We Don’t Crop; We Are Photographers

Cropping

“We don’t crop; we are photographers,” might as well be the motto of true practitioners of the craft.

But things don’t always come up roses, and yes, at times we have to crop. What you thought would have been a good composition when you shot it could turn out with a distracting element that you have to crop out. Or the subject in your photograph might need some repositioning to perfectly fit the Rule of Thirds your photography teacher taught you.

Whatever the reason, there really are times when we have to crop. Luckily, our 10- or 12-megapixel cameras allow liberal cropping and still end up with enough resolution to print a 4×6 or even an 8×10.

Was it Robert Capa who said that if your pictures weren’t good enough you were not close enough? He was not shooting digital, of course (and didn’t have the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens).

[Via: EditYourDigitalPhotos.com]
Photo: EditYourDigitalPhotos.com

Published by Chris Malinao

Chris teaches Lightroom as workflow software to photography students at the FPPF, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation. He also teaches smartphone photography.