Mark, Because I compose "loosely," I crop everything. Depending on how I'm gonna use the final image, I have different specific crops I employ. Ever use a Scale o Graph on a polaroid? Thank-You, Mike
Pretty much every photo! I mainly try to get the horizons straight when cropping but hearing about all these overlays opens up a whole new world in terms of improving compositions! Thanks for showing this.
@@mikemitchell3889 I do the same thing Mike - shoot for the crop! I always like to give myself some extra room on the sides. No - haven't done really anything on polaroid.
I crop pretty much every image. Obviously with a Sony A7R it's easier don't loose much of information in the shot compared to other cameras, but it's the convenience of havin a 42MPX sensor :) As always it's a pleasure to watch your videos. Greetings from Italy Mark!!
You’ve hit the nail on the head with being out there and taking photos in those situations. When you get back all is calm and so you have more time to analyse the composition. I didn’t realise that the crop tool had those options.
Cudos again on a terrific tutorial video! Something that might also help many users is knowing what your front end process is for scouting, and identifying a landscape photo ‘subject’. Obviously, that’s a somewhat broad characterization, but more specifically what I’m looking for is knowing how do you go about identifying your ‘subject ’ in advance? Do you use a tool like The Photographers Transit, PhotoPills, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, Planit Pro, etc. to identify and layout your shot in advance (location, day/date, time of day, etc.) so that you have an effective idea of how you intend to frame the shot in advance and more importantly, how much time you might have to frame and take the shot? Or do you just wing it when you get there, or better still what you do when you scout the potential locations for the camera placement to get the framing you desire? I’m sorry for the detail requested here but but it could really help some folks who have difficulty with this part of process. Thank you in advance!!!
Great to see others using the crop tool as much as I do. My heavy use of it has made me question how good my field eye actually is. But sitting in a quiet room and revisiting a site via the image does give new insight into composition corrections. Thanks so much for reminding us of the crop tools value.
Wonderful tutorial. I immediately went and cropped several of my photos (I use GIMP which also offers grid lines). Couldn’t believe the difference. Not bad’ suddenly became ‘wow!’ Thank you so much for sharing this powerful information.
my first lens ever to shooting was a 70-200... my back was against the wall the whole time but after a year shooting with it it really made me learn a lot !
Excellent video and some great information. I hate it when I hear people say "you have to get it right in camera" and "you waste pixels when you crop". Yes, getting it right when you shoot is fantastic but it's not a hard and fast LAW. And yes, you do waste some pixels but with the resolution of cameras today, you aren't losing that much (and we're not talking about only using 10% of the frame). I sometimes also shoot a scene with a different ratio (than the native 3:2) and since my camera doesn't allow me to change it, crop is the only method. Again, great information as I didn't know about some of those crop overlays. Take care.
Hey Mark! You're doing a terrific job at this and one reason why I follow your channel is your clean, straight to the point concepts and succinct. Thank you! To answer your question: I probably crop every 90% of my photos and only with a handful ones, I make multiple copies with a few different compositions to see which photo looks better.
Light and Composition are the essentials of photography. And you are correct, one should use the Crop tool to refine their compositions. For my part, once I’ve crop my photos I continue on to highlight the elements that coincide with the chosen composition (where the lines meet) and then reduce the intensity (mainly light) of what tries to overcome it (corners and unwanted strong highlights). BTW your original photo of the road taking from above with your drone wasn’t bad - although you chose to crop it to eliminate the bottom part of the road which you thought distracting. Sometimes, a composition goes beyond what a photo shows. A composition can go beyond the initial frame - and this is a good example. We must not forget that it’s not the eye that sees but how our brain perceives vision. In this case, the brain was filling the blank by automatically completing the missing segment (of the road). Here a spiral composition that went beyond the frame would have shown that the focus point would have been the missing segment - which usually you want to avoid. But here, not only do you have an outward point (exit of the road) but your brain creates an entry one to come back within the frame (back to the road). Many painters have use that technique, mainly cutting down mountain roads in such a way for you to progress out of the frame to then return into it. Nice video!
I'd like to thank you for creating this video. I was looking for something else when your title drew me to you instead. Since buying my first digital camera about 10 years ago I have found that I need to use the crop tool on most of my photos and have always felt that I must be getting worse at composing with a digital camera than during all the years when I only had film cameras. I do tend to leave more around the edges of the frame today to allow for cropping because I now have to use my left eye to frame the scene in the viewfinder (I still prefer the viewfinder to the screen for stability) as my right eye is less accurate in focusing (I do miss the parallel lines or the diamond screens of the film cameras though). Your talk has given me more confidence that it is not a matter of getting worse more a matter that I'm able to make adjustments that with film, being processed by someone else, I had no additional control over. I only use Photoshop Elements 5 for my processing, which is very basic I'm afraid to say. I haven't progressed to things like layers and masks yet, that is to come, but now I've seen this video and your style of teaching that makes it easy for me to understand I will be checking out your other work. Thank you so much.
I think composition, along with light, are the most important factors in photography. And composition is often the most challenging aspect of photography IMO. Great video Mark.
I appreciate this video a lot. I probably under use the crop tool, but there is a reason for that. I am using older cameras with a lower megapixel count. I can crop any way I need to for images posted online, but I have to be very careful if I think I will ever want to print an image of a larger size. I tend to crop for ratio more vs composition, which I need to re-evaluate. I crop 16:9 because I do put stills in videos and I like the perfect fit so to speak.
