Going to concerts is one of my favorite past times and now that I am a proper adult with an adult-sized paycheck, I have made it my personal mission to attend concerts for all the bands that teenage Sara’s mother wouldn’t let her go to. Unfortunately, Paramore is still a band that I have not yet been able to see live.
How did we get here? Well, I think I know.
I was jamming out to Paramore on my way home from work. Decode was the last song I listened to before pulling into my garage and turning off my car. When I sat down to write this blog post, the song was still playing in my head so I headed over to Flickr to see what CC images relating to Paramore might be available. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the original image, it feels unfocused and the guitarist is viewed at an awkward angle. So not only is he presented in a way that disserves him, he’s taking focus from the major energy happening in the photo, portrayed by Hayley Williams. I elected to crop the photo to a 1:1 ratio, thereby omitting the guitarist from the photo and emphasizing Hayley. This shifts the focus squarely to Hayley and minimizes the pull of the crowd and the second guitarist on the eye of the viewer. In my cropped version, the crowd and the second guitarist are reduced in prominence to background objects supporting the context of Hayley singing.
Hi Sara, thanks for sharing these images with us! I agree that you removed a lot of visual distractions from the cropping you did. Without the crowd or the additional guitarist, it brings a lot more attention to the woman singing. One thing that may make the image a little more visually interesting is to crop so that the woman is not in the dead center of the image. By pulling her to one side, it could follow the rule of thirds. I would probably place her on the right side of the image since she is facing left so she has space to “move.”
Hi Sara,
I think your decision to crop out the guitarist was a good one, as his placement in the original image was very awkward. I like your emphasis on Hayley, too. The one thing I would add is that I think that she is too centered, which makes her seem somewhat still. To give the image a little more movement, I feel like there should be a different aspect ratio that provides more room in front of Hayley than behind her. Even though she’s not technically moving, it might give her voice a place to “go.”
I hope you get to see Paramore live sometime soon!
Hi, Sara!
I love how you cropped this. I did not know the photo’s original focus, even though I knew it was Paramore. I think it is because of the angle the photo is taken. I noticed the guitarist first, then Hayley, and finally the other guitarist in the background. You even cropped out the cymbals for the drums, “decluttering” even more. Hayley’s hair and energy are fire, and Hayley is in her element, dancing on stage while singing. Nicely done! I hope you can see Paramore live soon!