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How to crop photos to add interest
With very little effort, ordinary
photos can be turned into more interesting versions of themselves
simply by how they are cropped. Here are a few ideas to get you
started. Your imagination can take it from there!
This article approaches cropping
strictly from an aesthetic point of view. To learn more about cropping
from a technical standpoint, refer to our article on "How
to optimize images for the web."
The first step in cropping photos
for interest is to look carefully and find the possibilities. Look
into the details of the photo and try to see it from a fresh perspective.
A simple way to do this is to take two paper L's and use them to
find unique cropping possibilities — either on paper prints
as shown above — or right on your computer screen. Yes, it's
old school, but it's easy. You can do the same thing with the Photoshop
cropping tool, but it's easier to concentrate on the photograph,
rather than the technology, using the old school paper croppers.
An example of looking into a
photo to find the possibilities is illustrated in the example below.
It's what you cut away, or crop out, that counts.
The rather boring photo
of the NYC Waldorf-Astoria above is given more energy by
cropping. First, we wanted to cut out the open cab door and
trunk lid, both of which clearly indicate that the cab is
not moving. Interest is enhanced further by cropping the
photo intentionally at an angle (but if you do that, make
sure it's enough of an angle to look intentional and
not just crooked). That cropping alone would add quite a
bit of interest to this shot, but by introducing a little
motion blur to the cabs, it captures more of the movement
of the "city that never sleeps." |
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Cropping head shots
If your website has head shots,
there is an art to cropping them. The photo at the left below is
an example of what not to do. The other two are both good
options, depending on what best fits the design of your site. Whatever
you do, be consistent so that all your head shots look like the
belong on the same site.
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| This
example shows a common mistake: too much headroom. The subject
is a little lost, floating in a lot of extra space in the frame
that should be cropped away. |
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Here
is an example of straightforward, good cropping. There is only
a very minimal amount of headroom, which is what you want.
The proportions are traditional and balanced. |
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This
version is cropped a little tighter, and that enhances the
interest. The face is the dominant part of the frame. The top
of the head is cut off slightly, which is fine. All in all
this is a more intimate view. |
Panoramic
cropping
Cropping photos in a more
extreme horizontal aspect ratio is a very popular and appealing
look. Perhaps it appeals because it mimics the way we see — our
eyes have a lot of peripheral vision, more, it seems, than our
up-and-down view. The original photo at left takes on a lot more
interest when cropped tightly on the people walking. The scene
is not diminished, but rather enhanced, by cutting off the top
and bottom.
Getting it straight
If you're the kind of person
who goes around other people's houses straightening crooked pictures,
then you may agree that one of the most annoying problems with
architectural photos is that they often appear askew. The church
photo at left below seems to tilt to the right slightly, but the
photo on the right appears more "plumb." As with many
building photos, it is hard to get them to appear perfectly straight
since the left sides tend to slant one way and the right sides
slant the other way.
To get visually "plumb
up" a building photo, find a vertical line in the center
of image. In the case of the church, the vertical element
closest to the center was the corner of the steeple (indicated
with the blue guides in the photos below). Rotate the photo until
that vertical element in the center is perfectly vertical, as in
the photo below at the right.
Photoshop
has a very helpful "Ruler Tool" that makes straightening
photos a breeze. Just select the Ruler tool, drag a vertical line
across the centermost vertical element (like the steeple), then
from the main menus select Image > Rotate Canvas
> Arbitrary. This will rotate the photo the exact amount needed
to make the ruler line vertical.
Have fun!
Cropping photos is an art, so
have fun with it. Try variations that compliment the message and
tone of the content of your site, like those below. Just remember,
C4 of the 10 Cs of great web content: cohesive.
Don't introduce cropping or style variations for the sake of doing
it. Be sure you are consistent in your photo treatment throughout
your website.
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