Congratulations on the channel, your videos are precious lessons. I have been fortunate enough to find photographers of his quality and didactics that are contributing a lot to my growth in photography. You can be sure that people like you do a great job of good photography ... congratulations
Been using Lightroom for about 2 years and always used the crop tool for my images. I did not know about the overlays, thanks Mark. I've used the rule of thirds for in camera composition for the last 40 years, but there's always room for improvement.
When I first started, every video I watched said to fill the frame. So I started doing that. That worked great until....I got ready toy start printing my pictures to hang on the wall. When you shoot in 3:2 and you want to print an 8x10 you are going to have to crop something out and it might ruin your composition. Sup I learned to zoom out and not fill the frame. Now I can crop exactly where I need to go either post on social media or to print.
Thus far two tuts under my belt with you Mark, and both enjoyable, educational and delivered at a even pace.. I would like to add one more element in the mix to the crop, and that's flopping it, as an old timer friend calls it, or as we call it today, flipping your image either horizontal or vertical depending on the image. Keeping in mind we read from left to right horizontally or from top down vertically..and then the next step, shaping your light to draw the viewer to the high light of the image ..
Wow! I am a very fierce cropper.. sometimes I crop to just one fourth of the image but never considered using these overlays! Fantastic video Mark 😍 Thank u for giving such awesome content ❤️
Started using the various crop grids and they have made a difference. I trust my compositional eye in the field but I can already see that in processing my images I can get my final image to be much stronger. Nice one Mark
I've known about the rule of thirds forever, but I've been using it wrong. My photography/journalism teacher had just taught us everything should be like even throughout. Really appreciate the new knowledge about putting interest in the intersections!
Mark Denny... thank you for these videos, excellent material. Question, you mention using your drone to photograph that road in Maui (great pic!).... what drone set up do you use (equipment)? Didn't see it listed and I'm thinking of getting one to add to my arsenal of tools.
Awesome video! Finally somebody who talks about photography and not about pen pressure tablet and gear! Thanks a lot for the video and keep coming up with similar content!
I’m mostly shooting on film these days. I like to get the right perspective to my eye balls first, before I look thru a viewfinder. I then compose the shot to the best of my ability. If I like it, good if not, the image is scrapped. Pretty straight forward. I don’t have 40+ megapixels to work with, I like the challenge. And I’m not trying to sound pretentious in any way. Nor am I anti digital. I have a Sony A99II. It’s great, I’m just in love with film right now. This is some great advice that I’ll be doing when I get back to the 21st century, haha!
I'm happy to know I'm not alone in doing my best composition in post. I've found the best I can do in the field is changing perspective, so I like to shoot from other-than eyeball height -- in particular, low. It's amazing how much different a shot looks taken from the ground, and how much more foreground interest this perspective avails us. I too get the most from my 42MP. As much as you crop, you might consider upgrading to the 61MP mark iv. Thanks for another great video. I feel a lot better now about my needing to drop so much in post.
This was a perfectly timed topic for me since I just started working more with crops after learning about the crop short cut from your video a few weeks ago. I’m going to play with it more today. May I also make a suggestion for a future topic? Matching the color on your screen to the color of a printer be it your home printer or a commercial printer. I’ve printed a few images that just didn’t have the same color on paper that I did on the screen. Thanks.
I use the crop tool in about 90% of my images and almost constantly. It is a great tool and as you mentioned, you can go back to an image at a later date and re-style your work so that it becomes more pleasing to the eye
Yeah, that's the issue with photographing Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park as you showed in the early part of the video. When shooting from the shore toward the twin peaks in the distance (they're called The Bubbles for those not familiar with the park) the rocks add a great feeling of depth, but you do have to decide where to crop in that foreground. BTW I appreciate the material you presented--nicely done.
Thanks again, Mark. Keep 'em coming. When you crop and haven't decided whether or not it will be printed, is your crop based on the best overall composition (which you can re-crop if you later decide to print) or is it based on the dimensions of a possible print? (Kind of a rambling question!)
Great video this. I agree about the crop tool. As a keen amateur I find composition the most difficult part to grasp. Now I look as the crop tool as a learning device and I think my composition is getting better (I hope). This was very helpful as I just crop until I like the image. I have not used the crop grid overlays. Of course the great thing with lightroom as I can go back over my past images and re-crop. Thanks for the video.
PS is so complex that is easy to forget some of its features and I had completely forgotten about the crop toll overlays, thanks for the reminder, I shall try to make more use of them.
I am with you that I crop a lot/most photos. Useful video - thanks . I am not a great user of shortcuts - Is there a menu option or an area I can click on to access the different crop overlays ? thanks Mike
Great tutorial! I always have shot with a the rule of thirds for my landscapes, but using this crop tool, I've gone back and looked at a lot of my work and found ways to refine some of them. I will be using this feature a little more than before.
Great vlog Mark! You’re killing it! Keep up the great work! It’s exactly what happens too. You’re so excited what you see on the camera just to open it up on the computer and it’s like the wind stalled in your sail. The crop tool in Lightroom is the best tool in LR in my opinion. Keep on keeping on!
Broke it in and took it to Vancouver Island. It hauled most of what I wanted to take ( which was too much 😂) and it was heavier than what I wanted to hike with. It made a great on location portrait pack that fit a light stand, tripod, small light modifier, flashes, bodies and lenses. However for longer hikes I noticed it would probably be a bit much on the weight side. I love all the room and all the pockets. Sometimes not knowing the unknown we tend to overpack, I feel that's probably what I did. So it's another learning curve. Thanks again!
