tom

Gatto

Tough angle for a crop, maybe better horse in color and all the rest in B/W....just my 2 cents

lifeinfocus

black mamba wrote: »

Actually, Phil, I'm not too fond of either of the cropped versions. Not seeing the entire horse's head bothers me a bit. I'd be in favor of an additional effort here and go for another crop that included the entire head. I might even consider a square framing to achieve my goals.

Tom

Thanks. I redid it to include "golden mean".

Thoughts?

Phil

lifeinfocus

Gatto wrote: »

Tough angle for a crop, maybe better horse in color and all the rest in B/W....just my 2 cents

Yes it is a tough angle. I thought I would try the three primary crop overlays and see how it worked out.

I added "golden mean" since you first saw the posting.

I regarded making the background B&W (which I have done quite often recently), but in this instance I wanted the background to help put it in context. I did burn the background some to make the brightness and colors less intense.

Thanks for your comments.

Phil

black mamba

lifeinfocus wrote: »

Thanks. I redid it to include "golden mean".

Thoughts?

Phil

Now that's the ticket. I always loved the colors and your basic approach. The " golden mean " crop reels me right in. Good job, Phil.

Tom

Stumblebum

I have a different suggestion Phil. Learned it from one of YOUR comments somewhere and meaning to try, but haven't had a chance.....something about setting shutter to 1/40 and panning.....

Mean-cropping appears best to me.....

But if at night when the lights are going and this horsey is moving....but it is captured relatively sharp with everything else in motion blur and perhaps it also with partial blur, especially lights rotating....I think it would make a good image......would need to try it myself to see how to execute it....

Cheers!

lifeinfocus

Stumblebum wrote: »

I have a different suggestion Phil. Learned it from one of YOUR comments somewhere and meaning to try, but haven't had a chance.....something about setting shutter to 1/40 and panning.....

Mean-cropping appears best to me.....

But if at night when the lights are going and this horsey is moving....but it is captured relatively sharp with everything else in motion blur and perhaps it also with partial blur, especially lights rotating....I think it would make a good image......would need to try it myself to see how to execute it....

Cheers!

Good idea, if the fair was still running, I would go back and try this. Next year! Phil

http://digital-photography-school.com/mastering-panning-to-photograph-moving-subjects/

Richard

It's a tough call, Phil. I think any of the three would work fine, but seeing them all together I tend to favor the golden spiral. The tighter crop makes it more immediate.

lifeinfocus

After all the cropping of full the image, I decided that a mild Gold Mean crop, a slight diagonal to add a little life to it, edit out white highlights, and other LR adjustments was the final composition.

My original crop was way too tight and missed what I liked about the original image. There was no story, no narrative ... Now I think it says - "Come to Fair and enjoy a ride on Lucy"

I think it captures the beauty of the Fair and includes enough of the background to engage the viewer.

I plan on submitting this one to our upcoming camera club Open Salon Competition.

Earache

For the closeup, I like the "golden mean" edit best.
And I agree with your choice to present the last edit - the wider view well conveys the setting/context, but still features Lucy.