Saw this last little leaf cluster hanging on to it's empty tree this morning. I had to run outside with my camera and wet hair before the light changed! Only after cropping it did I notice the little bug upside down in the lower left corner. I must have cropped this thing 300 times (ok, not really) before I settled on this but I'm really not sure what I'm doing... it just "felt" right. My thought process was to capture the lone, bare branches in the background and avoid the distant pine trees that kept poking their heads in my shots. It also seemed to fit into the rule of thirds this way which brings me to my question. Do you try to consciously apply the text book guidelines for compositions or do most people just do what "feels right."
i try to stay within the guidelines, but bend them to suit the individual need at hand. in photography, rules are meant to be broken, but you need to know how and when to break them. stay tuned for a future TMIP article on composition... it's in the works.
Photography rules are very individual. I usually pay some attention to the rules of thirds, but mostly I just do what "looks good" to me. Honestly, I believe that if you worry too much about rules in photography you could hurt your creativity. Great photo, I like the colors.
I'm really liking the color of the red against the blue I think about as many guidelines as I can when setting up a shot, check the whole frame for a good balance, and then edit til it feels right.
Rule of thirds is a good one, but like Tim said, not always. Each image is unique. I really try to frame my shots so that there is minimal distraction in the background as well. Angles are important in my opinion as well. See how things look in the viewfinder from down low. Most people don't think to get down on their knees to shoot a photo, let alone their belly or back. When shooting an object think about the different angles in which you could shoot it to make the picture interesting.
It might be an interesting exercise if you posted the full, uncropped version of your photo and invited forum members to crop it in different ways.
Great idea but I dumped 'em. I've been chastising myself for keeping every single shot (original and edits) so, thinking this wasn't really all that important, I dumped 'em. HOWEVER, I have another one that I know needs cropping but couldn't decide what to do with it! It's far too symmetrical in my opinion. I'd love to see what others can do with it. If possible, share a little of your thought processes so we can sort of "get inside your head". **[edit] I just looked at it's too big for viewing but good for cropping. It's under the 500KB limit so I guess I'll leave it as is 'cause it's handy for right-clicking/save as. Tim, let me know if I should do something different. [attachment=1] [This attachment has been purged. Older attachments are purged from time to time to conserve disk space. Please feel free to repost your image.]
I cropped out the top portion of the sky and the bottom grass, where there was nothing to look at anyway. Then I cropped a bit off the right side to get rid of some branches of the third tree. This balances the two trees and makes it super-symmetrical, which isn't a bad thing. Now your eyes are directed between the trees to the lake, where they hit the opposite shore and then go up the little inlet. [This attachment has been purged. Older attachments are purged from time to time to conserve disk space. Please feel free to repost your image.]
