This is a picture from a recent ski trip I took. In this original photo, I am far away from the people on the lift in front of us and we were hanging on the lift for almost 10 minutes while we waited for the wind to die down on top of the mountain. In this original photo, you can see the mountain and the runs on the ground where skiiers and snowboarders ran through on their way down the mountain. You can also see the cables that the lifts are attached to at the edges of the photo, which I think is cool! While there’s nothing techncially wrong with this image, it displays a lot and yet nothing at all. Am I focusing on the ski runs? Am I focusing on the lift? Nature? The composition here is unclear.
In this new version, you can see the focus of this photo is set on the people in the ski lift ahead. These five people are sitting together, waiting to go up the mountain to have some fun. There are three skiiers and two snowboarders. Do these people know each other? Are they meeting for the first time? What are they talking about as they wait for the lift to take them up the mountain? There are so many questions that pop up in my head as I wonder about these mystery people on their way to their next adventure. Whether they know each other or not, they are together.
The person in the middle has their head turned to someone, however it is unclear if they are facing the right or the left. But it seems to me that there are conversations going on this lift, that the focus group is rightfully together. I also like how in this version, you can tell they are going to their next adventure, as you can more clearly see snowboarders and skiiers going down the mountain now in the top left.
Your observation that the original image “displays a lot and yet nothing at all” is a great way to explain the power of cropping! Placing the ski lift in the bottom right of the cropped image was also a good way to create focus and movement in the image – I got a definite upward movement impression when viewing the cropped image more so than in the original. I don’t think it would be possible to achieve the same effect with the ski lift centered elsewhere, like in the upper right third for example. My first inclination is always to center images but this is a good example of how the Rule of Thirds can create a more powerful image and story. And your blog title captures this new emotion perfectly!
Hey Natalie! I have never been to a place where you can ski in the mountains. The image you chose makes me feel I need to go for a skiing trip whenever I get a chance. The image you chose was pretty good on its own I would say the lift just missed the rule of third by a little bit! The image you cropped brings the lift in focus and I was able to see the restlessness going on the lift. I believe the people in the front lift had a story when they got off the lift!
Hi Natalie! The crop on your derivative photo looks really, really good, and it definitely tells much more of a story than your original! The original photo has way too much space at the top (even though I agree that the lines are interesting) and empty space at the bottom. By cropping, you changed the aspect ratio and helped us see the important parts of the image. I like that you put the ski lift in the foreground, while still leaving room for the snowboarders and skiers coming down the hill on the left; that is a really good use of the rule of thirds. I also like that you kept some of the treeline on the far right, as well as the snowy skyline in the background. That gives a sense of where we are and suggests activity, not just a static scene, as the people on the lift disappear into the distance and reappear coming down the hill. The perspective is a little bit confusing, though; it almost looks like the lift is going downhill into the distance and the empty cars are coming back uphill. I wonder if you had left a bit more of the foreground and the treeline on the right whether that might have helped clear up which way is up and which way is down. Still, the important part of the story is the people on the lift, and I agree that they know each other, or are at least getting to know each other as they travel up the mountain. Do you think it’s two parts of the same family, meeting up for the holidays after not seeing each other for a while? It could be one sibling and their partner and kid and another sibling with their partner, or even five complete strangers off to have their adventure together.
I really like that you kept the strong leading lines at the top of the photo to help emphasize that upward movement. Your crop does a good job taking the photo from a general landscape photo to one with a focus. It almost feels like the photographer could know the people on the ski lift in front of them, like a parent taking a picture of their children all together.