In general, I feel shooting to allow for some measure of post-process cropping is fundamental when composing the shot. As you stated frequently, what you visualized during the exposure was not always what felt right when you finalized the image. Plus, the proportion of the sensor is often, not that of the final image. Still, with a cropped-sensor camera like a D500, one sometimes hedges on the crop allowance because we're reluctant to sacrifice pixels in post processing when an image will be enlarged. A mistake because an improved final image is better than simply saving pixels.
Great demo of how to play around with the different grid overlays. Even if I don't ultimately crop, I always play around with images to make sure the original composition still works for me, like looking at the image with fresh eyes.
Until now I used the rule of thirds only. With your illustration I learned something... I will check the other rules systematically in the future! So far I used the crop tool as you did before... very helpful video!
I've found that one of the quickest ways to find a good crop is to download the image to my iphone/ipad and pinch/zoom. Often a crop you wouldn't have thought of will appear instantly
I've read somewhere that shapes found within nature follow rules similar to the ratios that make up these compositional guidelines. The golden spiral of a snail is an example. So it makes sense then that photographs of things we find visually pleasing follow or compliment these rules found in nature.
@@MarkDenneyPhoto I have a book called 'Nature's Chaos" which is an absolute verification of this - whether in full scale or macro photography examples. Check it out if you get the chance.
Similar to photographing a group of objects whether it be in nature or man made. Usually an odd number of objects just looks right to the eye while an even number doesn't.
Recently I have been more conscious of the rule of thirds when composing pictures in the field. Not always so easy when there are multiple points of interest in a landscape. So I still end up cropping almost all of my pictures to some extent. I've only used the rule of thirds overlay. Will need to try out these others. Thanks
Thanks again for a well produced and informative video. I've used LR for years and was not aware of the overlays other than the rule of thirds. I especially appreciate that you showed us your uncropped images and how you got to your final version. I have felt the disappointment that you described when I get home and look at my frames on a larger screen. Even through I've been cropping for years, I can see the benefits of the diagonal and triangle overlays to fine tune my pictures. Thank you!
What a useful tip; cycling through the overlays to find the best "formal" composition that works with the image, then cropping to fine-tune and make best use of that compositional tool! Thanks very much.
Thank you very much Mark... i've been making a serious mistake on all my photos. I've very rarely cropped my photos, simply because I didn't have the knowledge and never looked closely enough at my composition... You have woken this old Bloke up today and I will begin my new editing style with some crop ideas.. Thanks Mate.. Be safe.. Neville J.... I seem to be similar to a comment from below my own,, I'm afraid of the crop tool because I've never paid attention to using it or learning more about it...
I've seen many composition videos but this one is unique, some real quality tips here. I'm still on a crop sensor so cropping even more doesn't give the best results but I want to upgrade to full frame soon and will definitely look back on this video when I do.
Another well delivered video Mark and I totally appreciate your honesty regarding the crop tool. Yes I use it and I am pretty sure all those "pros" out there that say they get it right in the camera use it too. A couple years ago I bought one of those negative scanners and started scanning/copying my images from negatives to my hard-drive. Then I would take those scans and post-process them in Lightroom and yeah... I would crop them too. Now many of these negatives are from my military days from the 80s and they are a bit scratched up, so not only did I crop them, I would also clean up the scratches and then I converted most into B&W images. ~Ron
I appreciate the way you have selected a topic, taken examples and explained it differently to others on TH-cam. Absolutely brilliant. This video was convincing enough for me to hit the subscribe button. All the best for your channel
Thanks Mark! I recently flew to Bend Oregon from Seattle and captured some really cool highway shots (like yours). Your composition tips really helped me explore different techniques to give the images even more pzazz!
A very informative video. Quite an awesome line of tips & hints. Didn't know those were the compositional options when using the crop overlay. Nice stuff! Will try these soon.
Great advice Mark, many people do not know about the different crop overlays. You're images look good, but looking at your histograms I think you would benefit from a technique called ETTR (Expose to the right) .
This is when high megapixel cameras are useful. You did some aggressive crops in some examples. Don't know if I can get away with those on a D500 (20mp) for my 40x30cm prints. I print out a book with 24-48 pictures whenever I travel somewhere.
Hi thanks for your advices, most of them are true and very useful for beginners. I have one thing to tell about golden spiral. You put the stress point (of the spiral) in the horizon in your crop. But it should have been central to the critical point of your image (when the waves splash on the rocks). It would outstand the natural tension in your beautiful shot and that is the correct way to using this tool.
Thanks! It’s these sorts of tips that can lift photos to the next level. I also have the rule of thirds grid on in my viewfinder so I use it in field. Helps to get the horizon straight too.
Thank you so. Mucfh fur this Fidel in croping. It gave me tips I. Can start practicing with immediately. I used the rule of thirds for years. I was aware of the other overlay by not educate in how they work. Your vid will make a big difference. Thanks for the post
Thanks for suggestions Mark,often we're always "fixed" on rule of thirds , your interesting video reminded me that composition may be different.Thumbs up
Mark great video! Human brains are quite adept at pattern recognition, so I think when we compose an image that's what we are doing. The crop tool basically let's you refine that composition to a more exacting point resulting in a more pleasing image. Loves the video! Keep up the good work!
