Pro’s Know this about Cropping, Beginners Don’t! (at least I didn't)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 12 січ 2025
- 🌟Get My FREE 30 Minute Lightroom Essentials Course🌟
markdenneyphot...
In this week’s episode, we discuss what Pro's know about cropping that most Beginners Don't! It seems the popularity with square cropping in the world of landscape photography has become a popular choice once again, but the reasoning as to why a square crop is so appealing is still a bit of a mystery along with the logic as to which type of a crop is best for a particular image. In this video, I break down the answer to all of those questions in order to help you determine the best crop to apply to one of your landscape photos to enhance and compliment the composition you photographed. I hope you enjoyed this week's video and as always thanks so much for watching! - Mark D.
💥VIDEO CHAPTERS
🔘 How the Viewer Sees Your Photo 0:43
🔘 When Do You Use a Square Crop? 5:38
🔘 When Not to Square Crop 10:29
🌟2022 & 2023 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
🔘geni.us/markde...
RECOMMENDED GEAR PAGE
🔘geni.us/myfavo...
📸 MY CAMERAS & LENSES
🔘Big Camera: geni.us/B0sKNO
🔘Video Camera: geni.us/x-t4
🔘Point & Shoot: bhpho.to/3wWKri9
🔘Action Cam: geni.us/oRhupMT
🔘DJI Mavic 3: geni.us/nKRMkt
🔘Fujifilm 23mm: geni.us/23mmprime
🔘Fujifilm 32-64mm: geni.us/midran...
🔘Fujifilm 100-200mm: geni.us/longis...
🔘Wide Lens: geni.us/fuji10-24
🔘Super Long Lens: geni.us/longte...
🧰 MY FILTERS & ACCESSORIES
🔘Best Filter Kit: geni.us/filterkit
🔘Black Mist Filters: geni.us/blackmist
🔘Top Camera Bag: geni.us/favori...
🔘Favorite Tripod: geni.us/rrstripod
🔘2nd Tripod: geni.us/fotopro
🔘Top Ballhead: geni.us/aspenb...
🔘Full Photo Kit: geni.us/photokit
💻 FAVORITE TOOL & SERVICE I USE
🔘TubeBuddy: www.tubebuddy....
📺 WATCH THESE PLAYLISTS NEXT
🔘Composition Tips: geni.us/compos...
🔘Beginners Guide: geni.us/Beginn...
🔘Editing Tutorials: geni.us/Editing
🔘Tips & Tricks: geni.us/Tipsan...
As an affiliate marketer & Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small commission on the above links if you decide to purchase the item at no additional charge to you.
#landscapephotography
*LETS CONNECT*
Newsletter: markdenneyphot...
Instagram: / markdenneyphoto
Facebook: / markdenneyphoto
Twitter: / markdenneyphoto
TikTok: / markdenneyphoto
💥Are you mostly a vertical or horizontal cropper?
I guess it depends on the scene/subject. Normally I crop in camera as much as possible and my post processing crops normally follow the in-camera crop. Having said that, most of my images are horizontally oriented and therefore most of my cropping is probably horizontal...except for my Bob Ross inspired "happy accidents".
But....like Huey Lewis said "It's hip to be square".
Now that I have finished the video, good one. Thanks for sharing this...it is actually a bit of photographic brain food for me. It reminds me that I need to stop and take in the scene in front of me more before taking the photo. Then I can see, or feel, what the scene is communicating to me visually before deciding on how to frame it.
No for my important question. Even though I have lived in Germany for 12 years now (originally from Mississippi), I have to ask an important Thanksgiving question: Dressing or stuffing?
Whatever works with the lines in the photo.
I've changed horizontal to vertical crops, or increased the horizontal crop by going to a more extreme aspect ratio because it increased the flow by removing distractions.
My default is landscape for convenience but more and more when I process I look at 4 x 5 or square as they get rid of "wasted space". Sometimes I back off and take wider shots so I have the option to do landscape or portrait later in post from the same shot.
