Re: [Leica] Re: Re: To crop or not to crop

[Henry Ting <henryting10@yahoo.com>]

I agree. Cropping and photography goes hand in hand. 
Coming from a newspaper publication background, I can
relate to the absolute necessity of cropping. I
remember reading a biography of Ansel Adams which he
said, "Before taking any picture, I do all the
preparation upfront in hoping for a picture-perfect
frame, but sometimes we do not have such control and
that's where darkroom knowledge and visual-enhancment
cropping comes into play".


- --- Jim Brick <jim@brick.org> wrote:
> About cropping.
> 
> The difference between really good photographs and
> just ordinary 
> photographs is the composition, the simplicity, how
> you are drawn in to the 
> subject, that your eye's are not pulled away from
> the subject by 
> bright/cluttered ancillary objects around the
> periphery, etc...
> 
> Unless you use a zoom lens so that you can frame
> accurately from wherever 
> you have to stand in order to photograph, you may
> have to crop out 
> ancillary clutter. Sometimes you should move up,
> down, in, back, right, or 
> left, but cannot.
> 
> When you take a photograph for others to view, you
> should always strive to 
> present your best work. You will be remembered for
> what you present. When 
> other people look at your photographs, they are not
> privy to the original 
> film therefore no one but you knows whether the
> image was cropped or not. 
> And since you want to present the very best images
> possible, they should be 
> cropped (or not) to be just that. Your very "best"
> presentation. There is 
> nothing worse than trying to see the picture within
> a bunch of distracting 
> clutter or large amounts of dead space.
> 
> Those who advocate no cropping, should also advocate
> no filters, no special 
> films, no compensating developers, no techniques to
> enhance edge effects, 
> no pushing, no pulling, no dodging, no burning, no
> masking, no double 
> exposures, no anything except stand there, point the
> camera, trip the 
> shutter, Tri-X in straight D-76 or Kodachrome with
> Kodak processing, 
> straight print the result, and then stand back by
> yourself and admire your 
> ordinary work.
> 
> The craft of photography has developed into an art
> form. When a painter 
> sits down with a canvas, does he/she paint every
> piece of the scene even if 
> it is ugly and distracting? No. Editing and cropping
> is done when the 
> original is made. A photographer does not have that
> complete luxury. A 
> camera will record everything within a specific
> frame. It's when you 
> produce the "original," you get to manipulate it via
> special developer, 
> dodging, burning, etc. You may have started in the
> field with special film, 
> filters, special lenses, etc.
> 
> The advocation of photographing and the subsequent
> printing without 
> cropping is but a false pretense of being pure and
> true to the medium. This 
> is just plain bologna. As I said earlier, if you
> advocate no cropping, you 
> also have to advocate no other manipulation as well
> or you intentions are 
> simply ill founded and completely bogus. As the old
> saying goes "You can't 
> have your cake and eat it too."
> 
> Jim 
> 
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