After-cropping, historically an editor’s job, is an afterthought that often leads to unintentional compositional destruction, and an overly “expected” static design. Photographers preserve the full frame of the medium to create artful shapes and lines that are pleasing to their viewing audience. It is done in the energetic moment when the shot is happening. This is not just about the obvious subject alone, the sweet magic happens when foreground, subject plane, background elements (and NO unneeded distractions!) align in harmony.
Aligning these three simple elements within our pre-chosen format is just pure joy.
On our Coastal Georgia Workshop Days, there is a simple relaxed freedom in how we see our full picture frame, deciding up front whether our shots will be contained harmonically as a 2:3 (35mm) ratio, a perfect 1:1 square, or a panorama of connected squares like 1:2, 1:3, or 1:4. All of these professionally preferred formats are based on connecting squares and just naturally build pleasing forms when you actively engage the frame. The fun game we play together is to get closer and closer to the edges, while consciously cropping out distractions. It is thrilling to see the unique personality of each photographer coming through!
My upcoming workshops are designed to give us time to relax, see, and truly work with these powerful forms.
Marsh Storm by Robin Davis
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all text and images ©Robin Davis, all rights reserved.