I tend towards horizontal, since that's generally how I see the world. When I do horizontal, I prefer 3x2 and 16x9. When I do vertical, I almost always go for the 5x4 ratio - it's not square but it's quite close
I often compose my image knowing I will crop, and probably crop 16x9 or 16x10 landscape most frequently. I will use a 3x1 panoramic crop as well. In Portrait orientation I often default to 8x10. I often crop in 1x1 for images that remind me of album cover art. I will use this same ratio when I occasionally post to IG. I have several of the same images cropped in different ratios for different purposes.
As a 87 year old photographer, I was very impressed to see that some images look much better as a square, and some do not. I have never given any thought to this subject before watching this video.
I was about to blow off this video as I was not “getting” the left-to-right, top-to-bottom, long edge discussion. My eyes just didn’t seem do what you were discussing on your sample photos. They tended to start on the brightest, most prominent point and move from there. And then you got into the “adds value” part of the discussion and everything started to make sense.
It’s a psychological thing… the Western mind ‘reads’ images left to right, similar as text - Asian peoples’ eye-movement reading images tend to move right to left due to the traditional manner of writing and reading with the ink-brush - though with more and more English-ized official text versions that is balancing out, too - note the different feel of, for example, a slanted compositional line moving top-left to bottom-right in an image compared to the same image flipped with that line moving too-right to bottom-left !
Our eyes work the same in real time, generally as a landscape. The brain stitches what you see as a panorama hence why a glance misses detail, so your spot on here when viewing images.
One of the main reasons I love your videos is that I learn new ways to think about knowledge I already have, use things I already own. I never come away thinking I need to have another lens, another body, or some other gear or technology to make my photos better. This conversation was really interesting and helps me look at old photos that are just ok and see how I can improve them. When I crop to a square I can then use the “enhance” option in LR and get back some of the resolution I lost in the crop. Thanks again!
Thanks for a really useful and inspiring lesson. Opened my eyes!
Years ago a buddy shot medium format - square film; and would share these on our forum. That got me to explore the 1:1 format a lot more. I was forced to when I dragged out the Rolliflex again (this was a few years ago....cough cough).
Now I tend to use it a fair amount (agility dogs at trials). For me, it forces the eye straight away to the subject. Maybe 10% of the time I'll use 1:1 if a diagonal is very close to 45 degrees. With social media; I have discovered the 16:9 format too, something I didn't have access to (at least mentally) back in the darkroom days. And I agree with you, it's also a great way to crop unwanted details out. :)
Mark, thank you for this video. As someone who struggles with composition and framing of the image this has been really useful. I've never though about the way a person views an image, but after considering this cropping feels easier, or at least the end results are better. I've never used square images until now, but now I looked through some photos from last month and already cropped two square ones.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it!
If you think you struggle with compositon..... Go with it!!!!!!
Listen to nobody.
Let your camera wander wherever you choose, and click the shutter when you see something interesting.
Disregard what anybody else says or does.
They see the world differently from you.
Just shoot stuff.
I fell in love with the 1x1 in studio first but then maybe around November/December I really started utilizing that crop more and fell in love with the freedom in some compositions it provides by doing exactly what you said…getting the eye to circle the subject
Interesting. My eye never starts on an edge, but instead goes straight to any dominant feature near the centre of the photo, regardless of format. Movements after that are as described, though. And I certainly agree that a square crop is often worth considering.
I'd never thought about cropping that way - thank you!
Thank you for your comments. I went back to several photographs I had shot previously but rejected because I just wasn't satisfied with the way they turned out. I put a square crop on them which cut out the distracting clutter and they really started to pop.
I would LOVE to see more videos like this! I love how you explained why it works and why it wouldn't work. I normally just go by the looks of it, but I am definitely going to use the tips that you have provided. I've never seen a video really explaining the square crop. Please do more of these compositional type of videos. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Fantastic to hear you enjoyed it Brandon!
It's fun to try to shoot in a square format (i.e. set your camera to 1 x 1). Really makes you seek out the balanced compositions.
Thanks! I'll think about that. I'm not a fan o square crops but have used them when I've got a clear dominant central focus.
