Taking A Picture With The Intent To Crop – Animals

Taking A Picture With The Intent To Crop – Animals

Click On Each Image To Get The Best Result

Sometimes there are times when you can’t get the full picture in without having a lot of space at the bottom of the picture or at the top. Did you know that we actually take certain pictures knowing that we are going to crop it. If you are new to photography, this is something worth knowing and keeping it tucked away in your memory banks. This post refers to animals and you can apply this to any subject and in time we will look at other themes. This post is simply about animals and birds and I’m focusing on animals in Africa.

It could be a single picture of an  animal or of a bird. Depending how close you are, or what lens you have, you can find yourself still with a lot of unwanted space either above the picture or below the main subject or both.

Cropping the picture on purpose can create a totally different feel to the picture. Both Vicki and I do take certain pictures knowing that we are going to crop.

In Africa there are times when you see many animals together and to get them all in you have to be zoomed out. Zooming out of the picture means that you usually end up with a lot of the foreground or the sky in your picture. By keeping the wasted space in your picture it is actually taking the focus away from the main subject.

Below are a few examples where we know what we want in the picture. We know as the picture stands it lacks the punch that we are wanting. Knowing that we are going to crop the photo changes everything. We know as we look in the view finder, before the shutter button is pressed, that the cropped image has already  been taken in our head before we actually take the picture.

Previsualizing the picture before you actually take it is a great skill to have and it all about being aware of what is around you.It will improve your photography in Africa.

No matter how large the group or no matter even if it is a single bird, the concept is the same for both.

Some pictures will stand out to you what needs cropping. These are the images that will most likely lend itself to be cropped. Others may be on the borderline and the best way to work out if it works or not, is to crop the picture and once you have done that, you’ll know if it works for the picture.

With the hippos above, not only does the cropping gives emotion to the picture, but it also highlights the two baboons on the left hand side of the picture. A simple crop can totally change the emotion of the picture.

There are so many more examples I could post but this is enough to show you the effect that a simple crop does to your pictures. There is no right way or wrong way but and it is a personal thing with your pictures. This blog is simply to show you the possibilities of what a simple crop can do for your animal pictures.