Great video. I do crop often but forget about the overlays. I will be trying this in the future. I have a suggestion. It was hard to visualize the changes you made, so maybe in the future you could show them side by side? This is not meant to be critical, just hoping it could help your viewers see the changes. Keep up the good work!
Awesome content Mark! This video was highly informative. Actually would love to see more of your thoughts on composition. Thanks for your great content!
Mark, your tutorials are quite enjoyable and pleasant to watch, as you seem so sincere in how you share what you have learned with others -- and the information is very helpful as well. Thank you for your contribution to the community. :)
I never knew about using the rule of thirds beyond the typical grid pattern. Those were learned in my college courses back in the mid 80s. But, back then we didn’t have such incredible editing software as today so we had to make the shot with the grid in mind. Your video is enlightening. I’ve subscribed! Also, I like that you take notice of each comment, unlike many other videos I’ve watched from years ago. Kudos for that!
A superbly informative and well explained video which I find to be so very useful. Composition is a challenging aspect of photography and you emphasize this point early on in your presentation. Any tool which helps to create more dynamic images should not be ignored. Again, you help us to explore the merits of the "crop" tool. Thanks very much Mark.
This video came up in my feed today. Great information. You are very easy to listen to. Subscribed because you’ve motivated me to get my gear out and do what I love
I’m not a fan of the native 6x4 crop out of camera so I expect crop right out of the gate, and I think I’m on a similar page as I now use the crop as a creative step quite early in the workflow rather than just tidying up at the end.
Mark, Another very well done video. You've provided some much information in a short time without overwhelming the viewer. Your use of examples is so very well done. The use of sound effects at the beginning and the cut away to the sunrise photo at the beginning is helps to keep interest in watching. I don't really need them since I watch your videos all the way through, but I thought they enhanced the video production. My cropping percentage, gonna guess it's in the 99%, and I'll be using the LR overlays more often.
Roughly what percent of your photos do you apply a crop to? I'm at about 99.4%!
Mark,
Because I compose "loosely," I crop everything. Depending on how I'm gonna use the final image, I have different specific crops I employ.
Ever use a Scale o Graph on a polaroid?
Thank-You,
Mike
Pretty much every photo! I mainly try to get the horizons straight when cropping but hearing about all these overlays opens up a whole new world in terms of improving compositions! Thanks for showing this.
@@mikemitchell3889 I do the same thing Mike - shoot for the crop! I always like to give myself some extra room on the sides. No - haven't done really anything on polaroid.
@@DJustmusicMusic Glad to do it Chris - happy to hear it was helpful!
I crop pretty much every image. Obviously with a Sony A7R it's easier don't loose much of information in the shot compared to other cameras, but it's the convenience of havin a 42MPX sensor :) As always it's a pleasure to watch your videos. Greetings from Italy Mark!!
I love the fact that you don't have to talk like the coolest guy on earth in order to make a really educational and yet fun video to watch. Thank you
Thanks Bruno! I'm most certainly not the coolest guy anywhere:)
Mark crying while responding 😂
Why do people give thumbs down to Mark's videos? He is one of the few photographers who gives his heart to his followers. Shame on you .
TheRedrusso Always appreciate the support friend🙌
The honesty and humility on your own journey and process truly shine through.
You’ve hit the nail on the head with being out there and taking photos in those situations. When you get back all is calm and so you have more time to analyse the composition. I didn’t realise that the crop tool had those options.
Cudos again on a terrific tutorial video! Something that might also help many users is knowing what your front end process is for scouting, and identifying a landscape photo ‘subject’. Obviously, that’s a somewhat broad characterization, but more specifically what I’m looking for is knowing how do you go about identifying your ‘subject ’ in advance? Do you use a tool like The Photographers Transit, PhotoPills, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, Planit Pro, etc. to identify and layout your shot in advance (location, day/date, time of day, etc.) so that you have an effective idea of how you intend to frame the shot in advance and more importantly, how much time you might have to frame and take the shot? Or do you just wing it when you get there, or better still what you do when you scout the potential locations for the camera placement to get the framing you desire? I’m sorry for the detail requested here but but it could really help some folks who have difficulty with this part of process. Thank you in advance!!!
Great to see others using the crop tool as much as I do. My heavy use of it has made me question how good my field eye actually is. But sitting in a quiet room and revisiting a site via the image does give new insight into composition corrections. Thanks so much for reminding us of the crop tools value.
Glad to do it John! Thanks for watching it!
Gosh, I'm loving your video series! So much real talk, so much practical advice. Yay!
Wonderful tutorial. I immediately went and cropped several of my photos (I use GIMP which also offers grid lines). Couldn’t believe the difference. Not bad’ suddenly became ‘wow!’ Thank you so much for sharing this powerful information.
P AR Glad to do it and many thanks to you for watching it!
my first lens ever to shooting was a 70-200... my back was against the wall the whole time but after a year shooting with it it really made me learn a lot !
Thanks for putting out your work! It's very educational and pleasant to watch and listen! Keep up the good work Mark!
Excellent video and some great information. I hate it when I hear people say "you have to get it right in camera" and "you waste pixels when you crop". Yes, getting it right when you shoot is fantastic but it's not a hard and fast LAW. And yes, you do waste some pixels but with the resolution of cameras today, you aren't losing that much (and we're not talking about only using 10% of the frame). I sometimes also shoot a scene with a different ratio (than the native 3:2) and since my camera doesn't allow me to change it, crop is the only method. Again, great information as I didn't know about some of those crop overlays. Take care.
