Cropping your subject correctly is an important aspect of taking a great portrait. There are different standard portrait lengths: full body, the face and upper part of the body, close up of the face, etc. How do we decide what to leave in frame and what to crop out? I am going to talk about different ways to crop a portrait to make the finished image look more professional, and more pleasing to the eye.
There are two different ways to properly crop an image: in camera, and in post-production. The first method, cropping in camera is the best way of cropping. By cropping in camera you get the full resolution of your camera in your final images. Cropping in camera means that you carefully frame your subjects as you shoot your images, and decide what is in frame and what is out of frame. When you take a picture of a person's face, just the face is in frame, not the whole body to be cropped out later. By doing this, the final image will have the full resolution that your camera has recorded.
Though cropping in camera is the preferred method, there are times when it just isn't possible. This is where cropping in post production comes in handy. Imagine yourself taking pictures of a very quick action at an event, so quick that you do not have time to carefully compose the photo.
Examples of this might be many people fast dancing at the reception, or people jumping to catch the bouquet or garter. This is ok. Just shoot and try to capture the moment, then later you can crop your image with Photoshop or another similar photo editing program. But, as stated earlier, you lose some resolution quality to your final image.
So, now that we know the different methods of cropping, how do we crop correctly? Which parts of the body do we cut off (leave out of frame)? First, lets start with where not to crop. Never crop a human subject at the joints, i.e., do not cut off your subject at the ankles, knees, or waist.
We all know the full length shot, which is the whole body of the subject with nothing cut off, the next type of portrait is the 3/4 length. This is a portrait where you have the subject's thigh as the bottom edge of the photo, and a small space above the subject's head as the upper edge.
Next, there is the head and shoulders length portrait. The bottom edge of the photo in this portrait will be the upper chest of your subject, and again a small space above the head as the limit for the upper edge.
Lastly, and most complicated, there are close ups of the face. Portraits of a subject's face you might have seen online or in print tend to be more artistic, and therefore the rules for cropping are not as rigid. For facial close ups, I suggest you take a look at different examples, and decide which type of cropping goes best with your style of photography.
I hope these tools will give you a better idea of how to crop your subjects at your next event. Best of luck!
There are two different ways to properly crop an image: in camera, and in post-production. The first method, cropping in camera is the best way of cropping. By cropping in camera you get the full resolution of your camera in your final images. Cropping in camera means that you carefully frame your subjects as you shoot your images, and decide what is in frame and what is out of frame. When you take a picture of a person's face, just the face is in frame, not the whole body to be cropped out later. By doing this, the final image will have the full resolution that your camera has recorded.
Though cropping in camera is the preferred method, there are times when it just isn't possible. This is where cropping in post production comes in handy. Imagine yourself taking pictures of a very quick action at an event, so quick that you do not have time to carefully compose the photo.
Examples of this might be many people fast dancing at the reception, or people jumping to catch the bouquet or garter. This is ok. Just shoot and try to capture the moment, then later you can crop your image with Photoshop or another similar photo editing program. But, as stated earlier, you lose some resolution quality to your final image.
So, now that we know the different methods of cropping, how do we crop correctly? Which parts of the body do we cut off (leave out of frame)? First, lets start with where not to crop. Never crop a human subject at the joints, i.e., do not cut off your subject at the ankles, knees, or waist.
We all know the full length shot, which is the whole body of the subject with nothing cut off, the next type of portrait is the 3/4 length. This is a portrait where you have the subject's thigh as the bottom edge of the photo, and a small space above the subject's head as the upper edge.
Next, there is the head and shoulders length portrait. The bottom edge of the photo in this portrait will be the upper chest of your subject, and again a small space above the head as the limit for the upper edge.
Lastly, and most complicated, there are close ups of the face. Portraits of a subject's face you might have seen online or in print tend to be more artistic, and therefore the rules for cropping are not as rigid. For facial close ups, I suggest you take a look at different examples, and decide which type of cropping goes best with your style of photography.
I hope these tools will give you a better idea of how to crop your subjects at your next event. Best of luck!
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the premier Wedding and Commercial Photographers in Costa Rica. Besides commercial and wedding photography, Kevin also specializes in Travel and Cultural Portraits. To see more photo tips click on his blog Costa Rica Photographer Or to see photos of his weddings in Costa Rica, or travel and cultural photography in Central America check out his website Costa Rica Photography. This article, Wedding Photography Tips for Beginners - How to Correctly Crop Your Subject has free reprint rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment