When I photograph, I typically crop my picture in camera. I’ve come to learn this habit does present problems—you are stuck with no place to go when you edit! So while Ritva’s challenge is a stretch for me, it’s something I’ve been trying to work on. I need to give myself more room so I can edit better. Unfortunately, my back injury has prevented me from practicing. This morning was the first time I held my camera in my hand in 3 1/2 months! When I process the pictures, we’ll see how I did. It’s so hard to break a habit!

In the meantime here are my choices for this week’s challenge.

First is a farm machine out in a field. I cropped it in close and processed it in black and white. I think the B&W shows more texture and weathering of the wood.

While stopping for coffee during a photo outing, I saw this gentleman sewing something. He was so intent on what he was doing. He had a face begging to be photographed, and the crop shows the details of aging.

Now we have the bare metal bones of a hot house found at Soil Born Farms, a non-profit urban agriculture and education project. I liked the metal frames as they curved, looking like they are overlapping on the left of the full picture. The metal in the cropped picture looks more jumbled and maybe artistic?

Last, we have a stately palm. The original was photographed so I could capture most of the leaves while accentuating the bark. The cropped version puts the emphasis on the leaves.

Thanks Ritva for pushing me in the right direction. When you post your own response, please remember to use the Lens-Artists tag and link to Ritva’s original and educational post. Next week, Patti will be challenging us, so look for her post. In the meantime, stay safe and be resilient!

If you’d like to join the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.

39 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #385: Unusual Crop”

  1. Anne, I like the crop choices you used in your photos. The farm machinery becomes an excellent choice to show more texture. The same goes for the old man. What a beautiful shot! Your whole gallery is gorgeous.

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  9. I had no idea you could crop the image in-camera. Well, well! You’ve got some great images here, especially the old man sewing, which I really like in both versions. I hope your problems with your back are slowly but surely getting better.

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  11. Great use of cropping 😀 The shot of the old man was excellent anyway but I think the tight crop enhances it further. And the farm machinery really benefits from zooming and converting to monochrome, while the palm tree edit I feel transforms a good shot into a great one!

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  15. First and foremost Anne, so happy to hear you’re able to get back out there! A long road I’m sure. Second your examples are great. My fav is the farm machinery which I love in the cropped version. As for the man – did you ask his permission such that he knew you were photographing him? He’s so intent on his sewing! That was a great get.

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    1. Thanks Tina! No, I didn’t ask permission. It was a public place. I find that if I ask permission, I don’t get a true environmental portrait–they pose. It’s children you need parental permission to photograph. I think you can take the picture, but not publish it without a release. Next week, I’m going to try an hour at the zoo–if it’s not raining. Maybe there will be interesting people in addition to the zoo animals!

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  16. Beautiful work, Anne. The close-up of the man sewing is my favourite, such character in his face, and your crop brings it out so well. I’m glad you’re able to hold your camera again.

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