How much are you willing to crop your photos?? ( Just for fun )

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MorganP

MorganP

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How much are you willing to crop your photos?? I never want to crop my photos and I always try to use the correct lens but as we all know real life is connately changing and unforgiving. For my D500 & D850 I crop different amounts dependent on the resolution and file size. Many things affect the photo quality such as ISO and Quality of light and this changes how I crop.
What are you thoughts?
 
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I try to keep cropping to a minimum, just enough to get the composition right or remove unwanted elements. On a high res image I might crop a bit more aggressively and that will also depend on end use for image (web etc).
 
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In an ideal world and with unlimited funds to purchase the longest lenses we'll never need to crop. Reality is somewhat different. Sometimes I crop so much that the image is too small to print, but it can still look good on a computer monitor for posting in a forum,
 
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When I started with my first camera, an Olympus OM1, I always tried to get my shots right “in camera”, in no small part because I had to. Shooting volume was limited, processing film as a young student was expensive and cropping via enlargements after the fact was rare because it simply cost too much. I am still staggered that in an active session, I can shoot as many pictures as I might have in six months in my youth. I truly believe that keen photographers will try as hard as possible to get it as right as possible in the camera and correct in post as the available technology and megapixels allow.
 
I will try every which way to see if it strengthens my original vision or gives me a new idea. I'll run through 3:2, 4:3, 5:4, 1:1, and try some of the many cropping overlays in Photoshop. I don't think I've ever taken one that was better uncropped!
 
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It really depends on the image. For a low light, high ISO shot, I really don't want to crop it at all. I may do minimal cropping, but heavy crops are out of the question. If the subject was that small in the frame at high ISO, the detail will be overwhelmed by noise.

On the other hand, at lower ISOs it's not as much of an issue, so I'll crop deeper if I have to.

Ideally of course is to keep cropping to a minimum or none at all. The get the maximum quality from your sensor, you need to use the entire thing. In short, the less you crop the better the quality.

Beyond just the sensor though is also subject isolation. The farther back you are, the more DoF and the busier the background. Busy backgrounds destroy subject isolation. So, even if cropping yields an image that technically acceptable, artistically it may be another matter.
 
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Depends on the image, like Steve says. This image is a very large crop and no way was I getting closer. My feet were wet as it was. The action happened quite a ways out and I shot it anyway. When I got home, I saw something I had never seen before, an Osprey trying to steal a menhaden from a cormerant. The shot is so rare I had to keep it even though it was a long way out for the 600 with 1.4 and ISO 800. The D850 file cleaned up well (might try to re-process someday using Topaz Sharpen AI). If it wasn't for the interesting subject, it would have disappeared with a couple of clicks.
168153514.jpg
 
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Rassie said:
In an ideal world and with unlimited funds to purchase the longest lenses we'll never need to crop. Reality is somewhat different. Sometimes I crop so much that the image is too small to print, but it can still look good on a computer monitor for posting in a forum,
Click to expand...

Yep - agree. I'm willing to sacrifice some image technical quality if it results in what I perceive is a more aesthetically pleasing composition.
 
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I normally crop to some extent, whether to tweak the composition or to bring the subject closer. I normally do not crop as much as below, but it worked on this one. Light was good, ISO was only 80 and I was about 40 feet away from subject. I just started playing around with the frame and came up with this. Original frame first, then cropped version. I think it depends totally on original exposure and conditions, and not applicable across the board. Shot with D850 + 200-500 @ 500 mm.

850_5594-2.jpg
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850_5594.jpg
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Steve said:
It really depends on the image. For a low light, high ISO shot, I really don't want to crop it at all. I may do minimal cropping, but heavy crops are out of the question. If the subject was that small in the frame at high ISO, the detail will be overwhelmed by noise.

On the other hand, at lower ISOs it's not as much of an issue, so I'll crop deeper if I have to.

Ideally of course is to keep cropping to a minimum or none at all. The get the maximum quality from your sensor, you need to use the entire thing. In short, the less you crop the better the quality.

Beyond just the sensor though is also subject isolation. The farther back you are, the more DoF and the busier the background. Busy backgrounds destroy subject isolation. So, even if cropping yields an image that technically acceptable, artistically it may be another matter.
Click to expand...
I've been surprised how good resampling software has become. Certainly no match for having the pixels to start with, but quite good. Even Preserve Details 2.0 in Photoshop gives really good results. Sometimes you have to view up close and fix some artifacts here and there.
 
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Crop? Never need it. Always has the correct lens attached, the subject always position it self to fill the frame perfectly and the horizon obeys and is absolutely straight :) ;-)

Nhaaa...
It's a thrill to open an image and experience that the crop was right in the camera (1-5% of my images) and horizon needs to be adjusted less than 1 degree (>80% love built-in virtual horizon). For the crop I try to work backwards, by starting with evaluating how to present the image. Most of mine goes for web, so aim for size that can fill a decent monitor size with a width at 1600-1920 pixels and height up to 1200.
As I have 6k*4k pixels from the camera I can allow for up to 1/3 to be cropped away, given that the light was good. If the light was poorer I prefer to resample and not going near 1:1 pixels wise.
Mostly I like to go close to the core subject.
 
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I asked this very question a while back. For me it really depends on the subject and what I wish to do with the image.

Cropping, how much do you?

Curious on the amount of cropping most amateurs do, particularly with birds or smaller subjects. I know the general idea is to find a way to get closer but unless you're in an environment or situation that's possible or reasonable it's not always possible. I know things like are you going to...
bcgforums.com bcgforums.com
 
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The unstated assumption here is that you are seeking a publish quality photo. Photos are taken for other purposes that may require cropping. I contribute observations to iNturalist, the citizen science project on the internet that seeks to inventory wildlife. Each observation must include at least one photo for identification purposes. To save file space and concentrate on the subject, most of the time I crop the photos, sometimes enlarging the subject 300 percent. The hummingbird photos above show exactly the crop I seek when the subject doesn't fill the frame.
 
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Rassie said:
In an ideal world and with unlimited funds to purchase the longest lenses we'll never need to crop. Reality is somewhat different. Sometimes I crop so much that the image is too small to print, but it can still look good on a computer monitor for posting in a forum,
Click to expand...
ABSOLUTELY! To quote Theoria Apophasis (The Angry Photographer)"EVERYBODY CROPS!" The amount is the killer, or not. We do the best we can, with what we have, and mostly, it turns out well! :cool:
 
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