One of the most important things in taking a great picture is where to crop your subject. In the industry there are certain standards: full length, 3/4 length, close ups, etc. What are the factors for deciding what stays in the photo and what is cropped out? This article is deals with different methods for cropping your images to make your portraits look more professional and more attractive.
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.
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.
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.
Now that it is clear which method of cropping to use at which situation, we can discuss how we decide to leave parts of the subject in frame, while cropping other parts out. To start, DO NOT crop a subject at the joints, i.e., ankles, waist, knees, etc.
You are probably aware of the full length shot, that is, the entire body of your subject with a little bit of space above the head, and below the feet. The next kind of portrait is called the 3/4 length shot. In this type of portrait the thigh of the subject makes the bottom edge of the frame, and a little space above the head of the subject will be the upper frame.
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.
I really hope this article helps you crop your photos at your next wedding. Good luck and keep with it!
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.
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.
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.
Now that it is clear which method of cropping to use at which situation, we can discuss how we decide to leave parts of the subject in frame, while cropping other parts out. To start, DO NOT crop a subject at the joints, i.e., ankles, waist, knees, etc.
You are probably aware of the full length shot, that is, the entire body of your subject with a little bit of space above the head, and below the feet. The next kind of portrait is called the 3/4 length shot. In this type of portrait the thigh of the subject makes the bottom edge of the frame, and a little space above the head of the subject will be the upper frame.
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.
I really hope this article helps you crop your photos at your next wedding. Good luck and keep with it!
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the best known 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, Photography Techniques at Weddings for Novices - Properly Cropping Your Images is available for free reprint.
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