Your video opens our eyes to “ there’s more than one way of doing things”
Great advice! Thanks for the information, I very quickly found 3 recent photographs that I cropped into a square format and it made a big difference. I definitely noticed how much less my eyes wondered to areas of the photo that were far less interesting by eliminating areas that were only there to balance out the photo, and keep my main subject from being cut off at the edges. I will definitely be using this alot more.
Great info and explanations. The back/forth with different formats was very helpful. Also, the concept of left/right or top/bottom flow etc was enlightening. Thank you.
Thanks for another excellent presentation, Mark. I’ve been thinking about and playing with square crops a lot recently and your video very helpfully articulated what I’ve been working towards.
Mark, enjoyed this discussion. I have fixated less on the fixed crop ratio and usually crop 'unconstrained'. Now thinking about this and reviewing some recent edits, I realize that I am intuitively doing what you are discussing. Typically single items and symmetrical compositions result in 1:1 or close to it. Landscape generally requires edge to edge with leading lines--leading your eye and are more likely 4:3 or even wider. Good to put it into perspective and have a reason to think about. Thank you.
New subscriber now! Amazing video. Thank you for this square cropping explanation AND composition in general. Very helpful.
I often crop to square. Now I have a better understanding on why I choose it. Thank you.
I’ve recently been thinking about trying square crop on some of my photos. It was nice to get some guidance on what works best and what to look for when picking candidates,
I was really surprised how much a difference the 1:1 crop made on the iceberg photo. I'll definitely will be looking for 1:1 crop opportunities.
Wow! The visual psychology of cropping and composition, or, what our eyes are drawn to and how we see images. This is such a useful video Mark. It makes me want to go back to shooting 120 (6x6) medium format. On another note, since my old Bronica days lately I have been shooting a Canon R5. With this camera it is possible to select a 1:1 format, meaning that is what you see in the view finder. It forces you to compose within that constraint in camera. You can in fact toggle between full frame, 1:1, 4:3, 16:9 and 1.6x apsc. More and more I find myself composing in 1:1 aspect ratio. Again...great piece on how we see photographs. I shall share to all my photography friends.
Great discussion Mark. Definitely helpful information. I've framed in several formats for many of the reasons you spoke about, distractions, space constraints, etc. I usually picked the format that looks the best to my eye, but didn't understand the reasons why one format was more pleasing than another. Now I do, thank you!
Super interesting video. Those concepts were something I had never considered. Thank you, great video!
Interesting. I like the way you decide based on "does it add value to the photo?". Therefore, if it adds value, then keep the rectangular format, and if not, try a square crop and position it to exclude what does not add value, and keep what does add value. Regarding how one's eye moves around a photo, I think I must come from ancestors who were hunters/warriors, because my eye goes straight to the most important thing in the photo, (perhaps with my brain deciding if it is prey or a threat), and if it is neither, then my eye leisurely wanders around the rest of the photo. Thanks for a thought provoking video.
Probably 99% of my photographs are in landscape mode; I hardly ever used portrait mode (I started after watching several of your videos). After this particular video, I went back to my Lightroom and tinkered with a 1:1 crop of a wet leaf I photographed a couple years ago and I have to say I love the way it looks in the square crop! Like you pointed out, there was just a lot of dead (literally, as in dead leaves! LOL) and even though I loved the burst of green, there was something that just seemed...not right about it. The square crop was exactly what it needed to bring the focus squarely (hahaha Didja catch that? LOL) onto the burst of green in the photo. Always enjoy your videos, Mark, and as always, thanks for taking time to invest in the rest of us!
I used to have a Mamiya TLR which of course shot 6x6 square images. Sometimes I liked the effect and sometimes not. Since migrating to digital, too many of my images are horizontal rectangles and I have to remind myself to shoot verticals as well. So I pretty much forgot the square format. Thanks to you and your video I am motivated to try more thinking square. Lightroom makes this so easy, too.
Thought provoking Mark. I definitely think there is a place for 1:1 crops but have to say they are my least used crop, I'm much more of a 16:9 shooter. I tend to use 1:1 mostly for 'fine art' images or shooting patterns in sand/rocks etc. I tend to find they are over used for my taste by some of the people on UA-cam who seem to give the impression they are more artistic because they frequently crop to 1:1. What I have been doing more of is 65:24 crops to simulate the Fuji crop mode. I find that can work better than 16:9 for some scenes esp woodland. I'll just stress I do think there are cases where 1:1 feels right (to me) but not my favourite...our eyes and brain are more designed to work in landscape imo.
