Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
German castles are some of the most unique structures in the world. The ability to carve them into the side of a mountain or bring materials up to a remote mountain peak long before paved roads is certainly impressive. This photo is one example of the engineering feat. Nothing is wrong with the original as I believe the photographer was trying to capture the natural beauty the castle is surrounded by along with demonstrating the shear size of the structure. However, this photo is a lot to process with much detail everywhere. The main structure is centered in the middle of the frame with nothing specific focused on the one third. Also, there is a tourist on the left side of the frame which slightly takes away from the all natural feel.
In my crop, I decided to focus in on the details of the main structure, specifically the high contrast, tall, white lookout tower. This allowed my eyes to easily focus on something in the frame and see closer details of all the other structures. To crop this photo, I used the one third rule emphasizing my focal point on the white tower. This uncenters the photo and also simplifies some of the background as my focus was the tower and not the whole castle. Though you lose the mountain top feel, you can more easily see the large door protecting the castle on the bridge along with the ability to raise that bridge for protection. The ability to view these smaller details was the result of a tighter crop and high resolution photo.
Hi Austin,
First, I’d like to point out that this picture is gorgeous! You were right about the grandiose castles in Germany! The picture is beautiful on it’s own. I think that your attention to detail when cropping gave the audience focus. Using the one third rule definitely helped when trying to focus. Cropping out the jet trail in the sky and the tourist was good. In the first photo it looks like this castle has risen out of a mountain. The second while still beautiful gives us more focus on the actual building itself! Great work!
Hi Austin!
Your post was one of the crops that caught my eye last week! I completely agree with your choice to zoom in on the structure a bit more. The original photo is obviously gorgeous and like you said, captures the larger structure and the nature but the way you’ve cropped it allows the viewer to focus more on the intricate detail of the stone and the elements that make this structure a “home”. The windows, doors, walkway, create more of sense of space where we could see people milling about in the structure. Really great post, and such a good choice of image and crop!
Hello Austin,
Beautiful image! You bring an excellent point in focusing more on the main structure of the castle. In doing this, it changes the narrative and focuses strictly on the castle and its details. You also feel closer to the castle than before. Your image provides multiple ways that this image can be cropped. A suggestion for focusing more on the main structure was cropping out the tree on the left-hand side, and cropping towards the main structure more to create an even more narrow focus of the caste. Excellent job and once again what a beautiful caste!