One edit that I do to almost every photo is a crop. I don’t have a set in stone way to approach it but often it’s the first edit I do. I’m usually thinking something like, what do I really want to say in this photograph?:
ISO 800 14mm f/11 1/320sec
In this case I knew I wanted it to be about the boulders, their imposing and larger than life presence in the landscape. To do this I was thinking about having them seem to almost spill out of the bottom of the frame. While a good rule of thumb with photography is often to have something all the way in the frame and not running into the edges, in this case I was going to deliberately choose the opposite.
In Luminar, two cropping overlays are available for use. They are the rule of thirds and the perhaps less known golden ratio. While I don’t always crop using these guidelines, I usually at least give it a thought. They both provide a helpful guide to making a stronger composition. If you are interested in a comparison and explanation of the two methods, this is a good place to start. Here are two screen shots showing how the lines look within the editing software.
Cropped using the rule of thirds:
Screen shot showing the rule of thirds overlay.
Cropped using the golden ratio:
Screen shot showing the golden ratio overlay.
I went with the golden ratio for this crop. It fit well not only with my overflowing boulders, but with the path in the middle of the photograph:
ISO 800 14mm f/11 1/320sec
From there I warmed up the ground quite a bit, it helped throw the sky into a more dramatic contrast. I have also sharpened the photo, which particularly brought out some of the interesting detail in the boulders.
What do you think of the edits? Do you have a preferred way to crop your photos? Your comments are welcome below.
Cheers!
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