Craig Allen Thanks Craig - it’s great to hear the video was helpful!
Hey Mark! You're doing a terrific job at this and one reason why I follow your channel is your clean, straight to the point concepts and succinct. Thank you!
To answer your question: I probably crop every 90% of my photos and only with a handful ones, I make multiple copies with a few different compositions to see which photo looks better.
Arindam Chanda Really appreciate it friend - thank you🙌
just getting into photography and have watched hours of youtubes the last few days your vids are among the best. thanks dude.
Admin Many thanks - really appreciate it!
Light and Composition are the essentials of photography. And you are correct, one should use the Crop tool to refine their compositions. For my part, once I’ve crop my photos I continue on to highlight the elements that coincide with the chosen composition (where the lines meet) and then reduce the intensity (mainly light) of what tries to overcome it (corners and unwanted strong highlights).
BTW your original photo of the road taking from above with your drone wasn’t bad - although you chose to crop it to eliminate the bottom part of the road which you thought distracting. Sometimes, a composition goes beyond what a photo shows. A composition can go beyond the initial frame - and this is a good example. We must not forget that it’s not the eye that sees but how our brain perceives vision. In this case, the brain was filling the blank by automatically completing the missing segment (of the road). Here a spiral composition that went beyond the frame would have shown that the focus point would have been the missing segment - which usually you want to avoid. But here, not only do you have an outward point (exit of the road) but your brain creates an entry one to come back within the frame (back to the road). Many painters have use that technique, mainly cutting down mountain roads in such a way for you to progress out of the frame to then return into it.
Nice video!
I'd like to thank you for creating this video. I was looking for something else when your title drew me to you instead. Since buying my first digital camera about 10 years ago I have found that I need to use the crop tool on most of my photos and have always felt that I must be getting worse at composing with a digital camera than during all the years when I only had film cameras. I do tend to leave more around the edges of the frame today to allow for cropping because I now have to use my left eye to frame the scene in the viewfinder (I still prefer the viewfinder to the screen for stability) as my right eye is less accurate in focusing (I do miss the parallel lines or the diamond screens of the film cameras though). Your talk has given me more confidence that it is not a matter of getting worse more a matter that I'm able to make adjustments that with film, being processed by someone else, I had no additional control over. I only use Photoshop Elements 5 for my processing, which is very basic I'm afraid to say. I haven't
progressed to things like layers and masks yet, that is to come, but now I've seen this video and your style of teaching that makes it easy for me to understand I will be checking out your other work. Thank you so much.
I think composition, along with light, are the most important factors in photography. And composition is often the most challenging aspect of photography IMO.
Great video Mark.
Much appreciated Leandro!
I appreciate this video a lot. I probably under use the crop tool, but there is a reason for that. I am using older cameras with a lower megapixel count. I can crop any way I need to for images posted online, but I have to be very careful if I think I will ever want to print an image of a larger size. I tend to crop for ratio more vs composition, which I need to re-evaluate. I crop 16:9 because I do put stills in videos and I like the perfect fit so to speak.
One of the absolutely best Lightroom videos on youtube! Thank you and congratulations!!
Definitely one of your most important videos IMO. I usually am really confident with an image when it fits more than one crop grid.
Thanks Moises! That means a lot!
That’s a good point. You can always test fit more than one grid.
Congratulations on the channel, your videos are precious lessons. I have been fortunate enough to find photographers of his quality and didactics that are contributing a lot to my growth in photography. You can be sure that people like you do a great job of good photography ... congratulations
Been using Lightroom for about 2 years and always used the crop tool for my images. I did not know about the overlays, thanks Mark. I've used the rule of thirds for in camera composition for the last 40 years, but there's always room for improvement.
When I first started, every video I watched said to fill the frame. So I started doing that. That worked great until....I got ready toy start printing my pictures to hang on the wall. When you shoot in 3:2 and you want to print an 8x10 you are going to have to crop something out and it might ruin your composition. Sup I learned to zoom out and not fill the frame. Now I can crop exactly where I need to go either post on social media or to print.
Thus far two tuts under my belt with you Mark, and both enjoyable, educational and delivered at a even pace.. I would like to add one more element in the mix to the crop, and that's flopping it, as an old timer friend calls it, or as we call it today, flipping your image either horizontal or vertical depending on the image. Keeping in mind we read from left to right horizontally or from top down vertically..and then the next step, shaping your light to draw the viewer to the high light of the image ..
Wow! I am a very fierce cropper.. sometimes I crop to just one fourth of the image but never considered using these overlays! Fantastic video Mark 😍 Thank u for giving such awesome content ❤️
Thanks Raja! Really appreciate that friend!
Started using the various crop grids and they have made a difference. I trust my compositional eye in the field but I can already see that in processing my images I can get my final image to be much stronger. Nice one Mark
I've known about the rule of thirds forever, but I've been using it wrong. My photography/journalism teacher had just taught us everything should be like even throughout. Really appreciate the new knowledge about putting interest in the intersections!
Amills50 Glad to hear the video helped!
Mark Denny... thank you for these videos, excellent material. Question, you mention using your drone to photograph that road in Maui (great pic!).... what drone set up do you use (equipment)? Didn't see it listed and I'm thinking of getting one to add to my arsenal of tools.
