Which crop works best?

[Miller85]

I may have only just registered but it seems like there's some keen photography folk here so I figured why not post

Basically, I was at a paintball site on thursday taking pictures. It was a bit of a test shoot as a few of the shots might be used for promotional material - I've been experimenting a little with cropping the pictures.

I tend to be quite orthodox and generally stick with the rule of thirds composition when cropping but paintball is something a little out of the ordinary and more unusual cropping might work better. Maybe...

So, I wondered - which do you think works better?



Or



If any of the shots get used for promotional material then it's likely that they'll need to be unconventional shapes (so as to fit in with the place the pictures used) hence not keeping the photo in a standard 4:3/3:2 ratio.

[digit]

I think the best picture out of the two would be the second one. It has a more immersive feel to it, owning I think to how you can see more of the surrounding area. It would also quite nicely take up a whole page spread in say a leaflet when looked at side on

[Mossy]

Definately the second one with the panoramic feel, with the person in a crouch position keeps focus and gives a better example of actually being there if you understand what I am badly trying to explain lol

[Bobster]

welcome to Hexus

before posting on the www, convert to sRGB pls

if i absolutley had to use this pic for promotional material (would have to be desperate) the 2nd crop gives space to the right for text.. sorry but the shot isn't dynamic enough to be used in promotional litterature etc..

take a wander here to get an idea of how Paintball is shot

[Miller85]

welcome to Hexus

before posting on the www, convert to sRGB pls

if i absolutley had to use this pic for promotional material (would have to be desperate) the 2nd crop gives space to the right for text.. sorry but the shot isn't dynamic enough to be used in promotional litterature etc..

take a wander here to get an idea of how Paintball is shot

Check the EXIF - it's in sRGB

That shot wouldn't be used for literature as it doesn't really fit in with any requirements. It'll probably be popped up on a redone gallery for the site's website.

I've already been through Paintball Photography's gallery - shooting US sport-style paintball is rather different to shooting open woodland gameplay

[Bobster]

i think not baby puppy.. was aRGB look at the difference in Saturation when i convert your file to sRGB and repost

and there is no EXIF

i know theres a difference between Arena Ball and standard Tourney play, i used to be a Marshall and in the top Ameture Team in the UK back in the 90's..

i ment look at the angles the shots are taken, side on shots don't cut the mustard.. have u got a copy of PGI?

[Miller85]

Screenshot of the EXIF:



That looks very much like it says sRGB to me.

The angle isn't the best, but I didn't say it was - I just wanted opinions on which crop suited that sort of photo better, not to be patronised and referred to as a puppy.

As I said, it was a bit of a test shoot to see how the site looked in photos, to see what sort of ideas for photos worked and to have some reference pictures. Oh, and for me to have fun, which I did

[Bobster]

you might have the camera set to sRGB, but, what does vista say about the image you've edited and posted?

sorry u thought i was being patronising, its a quote from a film..

[kasavien]

The second crop seems better to me, it's nicer to see more of the surrounding landsacpe

[Miller85]

you might have the camera set to sRGB, but, what does vista say about the image you've edited and posted?

sorry u thought i was being patronising, its a quote from a film..

Aha, well the only film I recall with reference to dogs in was Beethoven and - well, I try and forget about that

Vista and Photoshop both say it's in sRGB so it's odd if it's saying otherwise for yourself

[Bobster]

are you looking at the file you posted, or the one from your HDD?

ahh u need kids - Cats & Dogs i was refering to..

[Hans Voralberg]

are you looking at the file you posted, or the one from your HDD?

ahh u need kids - Cats & Dogs i was refering to..

Just curious, why should the two be different ??

[Miller85]

Just curious, why should the two be different ??

I imagine Bobster's referring to the fact that the original would be as per the camera's setting, whereas the one I uploaded has been converted/resized by Photoshop - where a different colour spacing profile may have been applied.

And on that note Bobster, both files appear as sRGB

[Bobster]

Just curious, why should the two be different ??

the 2 original files seem to have been converted from sRGB to aRGB in Photoshop (should really be shooting with aRGB colour space anyway) so when they've been saved again viewing them in a browser (sRGB preview) its trying its hardest to convert to a sRGB colour space, so the pics come out dull, its only when you open them back up in Photoshop that the true colour space is shown..

i simply opened the file in photoshop and converted it to sRGB before saving again, so the version i posted is how it is.. i'm guessing because the EXIF has been stripped out, the Save for Web command was used?

[redsky009]

How about this for a slightly more aggressive crop:



Gets rid of the dead space behind the shooter, has him looking across the frame, waiting for something..

Use it, don't use it