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Cropping Definition:
Trimming off or omitting parts of a picture during preparation in order to improve the composition of the final image.

For most people cropping is an afterthought if it is thought of at all, but properly used it can have a dramatic effect. Cropping can transform an ordinary picture into an extraordinary image. It can turn an image defect into a compositional asset.

And so I say unto you, my fellow DPCers, "Ask not what you can do for good cropping; Ask, what good cropping can do for you!"

Ordinarily, cropping is used to accomplish these main goals:

• Remove unwanted or distracting elements

• Trim for the Rule of Thirds or for other compositional reasons

• Crop to set a proper image aspect ratio for printing

• Square an image after it has been rotated

Photographers will tell you that most compositional issues can be avoided if you frame your image properly when shooting it in the first place. This is true and you should always try to do so. However, for one reason or another, this is not always possible.

Take butterfly photography for example. With my camera I have to be less than two inches from the butterfly to get a good macro capture. During my first photo shoot I discovered butterflies are lousy models. Lenses make them nervous. To help a model relax the photographer often resorts to humor. So I told the butterfly a couple dirty chrysalis jokes but it did not help. He muttered a specific location where I might shove my camera lens as he flew away.

Original Untouched Image

This is the best picture I could get of my fluttery friend.

At first I was very disappointed. The butterfly wings were not all in the frame. The depth of field is so shallow that major portions of the butterfly, especially the wings, were ruined. I like my butterflies in sharp focus. Actually, I'm lucky to get anything at all before they dart off. Butterfly photography is hit and miss. They are generally hand held macros set at a relatively fast shutter speed with wide open lenses so therefore have shallow depth of field. You don't get second chances. Mostly you just chase them around a lot.

But looked at more carefully this image has real possibilities. The main body and head of the Julia are in good focus.

In particular, it has some nice hairs that stand out against a light blue background. That is the focal point for a great composition if I ever saw one. :)

Image after Post-Processing

So off I go to apply a little Photoshop magic for initial image preparation.

Voila! Now it is starting to look a little better.

Color and contrast got adjusted. Red is over saturated to bring out that little detail. A 50% grayscale layer is added to apply a little dodging and burning to the foreground flower and for some image highlighting. A little noise reduction in the background is applied. A few tiny distracting elements are cloned out. An annoying bit of digital haloing around the antennae is repaired.

But there are still major problems. The poor focus of the wings and the fact they are not entirely in the frame is a big problem. That is a major defect in butterfly photography. Even after attempting to burn in detail the foreground flower is still washed out and it is a huge distraction.

So what then to do? Cry? No. Crop the heck out of it. That's what.

Image as Submitted for DPC Challenge

In that spirit I quickly trimmed it and this is what was submitted for a DPC challenge.

Ordinarily that would be the end of the story and this tutorial would never have been written.

However, as Dave Barry would say, alert DPCer TerryGee was quick to point out that the image was still not cropped properly. I thought, "What are you talking about? Of course it is cropped properly. I did it myself!". But she has an uncanny sense for composition so I reluctantly listened to her.

Besides, I had another ulterior motive to crop the image for 16 X 20 framing for printing. I had not done that. TerryGee correctly pointed out that the whole top of the frame was unnecessary in the composition. She was right. Not only that, but it fit right in perfectly with my need for printing.

Finished Image

Here you have it. The final product.

By this time I have cropped a lot out of the picture. The price paid for that is some loss of detail, but the gains are amazing.

• The butterfly's head with all those wonderful little hairy things are highlighted exactly in the center of the frame. It is where the eye is naturally directed.

• There is something of interest in every part of the image without any wasted space. It is a compact, efficient framing of the butterfly body.

• The most annoying parts of the foreground flower have been almost completely eliminated.

• Lastly, and this is the best part, the remaining shallow depth of field that surrounds the central body of the butterfly actually directs the human eye inward to the center where the really interesting stuff is. An image defect has now been turned into a compositional asset.

That, my friends, is what good cropping is all about.

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