Very interesting and thought provoking. Thank you for sharing this one Mark. Well done.
Happy to do it John!
Thanks for the tips. I wonder if you would consider doing a video on what to do with your photos after post processing? Some examples .... choosing the mat size and color. Preparing for photo contests. To have the photo framed or not. And some ideas even out of the contest arena such as how to market your work. Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your ideas.
Great video Mark. I always learn so much from your videos. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family .
I’ll try cropping for different media. It doesn’t always work. But sometimes it does, so I’m not afraid to try. Many times there doesn’t seem to be good alternative crop composition. But perhaps you can go back and look at some other shots you skipped over for the first pass.
I have started experimenting with both a square crop and a 16x9. I am finding that I really like the 16x9 crop in a lot of instances lately. Although, I have found a 1x1 can really make a difference too!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanx so much Mark for helping to me to learn and see another aspect of photography that I had no clue about ( I’m a newbie). I just learn’t so much. I love your videos, simple and the way you explain things, I love 🤩 you are one of my favourite 😍
I enjoyed this video Mark. I found it very helpful regarding square crop. I never do that but I do like a square crop, just didn't know when it would be beneficial. I have a few images that I am going to try that on as I think they would suit it. I typically shoot horizontal and sometimes vertical. I sometimes take one of each to see how what works best.
Very interesting content, thanks! My favorite cop is 4x5 vertical so not quite square but close. Makes me wonder why I like it so much.
Very thought provoking video Mark. Never really used square crops, but will definitely have a play with them now.
Glad you think so Paul!
Such great information Mark. I'm a regular viewer of Thomas Heaton and he is loves his square crop, and I always liked the result but I never quite understood when choosing a square crop was preferable. You have really provided great insight for me, into the thought process. Thanks so much
Very thoughtful perspective which I’ve used however didn’t understand why. You continue to educate me. Thank you.
Hope you aren’t impacted by the power outage, and sleeping in the Sprinter.
Square cropping is great for single items too.
I picture a lot of macro flowers & sometimes birds; square cropping is great for that (as the excess background is usually blurred anyways)
great vid as usual, thanks Mark
Thanks so much!
This an interesting choice. I shoot full frame but when cropping or shooting in a portrait format, instead of the 4x3 ratio, I prefer using 5x4 as this isn't too tall, but almost square.
Excellent video Mark and something that I have never thought of before. Time to review some old shots 🙂
Maybe is just me but usually my eyes don't go to the left or right. In most cases I look at the center and move from there unless the focus in the pic is purposefully placed very close to a border or corner. Vertically yes, I agree. Thanks for a really good Video though!
Thank you an interesting vlog. I always believe the eye will follow the route you intended, if you get your composition right. If the first 2 landscape images you showed had been of the tree trunk and the waterfall I am sure my eye would have travelled from the bottom to the top. Agree about the empty space that is where I do use yhe square crop more.
There is one benefit in using a crop sensor and that is you only use the best part of the lens. The outer edges of any lens is where focus, coronal aberrations and optical distortions are most prevalent. I choose a lens that is in the range I want, then set my position up from what I can see in the monitor. A bit forward or back, either for the subject or the tripod/camera.
Excellent tutorial. Quite a bit to think about. Many thanks!
I tend to do some cropping in camera... as do most people when taking a picture. I remember using cameras that were always in a square format. I liked the 35mm so I could choose and make it fit my view. To me, this is what makes the photo yours... making it fit your view of the shot. I always enjoy your videos because I learn something every time. Thanks for your work!
Thanks a million Mark!
Lovely images and a very useful video. It gave me lots to think about. Well done. And to answer your question, I tend to take more travel/landscapes and usually keep those horizontal. I like square crops for close-ups and details.
thank you Mark for this great video
Good analysis of the different formats. I try square often and you have highlighted why it may not be working for me. It was a sense of not feeling right which i better understand why.