Omg, I never knew you could use the crop tool in such a way. Thank you for showing me how to use it😊
The top part from the picture at 2:50 also works with the golden spiral. See how the sky and the see is curling into the rocks and the shore?
Awesome video! Finally somebody who talks about photography and not about pen pressure tablet and gear! Thanks a lot for the video and keep coming up with similar content!
Miloš Grujić Haha! Thanks Milos!
I’m mostly shooting on film these days. I like to get the right perspective to my eye balls first, before I look thru a viewfinder. I then compose the shot to the best of my ability. If I like it, good if not, the image is scrapped. Pretty straight forward. I don’t have 40+ megapixels to work with, I like the challenge. And I’m not trying to sound pretentious in any way. Nor am I anti digital. I have a Sony A99II. It’s great, I’m just in love with film right now. This is some great advice that I’ll be doing when I get back to the 21st century, haha!
The Golden Ratio on that image just....works.
Fantastic tutorial.
a.ramappa Many thanks!
I'm happy to know I'm not alone in doing my best composition in post. I've found the best I can do in the field is changing perspective, so I like to shoot from other-than eyeball height -- in particular, low. It's amazing how much different a shot looks taken from the ground, and how much more foreground interest this perspective avails us.
I too get the most from my 42MP. As much as you crop, you might consider upgrading to the 61MP mark iv.
Thanks for another great video. I feel a lot better now about my needing to drop so much in post.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Camera's today come with so much resolution it's makes it easier than ever to crop your photos - it's great!
This was a perfectly timed topic for me since I just started working more with crops after learning about the crop short cut from your video a few weeks ago. I’m going to play with it more today.
May I also make a suggestion for a future topic? Matching the color on your screen to the color of a printer be it your home printer or a commercial printer. I’ve printed a few images that just didn’t have the same color on paper that I did on the screen.
Thanks.
I use the crop tool in about 90% of my images and almost constantly. It is a great tool and as you mentioned, you can go back to an image at a later date and re-style your work so that it becomes more pleasing to the eye
Yeah, that's the issue with photographing Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park as you showed in the early part of the video. When shooting from the shore toward the twin peaks in the distance (they're called The Bubbles for those not familiar with the park) the rocks add a great feeling of depth, but you do have to decide where to crop in that foreground. BTW I appreciate the material you presented--nicely done.
Thanks again, Mark. Keep 'em coming. When you crop and haven't decided whether or not it will be printed, is your crop based on the best overall composition (which you can re-crop if you later decide to print) or is it based on the dimensions of a possible print? (Kind of a rambling question!)
Love watching all your videos. goes directly right to the point...
Amocha Sagolsem Thanks so much!
Great tut, Mark. Thanks!
Dg Visual Much appreciated- thank you!
Great video this. I agree about the crop tool. As a keen amateur
I find composition the most difficult part to grasp. Now I look as the crop
tool as a learning device and I think my composition is getting better (I
hope). This was very helpful as I just
crop until I like the image. I have not used the crop grid overlays. Of course
the great thing with lightroom as I can go back over my past images and re-crop.
Thanks for the video.
PS is so complex that is easy to forget some of its features and I had completely forgotten about the crop toll overlays, thanks for the reminder, I shall try to make more use of them.
Thanks for watching Sid - happy to hear the video was helpful!
I am with you that I crop a lot/most photos. Useful video - thanks . I am not a great user of shortcuts - Is there a menu option or an area I can click on to access the different crop overlays ? thanks Mike
MIKE BAVINGTON When you’re in the crop section you get hit the shortcut key O and this will cycle through the overlays👍
Great tutorial! I always have shot with a the rule of thirds for my landscapes, but using this crop tool, I've gone back and looked at a lot of my work and found ways to refine some of them. I will be using this feature a little more than before.
Thank ya Buddy!
Great vlog Mark! You’re killing it! Keep up the great work! It’s exactly what happens too. You’re so excited what you see on the camera just to open it up on the computer and it’s like the wind stalled in your sail. The crop tool in Lightroom is the best tool in LR in my opinion. Keep on keeping on!
Chuck Hultberg Thank ya buddy! How’s the bag workin out for you?
Broke it in and took it to Vancouver Island. It hauled most of what I wanted to take ( which was too much 😂) and it was heavier than what I wanted to hike with. It made a great on location portrait pack that fit a light stand, tripod, small light modifier, flashes, bodies and lenses. However for longer hikes I noticed it would probably be a bit much on the weight side. I love all the room and all the pockets. Sometimes not knowing the unknown we tend to overpack, I feel that's probably what I did. So it's another learning curve. Thanks again!
In general, I feel shooting to allow for some measure of post-process cropping is fundamental when composing the shot. As you stated frequently, what you visualized during the exposure was not always what felt right when you finalized the image. Plus, the proportion of the sensor is often, not that of the final image. Still, with a cropped-sensor camera like a D500, one sometimes hedges on the crop allowance because we're reluctant to sacrifice pixels in post processing when an image will be enlarged. A mistake because an improved final image is better than simply saving pixels.
jimrb67 Well said! I agree with it all👍
Great demo of how to play around with the different grid overlays. Even if I don't ultimately crop, I always play around with images to make sure the original composition still works for me, like looking at the image with fresh eyes.
grat2010 Thank you!
