The first hurdle in shooting a great picture is how to crop your subject in an image. You have probably seen that there are standards for cropping: full body, upper body and face, close ups, etc. How do you decide where exactly in the image to crop? That is, what stays in the finished image and what doesn't? This article is to help you understand the various methods of cropping to make your finished images more professional.
There are two methods to crop a photo: cropping in camera, and cropping in postproduction. The first method, cropping in camera, is the preferred method of cropping, as it takes advantage of your camera's maximum resolution per image. As you take a picture, you decide what to leave in what to leave out by properly framing your subject. So if you want to take a picture of just your subjects face, you are just focusing on the face, not the whole body with the plan of later cropping the picture on the computer. This way your image has the original resolution that your camera recorded.
Sometimes this just isn't possible though, and you will need to use the second method of cropping: cropping in post production. At times you must shoot action shots that are so fast that they don't give you time to properly frame your subject.
People showing off their dance moves at the reception, or the female guests knocking each other over trying to catch the bouquet, or the men bumping each other reaching for the garter are all examples of very fast action where you may not have time to crop in camera. This is alright though. Focus on trying to capture the action as best you can with the knowledge that you will later be able to crop these images on the computer. As you know some resolution will be lost but better that than missing the moment during a fast action sequence.
Now that we have gone over the two different ways to crop a photo we can now move on to how to crop correctly. What do you decide to leave in frame, and what do we crop out of the image? It's easiest to begin with where we shouldn't crop. You should never try to crop a subject at the articulations, that is, the joints, ankles, knees, or waist.
Many are well aware of the full length shot where the subject's entire body is in frame, with a little space left below the feet and above the top of the head. Another type of portrait is the 3/4 length portrait. To compose this portrait have the top of the subject's thigh as the bottom edge, and a bit of space above the head as the top of the image.
Following this is the portrait referred to as the head and shoulder length. This portrait will consist of the bottom edge being the upper chest of the subject, and again the upper edge will be a bit of space above the subject's head.
The last type of portrait is also the most complicated, the close up of the face. As you may have seen in countless fashion magazines or photos online, these portraits for the most part tend to be more artistic. Because of this there are no hard and strict rules for cropping. My advice to you is to study the genre of facial close ups and choose a style of cropping that best suits your photography, and then expand from there.
If you new to wedding photography keep with it! I hope this tip helps you out at your next wedding. Good Luck.
There are two methods to crop a photo: cropping in camera, and cropping in postproduction. The first method, cropping in camera, is the preferred method of cropping, as it takes advantage of your camera's maximum resolution per image. As you take a picture, you decide what to leave in what to leave out by properly framing your subject. So if you want to take a picture of just your subjects face, you are just focusing on the face, not the whole body with the plan of later cropping the picture on the computer. This way your image has the original resolution that your camera recorded.
Sometimes this just isn't possible though, and you will need to use the second method of cropping: cropping in post production. At times you must shoot action shots that are so fast that they don't give you time to properly frame your subject.
People showing off their dance moves at the reception, or the female guests knocking each other over trying to catch the bouquet, or the men bumping each other reaching for the garter are all examples of very fast action where you may not have time to crop in camera. This is alright though. Focus on trying to capture the action as best you can with the knowledge that you will later be able to crop these images on the computer. As you know some resolution will be lost but better that than missing the moment during a fast action sequence.
Now that we have gone over the two different ways to crop a photo we can now move on to how to crop correctly. What do you decide to leave in frame, and what do we crop out of the image? It's easiest to begin with where we shouldn't crop. You should never try to crop a subject at the articulations, that is, the joints, ankles, knees, or waist.
Many are well aware of the full length shot where the subject's entire body is in frame, with a little space left below the feet and above the top of the head. Another type of portrait is the 3/4 length portrait. To compose this portrait have the top of the subject's thigh as the bottom edge, and a bit of space above the head as the top of the image.
Following this is the portrait referred to as the head and shoulder length. This portrait will consist of the bottom edge being the upper chest of the subject, and again the upper edge will be a bit of space above the subject's head.
The last type of portrait is also the most complicated, the close up of the face. As you may have seen in countless fashion magazines or photos online, these portraits for the most part tend to be more artistic. Because of this there are no hard and strict rules for cropping. My advice to you is to study the genre of facial close ups and choose a style of cropping that best suits your photography, and then expand from there.
If you new to wedding photography keep with it! I hope this tip helps you out at your next wedding. Good Luck.
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the foremost 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. Also published at How to Choose Where to Crop Your Photos - Wedding Photography Techniques for Newbies.
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