The image I chose to strategically crop is a beautiful picture of a mother deer and her two fawns. I thought this was a great choice to crop due to the subjects being centered in the frame and the clutter of the scene around them.
By cropping out some of the scene, zooming into the deer and using the rule of thirds to place the subject slightly off center – I created a more dynamic image that clearly displays the deer and her family as the subject of the photo.
I decided to go with a composition rule that is a little more standard instead of pushing the composition in a more adventurous place due to the peaceful horizon of the forest. I wanted to maintain that peaceful feeling through the rule of thirds. I think this compositional rule is easy on the eye and lends itself to this subject matter.
What was at first just a documentation of a moment, through simple cropping, became a dynamic composition that would look lovely hanging on a wall as a work of art.
Julia – it is amazing to see how the image changes with the changes you made, Even with the limbs in the way, it looks better in the way with the second image and does not compete with the main focus of the object/subject. Also, the detail of the doe and occasional colors within the tall grass jump out even more. I think it is interesting that the subject still seems to be somewhat centered as well- yet the focus is pulled to the left more due to your edits, well done. The details are much closer to the viewer on the second and seem more personal just due to the attention you give to zooming in and cropping out some of the excess around the edges.
Hi Julia, I am adding an additional comment on your post in order to get a second comment submitted. For starters, how cute is your blog post title?! Such a fun play on words. I also appreciate the link you included on composition ideas. It gave me some fun ideas to play around with in the future.
Although your cropping choices don’t necessarily change the meaning of the original photo, I agree that your decision to remove the bulk of the tree on the left and some of the tree on the right was a strong choice. I found myself distracted by the tree on the left. The cropping also helped me to notice there are two fawns with the mother. In the initial photo, it is hard to determine if the fawn on the right is an additional deer or part of the mother’s coloring.
As for other ways the image could have been cropped, I wonder if you placed the deer in the top left intersection for the rule of thirds how that would change the image. In your edit, the deer almost seem intrigued by the photographer. However, if they appeared to be farther away, would they come across as more skittish? Overall, great work!
Hi Julia! The title made me chuckle. I do think that in this case other features in the photo are taking the focus away from the deer. I like that you also used a nature photo as I did. I have no more suggestions. This was a great crop!