Until now I used the rule of thirds only. With your illustration I learned something... I will check the other rules systematically in the future! So far I used the crop tool as you did before... very helpful video!
Great to hear Stefan - thank you!
Thank you! Really enjoyed you sharing your thought process on how you cropped your photos.
kapurar Glad you enjoyed it👍
Another great video Mark, presented in an interesting way using good examples of your pictures. Thank you
Robert Harrison Thank YOU Robert!
Love your vids. That was well explained. I guess the only downfall is if you want to print large photos. Thanks for this!
I've found that one of the quickest ways to find a good crop is to download the image to my iphone/ipad and pinch/zoom. Often a crop you wouldn't have thought of will appear instantly
Great video Mark, I love the way you explain using examples.
I am always afraid to crop too much, your video makes me that I should perhaps rethink this. Thanks
Thanks for watching Denis! Great to hear the video was helpful!
I've read somewhere that shapes found within nature follow rules similar to the ratios that make up these compositional guidelines. The golden spiral of a snail is an example. So it makes sense then that photographs of things we find visually pleasing follow or compliment these rules found in nature.
Oliver Saxon the Fibonacci sequence is found in music, nature, and photography. It works!
You're exactly right Oliver.
@@MarkDenneyPhoto I have a book called 'Nature's Chaos" which is an absolute verification of this - whether in full scale or macro photography examples. Check it out if you get the chance.
Similar to photographing a group of objects whether it be in nature or man made. Usually an odd number of objects just looks right to the eye while an even number doesn't.
It's a myth.
@1:19 Palms are sweaty , knees weak arms are heavy , he's nerves, but on the surface he looks calm and ready ✌😁
HAHAHH!!!
Recently I have been more conscious of the rule of thirds when composing pictures in the field. Not always so easy when there are multiple points of interest in a landscape. So I still end up cropping almost all of my pictures to some extent. I've only used the rule of thirds overlay. Will need to try out these others. Thanks
Glad to do it Richard - thanks for watching it!
Thanks again for a well produced and informative video. I've used LR for years and was not aware of the overlays other than the rule of thirds. I especially appreciate that you showed us your uncropped images and how you got to your final version. I have felt the disappointment that you described when I get home and look at my frames on a larger screen. Even through I've been cropping for years, I can see the benefits of the diagonal and triangle overlays to fine tune my pictures. Thank you!
Thanks Michael! Glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
What a useful tip; cycling through the overlays to find the best "formal" composition that works with the image, then cropping to fine-tune and make best use of that compositional tool! Thanks very much.
Mark Janes Thanks Mark! Great to hear the video was helpful👍
Thank you very much Mark... i've been making a serious mistake on all my photos. I've very rarely cropped my photos, simply because I didn't have the knowledge and never looked closely enough at my composition... You have woken this old Bloke up today and I will begin my new editing style with some crop ideas.. Thanks Mate.. Be safe.. Neville J.... I seem to be similar to a comment from below my own,, I'm afraid of the crop tool because I've never paid attention to using it or learning more about it...
My pleasure Neville! Happy to hear the video gave you some new ideas to test!
Great video Mark! The going back in time reference, along with the classic gameboy and a Flip is a nice touch.
Thanks Andy! You're the first to mention the Flip - remember those things?!? Man tech has come a long way.
The Flip was the greatest before cell phone video was a thing, Many a foolery was captured with mine in my youth.
I've seen many composition videos but this one is unique, some real quality tips here. I'm still on a crop sensor so cropping even more doesn't give the best results but I want to upgrade to full frame soon and will definitely look back on this video when I do.
Great video !! brilliantly explained... the composition techniques... Your photographs and locations are too good !!!
Another well delivered video Mark and I totally appreciate your honesty regarding the crop tool. Yes I use it and I am pretty sure all those "pros" out there that say they get it right in the camera use it too. A couple years ago I bought one of those negative scanners and started scanning/copying my images from negatives to my hard-drive. Then I would take those scans and post-process them in Lightroom and yeah... I would crop them too. Now many of these negatives are from my military days from the 80s and they are a bit scratched up, so not only did I crop them, I would also clean up the scratches and then I converted most into B&W images. ~Ron
I used to do the same thing with older prints - it's actually pretty fun to see how much you can clean them up digitally!
Thank you so much Mark, your tips and explanations are extraordinary, look forward to your future tips.
F Farag Glad to do it and great hearing that you enjoy them as well!
I appreciate the way you have selected a topic, taken examples and explained it differently to others on TH-cam. Absolutely brilliant. This video was convincing enough for me to hit the subscribe button. All the best for your channel
Thanks so much for subscribing - very much appreciate that!
So overlooked, yet effective. Now I'm re-doing photos!
Pam Walz Thanks for watching Pam!
Great video. I really like the way you explain photographic theory using practical examples
Aaron Haußmann Thanks Aaron! Glad you enjoyed it👍
Thanks Mark! I recently flew to Bend Oregon from Seattle and captured some really cool highway shots (like yours). Your composition tips really helped me explore different techniques to give the images even more pzazz!
Many compositions discussed in this video are new to me. Good video.
Thank ya Ravi - glad to hear the video was helpful!
@@MarkDenneyPhoto Definitely sir. I struggled lot in composition. This video gives some new ideas. Thank you.
A very informative video. Quite an awesome line of tips & hints. Didn't know those were the compositional options when using the crop overlay. Nice stuff! Will try these soon.
