{"id":37650,"date":"2015-01-27T06:30:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T14:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=37650"},"modified":"2015-01-26T21:19:56","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T05:19:56","slug":"thought-crop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/thought-crop\/","title":{"rendered":"A Thought On Crop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DAMLGAAB0221\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The cropping of an image, the question seems to land at my doorstep a lot since it’s well known, I don’t crop in post. I thought I would repost this post again in trying to answer why I strive for the craftsmanship in the viewfinder before anywhere else.<\/p>\n

It must have been the first or at the most, the second crit at school the very first semester of the very first year. A student put up their image up on the screen and it was this little, itty pity image. I scratched my head, the instructor just stared. He took the slide out of the carrousel and looked at it, it was all taped up with silver tape leaving this little aperture leaving “the subject” only visible. \u00a0All Steve said was, \u201cWhat, you couldn\u2019t have moved closer, changed lenses?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DABBEWE0178\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I seem to have earned quite a reputation for many things, one of them is having a thing against cropping an image in post. So I’ll say this right off the bat so you don’t have to read any further if you don’t want to, what anyone does with their images is strictly up to them! I am not the photo police! But when photographers show me their images and ask for comments, then they will get my comments and when I see an image that has been cropped (yes, I think it\u2019s really easy to see), what screams through my head is, \u201cWhat couldn\u2019t you have moved closer or changes lenses?\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in the day when I started, submitting prints to photo buyers was on its way out, submitting slides was in. Once printing went away and all that was submitted were slides, then composition was still all done in the viewfinder, that was it. There was no cropping to be done in printing, it was all done.<\/p>\n

\"DABKEWV0793\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When sending slides to photo buyers, taking your image and applying the very obvious silver tape to \u201ccrop\u201d the slide in the slide mount stuck out like a sore thumb. I remember one conversation with a photo buyer complaining about a photographer who had done just that, sent in their slides cropped with silver tape. All the photo buyer could say was, \u201cYou have any idea how stuck those images were in the slide page?\u201d \u00a0That wasn\u2019t an impression I would ever want to leave with a photo buyer, slides covered with stickem. I could get right in the viewfinder. So what does that have to do with this day and age and digital?<\/p>\n

Yeah, you can set a preset with the Crop Tool in Photoshop and crop all day long. And unless you make a print 24×30, you probably won\u2019t see any possible quality loss from cropping. So then why do I not crop my images still? It\u2019s just one of those benchmarks I took hold of that signifies a photographer as, a photographer. It goes along with getting the exposure right and the image sharp when you go click. You compose within the viewfinder and get it right when you go click.<\/p>\n

\"DABRSLR0463\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I look at the work of those who I hold in high regards, they too do all their cropping in the viewfinder as well. I\u2019m sure there are a lot more and there\u2019s a reason for that standard. Arranging the elements in the viewfinder so the subject pops and the rest of the elements support the subject while telling the story, well, isn’t that visual story telling? That’s my definition of photography. There are definitely pros and cons to this standard. The pros are the workflow is simpler and faster (important when you\u2019re in the business of selling images) and quality assured. Cons, the biggest one is it makes taking the photo one helluva of a lot more challenging when you know you\u2019ve gotta get it right when you go click. And when you don’t have it, you don’t go click.<\/p>\n

You might have heard I don\u2019t like my images cropped even when they are used editorially. That\u2019s true, I get kinda serious when an photo buyer wants to edit my click. I mean, why buy the photo in the first place if you don\u2019t like it? If you got a copy of my book Captured, rest assured those images aren\u2019t cropped either. I was very blessed in that I had the best in the biz, Jess laying out the book honoring my no cropping request. In those regards, I am totally, completely, out there on my own. I am a nut! And that\u2019s the whole point!<\/p>\n

\"DAMLCSAD1047\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just because that\u2019s my standard, it does not mean a single other photographer has to follow it. But if you ask me about your photo, heads up. It\u2019s my own quest in being a better photographer, to get it right when I go click. I rather love being able to say, \u201cWhat you see is what I saw in the viewfinder\u201d when it comes to the crop (landscape & aviation images are often finished in PS. Wildlife images are not). When you don\u2019t give yourself the option to \u201cfix it in post,\u201d photographers push themselves. This always make a better click and the story telling, the subject, that passion of that click becomes clearer and clearer. We all must find whatever the tools, techniques and personal vision at the camera and the computer that work best for you.\u00a0 For me and my photography, that means using my feet and lens to put in the viewfinder what it is I want to communicate to you the passion I’m feeling at moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cropping of an image, the question seems to land at my doorstep a lot since it’s well known, I don’t crop in post. I thought I would repost this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A Thought On Crop http:\/\/wp.me\/p6YJx-9Ng a ? I'll attempt to answer again @NikonUSA #nikonambassador","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-37650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrp-ed-zone"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"

A Thought On Crop<\/a><\/blockquote>