Cropping to Highlight Features in Photography

Cropping is a powerful tool that will elevate your photographs.  My awareness of cropping started in college when I took a basic photography class. I was taught to make a small square with my hands and hover around the image to look for areas I wanted to enhance. Today, I continue to use cropping to improve my images.  In the photographs below, you will see examples of how cropping can improve your images. All the images were taken by me, Stacey Chicoine. 

Example 1: Original image with the leg of a person on the side and clutter in the room that can be removed.

Distracting items cropped out to improve the focus on the subjects.

Example 2: Teahupoo wave in Tahiti, showing closer and closer crops of different images.

Example 3: Tropical flower with yellowing leaves.

Imaged cropped to make the flowers the highlight of the image.

Example 4: Cactus showing flowers and surrounding cactus with shadows.

Cropped image highlighting the flower and a portion of the leaf not in a shadow.

Example 5: Sunset with a light spot from my camera. I noticed the spot and backed up knowing I could crop it later.

Cropped image removing the spot and some of the clouds in the sky.

 

I hope these examples have inspired you to use cropping to enhance your photography. For more information, do a Google search of the term “cropping tools for photography” and you will see many examples of tools available today. There are also cropping tools in smartphones.  Take some time to explore, use, and learn to enhance your cropping skills.  Soon you will be able to create more expressive photographs from the images you take. Most of all have fun!   

If you have cropping advice or favorite software, share in the comments.