Cropping part 1

The first image I selected for this exercise is a picture of old gravestones. This subject attracted me as the sun was low outlining the sides and shapes of the stones. I thought this would be suitable for this exercise as the gravestones are spread across the frame, and there may be an opportunity to crop this in various ways to give the subject more impact.

Gravestones original image. Nikon D200 18-70 mm lens at 44mm. 1/45th sec at f/9

I printed this out on A4 paper and also used Lightroom to crop the image in various ways. I noted the following features of the image:-

- the eye is attracted to the shapes of the gravestones which seem to lead into the scene towards the cross which stands above the other gravestones.

- there is light colored tree stump at the top edge of the image in the centre, close to the cross which is a distraction.

- behind the cross to the right, the grass appears rather worn like a footpath. The eye seems to be drawn by this path away from the intended subject of the picture.

- the gravestones on the right hand side are not catching the light and there is little in this side of the image of interest.

- two partial gravestones are included in the left hand foreground which add little to the image.

My first thought was to crop the top and bottom of the frame to remove most of the tree stump at the top and the foreground fragments of gravestone as shown below.

Gravestones: first crop to letterbox

My second idea was crop out the right hand side of the frame and a thin slice from the bottom of resulting in an almost square frame as below.

Gravestones second crop - almost square

I printed out both versions on A4 paper for comparison. I preferred the square crop for several reasons:-

- I did not like the worn grass in the upper right hand side of the letterbox frame, which attracts the eye away from the gravestones.

- Furthermore in the letterbox frame, the top of the cross is very close to the edge of the frame which makes this focal point an uncomfortable place for the eye to rest.

- in the square frame however, the eye is drawn on a diagonal from bottom left to top right.

The eye can rest comfortably on the cross for a few moments. Although the tree stump is visible in the upper corner of the frame, it seems less of a distraction.

- the major graphical elements in the frame are simpler and more ordered.

- small but interesting details are visible in the image, in particular the inscription on the gravestone in the right foreground can be read. Also, two small celtic crosses nicely lit in between the gravestones and the conventional cross are more noticeable.