How to Crop a Picture

How to Crop a Picture to Focus Viewers’ Attention on Your Subject

The challenge that you’ll inevitably face in event photography is that you need to snap the right moment at the right time no matter where you are.

You might be standing at a distance, and you won’t be able to get closer to the subject not because there are barriers or anything, but because the moment is happening right now, right this second, and if you don’t press the shutter button, you’ll miss it. In addition to that, some people can get nervous, tense and more closed-off when they notice that the camera is pointed at them.

Therefore, if you want to capture moments filled with genuine emotions, you’ll need to be a bit away from your subjects; kind of like wild-life photographers.

Surely, you can get a medium or even a super telephoto lens that will allow you to get really close to your subjects while being far away from them physically. But there’s a catch. Telephoto lenses are great for wildlife photography, because the chances of lions asking you for a group photo are relatively low. Meanwhile, at events, you will need to take group photos; and trying to do that with a telephoto lens can pose quite a challenge. Therefore, a zoom-lens like 24 –105mm would be perfect for event photography as you’ll be able to shoot a portrait from a bit of a distance as well as take images of relatively big groups of people.

But sometimes the focal length of 105mm might not be enough.

Surely, you can have a standard zoom-lens and a telephoto lens and switch between them. But events tend to be quite hectic and fast-paced. You need to be ready to take images at any given moment, which is why there might not be enough time for you to switch from one lens to another; otherwise, you might end up missing an important moment.

Which is why it might be better for you to stick to a lens that gives you more flexibility, and if you can’t get closer to your subject, you can fix that with the help of cropping.

Here's an image from an event I had to shoot. I could get closer to my subjects physically, but had I done that, I wouldn’t have captured this moment. The original image is not that bad, per say. You get a sense of the atmosphere, and thanks to the sunlight shining on one of the girls’ faces, making it the brightest spot in the entire image, your eyes go to it first.

However, there are still quite a few distracting elements; like the guys on the left or the empty space on the right.

Here’s the cropped version of the picture. The image is no longer landscape-oriented because I used the “4:5” aspect ratio, which is the ratio for portrait post on Instagram. This way, the photo will take up more space on a phone’s screen and grab more attention.

As you can see, now there are no distractions – no guys on the left or empty space on the right. The people in the background convey the atmosphere and show that this was a big event. Yet, now, all the focus is on these two happy girls. This cropped picture is much stronger and more emotionally-charged than the original, isn’t it?

How to Crop a Picture to Find a Balance

One of the greatest benefits of studio photography is that you don’t really need to rush anywhere. You control the light, the environment, the model, everything. You can come closer, if you need to. You can ask the model to take a step forward or a step back. You can direct the model however you want. But even when you have the luxury of being in full control, it’s still possible that after the shoot, you suddenly realize that you’re not fond of how you composed a shot.

This has happened to me before.

Here's one of the portraits I took at a studio. Technically speaking, there’s nothing wrong with it. There are no distractions. There is just enough negative space around the subject, so it doesn’t feel like it’s squeezed into the frame. You can see the jacket with its shiny rhinestones clearly. The original image doesn’t really feel all that awkward. But cropping can make it a little more balanced.

In the cropped version, the focus is on the model’s face. Since her head is turned slightly to the side and there’s some motion blur, I decided to leave more empty space in the direction that she’s looking at. It creates a more balanced image with a sense of movement, and it makes you wonder what is outside of the frame. The cropped version of the picture is not only more balanced, but more visually engaging, too.

How to Crop a Picture to Try New Format

Street photography can be a little less hectic than event photography, and there might be enough time for you to get closer to the subject. More to that, sometimes, you might find a great spot, compose your shot, then wait for someone to walk into your frame because that’s your missing piece of the puzzle.

However, in street photography, there might be a time when it’s physically impossible to get closer to the scene, and you don’t have a telephote lens that can produce the shot you want.

For instance, I took this photo on a Sunday morning. It was around 6 am. That man was standing pretty still, and I don’t think he would’ve walked away if I wanted to get any closer. The problem was that – I couldn’t. I was standing on the other side of the river, right by the railing, and all I had was my 24 –105 mm lens. I shot this image at 105 mm, which was the closest I could get. I knew I’d have to crop this picture to get a better composition.

I have to admit that initially, I wanted to crop it with the “4:5” aspect ratio to post it on Instagram. Like this:

But then something prompted me to try out the “1:1” aspect ratio. The square framing creates a more visually engaging and impactful image due to the fact that there are a lot of square and rectangular elements in the shot. Plus, the silhouette of the man is much more prominent in the square-shaped version than in the “4:5” one. And I can still post it on Instagram!

It’s important to experiment with different ways of cropping as you might stumble upon an aspect ratio that works much better for your picture than what you had in mind originally.

In Conclusion

Some people avoid cropping, because they are worried that they won’t have images of good quality afterwards. And yes, such a possibility exists. But all you need to do is to crop images of high-resolution. This way, even after cropping a picture, you will still be able to share it on social media or even print them.

Naturally, you should compose your photos the best way you can when you’re taking them. But if that’s impossible, remember that you can always fix your shot and improve your composition with the help of cropping.