Exercise - Cropping.

This exercise is all about taking 3 of my images and then cropping them so as to improve the overall look of the photo.

Photo 1. Harbour scene.

Original untouched version.

Proposed crop

Finished version.

I felt that the sky and the foreground dominated too much of this photo so cropped a lot of it off. The trees to the right were too dark and drew my eye away from the boats and so they were cropped as well. The finished piece encompasses all the features I wanted to capture within the photo.

Editing consisted of the straighten tool and levels in Photoshop elements.

Photo 2. Sailing boats.

Original untouched version.

Proposed crop.

Finished version.

The cropping I did on this photo seemed to be an obvious selection. The subject matter is what's important here and the masts really contrast well against the dark trees in the background so it was just a case of experimenting with crops around the boats until I found something that was pleasing to view. I am extremely happy with the final version.

Editing was straighten tool, levels and brightness/contrast on Photoshop elements.

Photo 3. Stairs

Original untouched version.

Proposed crop.

Finished version.

This last photo was fun. I remember when I took this photo how much I liked the curved banister contrasting against the rigid straight lines of the steps. When it came to cropping this piece I knew that the dark section on the left had to go as it didn't add to the piece in any form. I wasn't overly happy with the light coming through the balustrades at the top so cropped them off also. I decided to crop so the banister swooped from the top left corner to the bottom left corner which really worked for me. 

Editing on this photo consisted of levels and then a slight increase in contrast (Photoshop elements)..