Nice explainer Mark! I love the 1-1 ratio, i mainly use it to centralize a specific object in the image. Thank you for pointing out the horizontal and vertical aspects as well, learned allot!
Thanks, Mark, for sharing this info and not only explaining how the eye views things but also how to make images more interesting and artistic. Great stuff!!
I like the way you present your videos and the way you teach - you have a humble way of teaching and explaining things. But one of the key things I noticed is that you don’t use jump cuts like most UA-cam creators. 👏🏼 it makes the video more comfortable to watch.
I enjoy your video's and look forward to seeing them. You are an excellent educator. The one image I would question was the iceberg. I have seen several people talk about the image in terms of sky, middle and foreground. The suggestion I have heard the most sky should account for only 1/3 of the image unless it really offers something special. In the iceberg image I did not see any impressive colors or much dynamic range. I wonder if the amount of sky could be reduced by cropping and then do a square crop. I question if the sky ads much value. Just my thought. Again, I enjoy your video's and always learn something from you. I will explore square crops. Thank you !
I like your explanation and appreciate the difference on the dominant edge and use that a lot but although i have seen many experts say that a person looks at a photo from one part of it first and in one case says it should always be from left to right and in some cases will flip a photo to make that happen I personally find I dont look at the photo from one part and then get drawn to the other. I do use leading lines and remove distractions and quite often use a vignette to emphasize a subject but tend to look at a photo as a whole and wonder if it is only photographers who dont do that.
Thanks for this one Mark, need of the hour as I face editing of over a thousand great images right now
Very interesting and clear thoughts. Thank you!
I generally gravitate to three different crop ratios beyond the native 3:2 which would include 1:1. I’ve gotten to the point where I sometimes compose with my favorite aspect ratio of 4:5 in mind. These are likely influences coming from Thomas Heaton.
I'm a big fan of the vertical 4x5. I wish I had a GFX for a closer aspect ratio and more crop latitude, but then I'm rarely making use of the resolution I have now, so I should really crop more.
Great discussion and examples - I will definitely start looking at square cropping in addition to my typical 3x4 or 4x3. Thanks!
Thanks John!
Hi Mark, another really useful video ... thanks for sharing.
Don't worry too much about "where the eyes go" -- unless you are shooting for an ad and what to direct the viewer's eye to the product you are selling! -- Our natural field of view is "landscape format", so other formats can bring a new perspective onto things. Now square format is well for putting the focus onto square or round things ,e.g. faces, a single tree or a vase. Otherwise it might get boring, as it is difficult to get an interesting composition. Either you have too much on the lower or the upper part of the frame (or both). As I sometimes still use my Rollei 6x6 camera I find that I often have to crop pictures into landscape format to get the composition I want. But of course Mark is right: You should definitely try all sorts of formats!
Oh man, I've always been an anti-fan of square cropping until I watched this, and now I'm struggling with an "am... am I the baddy?" moment regarding friends that I've taught to shoot/post-process. You make some excellent points here and I'm definitely going to be re-evaluating my thoughts on the subject - though, I largely shoot events/people, rather than landscapes, so hopefully I've missed fewer good crops than I might otherwise have. I've passed it along to a few folks that I've discussed cropping/framing with as a "hey you should consider this, I may have taught you wrong."
Another excellent video, Mark. I really like you making me think, expand my view of my craft. Thank you! This video struck me as a new, deeper way of looking at my images. In fact, I sent the link to this video to several of my painter friends. Seems to me that anyone who puts art on a medium can benefit from your insight here.
App State! Yay! My niece went there. 😁
There are a number of great advantages to having my Fuji GFX100S, over FF, but the main reason I got it was the ability to Crop pretty substantially and still have plenty of resolution to print large!
Cropping is so underestimated.
When It comes to tips I can count on you! That like button is hit first because i know its beneficial. I was already curious about this studying your Instagram and you always answer my questions! I'm headed to Singapore next week and this will serve me well! Thank you
Yay looks like I've been doing 1 thing right without even knowing. I've experimented with near square crops as well. Not only for profile picture material but also just to make something more pleasing when there's a bunch of "dead" space. And I guess I've also done another thing right with taking landscape photography in portait orientation. Long paths look really well with portrait orientation but I've seen people use landscape orientation and something feels off.
