ModClicks

Selective Cropping

One way to add effect to your photo is to selectively crop out a significant part of your photo. Similar to last weeks article were we talked about achieving the rule of thirds through cropping, this time we are going to crop out a large portion of your photo to enhance the focus.

This is a large overhead awning that covered a long corridor. I wanted the focus to be on the strong geometric shapes as well as the contrast with the sky. Instead of shooting from a a wide angle and capturing the entire awning which would result in a snooze of a photo, I moved to the end of the awning, zoomed in and captured the strong edge against the sky. These were shot and edited on an iPhone.

Selective cropping can also help you tell a story.

Here are a few photos I shot to share a glimpse into life with my cat. Her breed in particular (Abyssinian) are most happy when they climb, the higher the better. We feed ours on top of the refrigerator, so a good part of the day I stare at her little fuzzy feet. I love her little lioness like paws.  To capture this I only wanted to show her feet so instead of cropping down a full body shot I physically got very close and cropped with the lens.

This shot captures her feet and more of the refrigerator telling a more complete story and adhering a little more closely to the rule of thirds.

Try highlighting something about your subject by selectively cropping when you shoot. I think my cats eyes are a thing of beauty.

Cropping can bring attention to specific detail about your photo.

To see more examples visit out Flickr Group http://www.flickr.com/groups/ocfamphotospeak/ feel free to join and add photos of your own, who knows they may just be featured here on Modclicks.!

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