A very helpful tutorial, Mark. Thanks for sharing.
Jane Andrew I’m glad you think so - thanks so much Jane!
Great advice Mark, many people do not know about the different crop overlays. You're images look good, but looking at your histograms I think you would benefit from a technique called ETTR (Expose to the right) .
This is when high megapixel cameras are useful. You did some aggressive crops in some examples. Don't know if I can get away with those on a D500 (20mp) for my 40x30cm prints. I print out a book with 24-48 pictures whenever I travel somewhere.
Hi thanks for your advices, most of them are true and very useful for beginners. I have one thing to tell about golden spiral. You put the stress point (of the spiral) in the horizon in your crop. But it should have been central to the critical point of your image (when the waves splash on the rocks). It would outstand the natural tension in your beautiful shot and that is the correct way to using this tool.
good stuff mark, really helped me out finding new compositions in older photos. keep it up
Thanks! It’s these sorts of tips that can lift photos to the next level. I also have the rule of thirds grid on in my viewfinder so I use it in field. Helps to get the horizon straight too.
Many thanks Georgia! Glad to hear the video was helpful.
Thank you so. Mucfh fur this Fidel in croping. It gave me tips I. Can start practicing with immediately. I used the rule of thirds for years. I was aware of the other overlay by not educate in how they work. Your vid will make a big difference. Thanks for the post
Mark DeMarte Glad to do it Mark and I appreciate you watching it👍
One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was "if the image is strong enough it will take the crop".
Thanks for suggestions Mark,often we're always "fixed" on rule of thirds , your interesting video reminded me that composition may be different.Thumbs up
ggsxr1000 Thanks so much!!
Mark great video! Human brains are quite adept at pattern recognition, so I think when we compose an image that's what we are doing. The crop tool basically let's you refine that composition to a more exacting point resulting in a more pleasing image. Loves the video! Keep up the good work!
Hi Mark. This is really useful. Many thanks for sharing.
Thanks Tim! Glad to hear it was helpful.
I just found your channel and I love it! You deserve so much more subscribers.
Great video. I do crop often but forget about the overlays. I will be trying this in the future. I have a suggestion. It was hard to visualize the changes you made, so maybe in the future you could show them side by side? This is not meant to be critical, just hoping it could help your viewers see the changes. Keep up the good work!
Loved this tutorial simple easy to follow and makes sense Thanks Mark
Great to hear - thanks Mark!
Nice work as always, informative and entertaining.
dragondrummer33 Much appreciated - thank ya!
Awesome content Mark! This video was highly informative. Actually would love to see more of your thoughts on composition. Thanks for your great content!
Anders Askasen Thanks Anders!
Thank you for taking the time to make such great and informative videos. I've been learning so much and can't tell you how much I appreciate it!
Mina Chung Thanks for taking the time to let me know - I really appreciate it👍
For landscape and architectural photos, I use the Crop tool often. For other types of photography, I don't use it anywhere near as much.
Mark, your tutorials are quite enjoyable and pleasant to watch, as you seem so sincere in how you share what you have learned with others -- and the information is very helpful as well. Thank you for your contribution to the community. :)
Lamont Gilliland Many thanks Lamont - I really appreciate that!
This video has helped me tremendously to understand composition. Thank You
Cordeiro Woodworks That’s great to hear - happy it was helpful!
I never knew about using the rule of thirds beyond the typical grid pattern. Those were learned in my college courses back in the mid 80s. But, back then we didn’t have such incredible editing software as today so we had to make the shot with the grid in mind. Your video is enlightening. I’ve subscribed!
Also, I like that you take notice of each comment, unlike many other videos I’ve watched from years ago. Kudos for that!
Awesome! Thanks for subscribing and watching the video Dennis!
A superbly informative and well explained video which I find to be so very useful. Composition is a challenging aspect of photography and you emphasize this point early on in your presentation. Any tool which helps to create more dynamic images should not be ignored. Again, you help us to explore the merits of the "crop" tool. Thanks very much Mark.
Thanks Daniel! Fantastic to hear the video was helpful!
Another great video Mark. I'm a regular follower of your work and they surely help me to improve my landscape photography. Thanks a lot :)
That's great to hear - thanks for letting me know:)
Enlightening! More tools to add to the bag of tricks. 👍👍
Thank YOU!
This video came up in my feed today. Great information. You are very easy to listen to. Subscribed because you’ve motivated me to get my gear out and do what I love
Steven Crowley Photography Awesome! Many thanks Steven!
I’m not a fan of the native 6x4 crop out of camera so I expect crop right out of the gate, and I think I’m on a similar page as I now use the crop as a creative step quite early in the workflow rather than just tidying up at the end.
I usually shoot for the crop as well - I almost always try to pick up some extra room on the sides when I'm out shooting.
Thanks Mark, this video is one that I have been waiting for, excelleent
Mark, Another very well done video. You've provided some much information in a short time without overwhelming the viewer. Your use of examples is so very well done. The use of sound effects at the beginning and the cut away to the sunrise photo at the beginning is helps to keep interest in watching. I don't really need them since I watch your videos all the way through, but I thought they enhanced the video production. My cropping percentage, gonna guess it's in the 99%, and I'll be using the LR overlays more often.
Love the feedback - really does help with future videos, thank you!
As always, great advice. I learn something with every video of yours that I watch. Thank you!
Great to hear Jason! Thanks man!
Definitely one of the most educational landscape artists out there!