Generally I see clearly what I want before I press the shutter release. That means sometimes a wide panorama is, therefore horizontal, sometimes vertical or even square. Many images (I use a standard 35mm type camera not 6 x 6) are seen as square, which means they are composed with that in mind in the viewfinder, therefore either handled that way in a multiple vertical panorama (for perspective control) or cropped square ultimately. We see, cameras don't see. It was an interesting question to ask and well presented.
Very interesting video, thank you. I feel like my eye goes straight to the center (or a most prominent part) without wandering, maybe I'm just suuuper lazy 😂 I'm a fan of 4x5 or 4x3 in landscapes and use 1x1 only in closeup/macro photography, but I definitely now feel inspired to experiment more with square crops in landscapes.
Great vid! Cropping is a skill and is an important tool for a photographer. You made some great points. I've always avoided 1:1 crops before, but will try it out moving forward.
Thanks Norman!
Once again a great video Mark, I’m mainly a horizontal cropper due to the type of composition. My recent subjects being seascape views bays, and distant mountain views. Following on from your video, I am looking differently at the subjects. We tend to be fixated into either portrait or landscape, and it can be hard to change. So your examples help to think outside of the box so as to speak. Much appreciated, Mark.
This is great. Wish there were more videos about composition & general theory.
Excellent video and subject Mark! There is something special about square cropped images. I’ve been doing more of them myself.
Thanks so much Patricia! Hope you’re doing well!
Hello. It's very good explanation. Thank you so much for this video.
Another great video. Thank you! Could you do a video on how to and why you would crop in your camera rather than in post?
A very informative video. I started doing some square crops about 6 months ago but they were mostly wildlife and flower shots. There's good food for thought in your reasoning and something I'll keep in mind as I both compose and edit.
Thanks for checking it out Dennis!
Thanks Mark. Your videos help me to improve my skills in each videos. Thank you for sharing tips 😊😊
Love hearing this!
Great tutorial. Thanks so much!
Thanks a lot for that video - it is very helpful for me to improve my work!
Great presentation! Many thanks!!🙏🙏😊
Very interesting and great examples!! Thanks!!
Thank you!
Thanks so much, I just learned something new! I really appreciate your Vlogs. 😊
Very interesting. How do you go about deciding on a non-standard aspect ratio for rectangular crops? I usually try to keep the original ratio as shot, but if that includes something I don't want or loses something I do then I resort to odd sizing. All well and good until you want to print it on a standard canvas. I just tried a couple where I compensated using aspect settings in the transform module to bring it back to a standard size and it didn't quite work as hoped.
Another really useful concept and presentation Mark. Thanks
Thanks Richard!
Thank you for another great vid; I always learn so much from you.
Thanks so much!
Great video, Mark! Great points made throughout the video. I think that cropping is something we all occasionally omit from our workflow, but it certainly is just as important as any other aspect. I have not tried the 1 -1 crop on anything but see its usefulness here, thanks for sharing your insight!
I've been using a square crop for a bit now. I dig it for a lot of different photos...
gorgeous photos as always, Mark!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for this video. I needed this understanding.
Great high value video as usual Mark. I will certainly review some older images with a view to making a square crop and see if there is any noticeable enhancement. I wish we had aspen trees in the UK!
Thanks for checking out the video Paul!
A very interesting topic on “best” cropping methods.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you, Mark, great tips to keep in mind.
Glad you this so!
Hey Mark have you tried cloning out the tree behind the mushroom in your photograph?
Mark, outstanding insights, thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I shoot most scenes in both portrait and landscape, making my final decision when I'm doing post. I also like square crops, when it suits the scene. It is nice to have cameras these days with plenty of pixels to allow cropping. In the "old" days, you had to be careful when you captured any scene. I also love 4/5 crops, as opposed to 2/3 that most cameras shoot. It is kind of half way between a traditional rectangular and square crop.
Another fave!