This is from the same canyon as my last post only from a different season. I’ve been trying to get into 5:4 cropping latey but still not quite sold on it. What works better in this image?
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
I love this almost aerial view of a lovely scene with wonderful light. The mist leads my eye from FG to BG. I much prefer the first version, as the wider format gives more room to the valley walls leading away. I’ve never been a fan of getting wedded to a certain format. Different scenes have their own needs.
How about this for a crop, Mike? IMO it looks a little cleaner without that grouping of green trees in the LRC.
Mike, if you don’t mind my asking, are you debating aspect ratio for reasons of printing, for web display, or both ? And I assume you are debating this in general for many images, not just this specific image.
Personally I know I am an outlier here at NPN, leaning heavily to 3:2, influenced by learning on 35mm slides. I just see the world that way, and old habits die hard. But I really like the 4:5 crop by @Ed_Lowe, it eliminates the trees in the LRC (a key move), and I think Ed’s crop is very well balanced, and it nicely accentuates the diagonal lines. Before I saw Ed’s post, I was thinking of this for a 3:2 re-crop (I also eliminated the LRC). Additionally, I dodged the LLC slightly. However, for this specific image, I prefer Ed’s 4:5 crop over a 3:2, because it creates a more graphic look.
Mike, I like the original post partly because it emphasizes the corner to corner eye flow and because it looks like you’ve got a bit more contrast (lower left hill side is darker). The fog add a good touch of emotional difference.
Put me down for Ed’s crop but with the processing of the top image. I like the slightly higher contrast. Looks real good.
I am not tied into any aspect ratio. Whatever works best for a particular scene is what I do.
Like @Ed_McGuirk, I prefer a 3:2 format for images that accept that ratio, but with the others and has been often discussed in the past few weeks, the image best dictates the format.
Yet with that said, I prefer @Ed_Lowe’s cropping and format. For some reason, the tighter ratio creates a greater sense of space and losing the LRC was key for me as well. Obviously you’re a winner either way, so it will ultimately come down to your personal preference, but its a good image for this discussion.
I prefer the original version. I like the group of trees in the lrc for how it stands in front of the mist and gives it a natural boundary. I also like how each succeeding ridge gets lighter and lighter. I would not dodge areas to make the tones more homogenous across the image in this case.
Thanks @Diane_Miller, @Ed_McGuirk, @Harley_Goldman, @Ed_Lowe, @Jim_McGovern, @Igor_Doncov, @Mark_Seaver for the comments and suggestions. @Ed_Lowe, I would like your crop if it was 3:2. @Ed_McGuirk, even though I started out with 35mm, My main inspirations were large format photographers such as David Muench. So I was more inclined to see things in 4:5. Then I gravitated to 3:2. Now I much prefer 3:2 for horizontal images and 4:5 for vertical. I was just wondering what others thought. As to the point about the image dictating the ratio I agree but I would like a little more uniformity when I upgrade my website. I prefer my thumbnails to be the same size. It just looks more orderly. @Igor_Doncov, my thoughts were more inline with yours in including the trees in the corner to define the edge of the mist.
I’m a little late to the party here but for what it’s worth I prefer the original crop along with the original processing. I really like the the way the lower right corner grouping of trees grabs your attention and takes your eye right up the dark ridgeline of pine trees leading you to the upper patch of fog. I feel that the tones are washed out in your second and tighter crop with less contrast and it doesn’t work for me as much as the original post. There is no doubt that that the crop Ed Lowe came up with is more balanced but it’s also a little more boring without that LRC patch of trees.
I struggle with Ratios as well and have given up on a one size fits all for wither landscape or portriat framing. I crop to what the scene calls for (color, depth, balance, tonality, and mood) and whatever that leaves me with is fine by me. It does make it a pin for printing and picture framing though. Beautiful image by the way!!!
I’m a big fan of 4by5 aspect ratios but for this image I prefer your 2 by 3. The extra layer at the bottom right on the 2by3 works well for me.
