Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Cropping and Extending
Exercise: Cropping

For this exercise I took 3 photographs from a previous exercise and experimented with different ways of cropping the images.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

By experimenting with different cropping options for a photograph it is sometimes possible to find a more interesting image or one that has more impact within the photograph.

The original photographs along with their final crops are shown below:

4794

4794-B

I cropped the original photograph of this person waiting for a tram in Will Brandt Platz in Frankfurt so as to isolate him from the background.  The subject is typical of the bankers of Frankfurt, checking his email while he waits.

4766

4766-A

I cropped this image of the animated statue in front of the Messe in Frankfurt so as to concentrate on its silhouette.  With less of the background detail the statue is more clearly defined.

4801

4801-A

I cropped this image so as to more closely fit the frame to the subject.  The subject seems to fit the squarer frame shape better.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Frame Shapes and Sizes.
Exercise: Vertical and Horizontal Frames.

I took the photographs for this exercise on a recent trip to the German city of Frankfurt.  I chose 20 separate locations and took a photograph of each of the locations in both vertical and horizontal format.

What did I learn from the exercise?

It is clear that most scenes can be made to work as both a vertical and a horizontal image.  The result may not always suit the subject and may not be quite as successful.  However, it is important not to get into the habit as seeing all images as either vertical or horizontal.

The pairs of images are shown below:

4758

4759

4762

4763

4764

4765

4766

4767

4773

4774

4777

4778

4850

4851

4798

4801

4792

4793

4794

4795

4796

4797

4802

4804

4805

4806

4807

4808

4812

4813

4816

4818

4824

4825

4826

4827

4838

4839

4847

4846

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Dividing The Frame.
Exercise: Positioning the horizon.


For this exercise I found a viewpoint outdoors that gave a reasonably interesting landscape in which there was an unbroken and clear horizon.


I then took a short sequence of 6 photographs in which the horizon was placed at different positions in the frame from the top to the bottom.

7239

 In this photograph the horizon is placed at the top of the frame.  I like this image because it has foreground detail and detail in the middle distance.  The viewer's eye is encouraged to move between the foreground and background of the photograph.

7238

Here the horizon has been placed in the centre of the frame.  This has created quite a static composition.  There is little foreground detail to help with the composition.

7237

In this photograph the horizon has been placed just below the centre of the frame.  This has given greater prominence to the interesting sky.  The cloud formation gives 3 distinct areas of the frame.  This makes a more interesting composition.

7236

Here the horizon is placed approximately one third the frame height from the bottom of the frame.  I find this photograph the most interesting because with the help of the cloud formation, the frame is divided roughly into thirds.

7235

The horizon in this photograph is placed towards the bottom of the frame.  The composition is quite dynamic.  With the sky prominent, it gives the photograph a greater feeling of depth.

7234

Here the horizon is placed at the bottom of the frame.  The sky is very prominent.  As there is little detail below the horizon the resulting composition is not very pleasing.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

A centrally placed division of the frame creates a very static composition.  A higher or lower division will be more dynamic and give the picture a greater feeling of depth.  Adding foreground detail makes the static effect of a centrally placed division less important.