Karting crops

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Trying out different crop styles, my favourite is the angled crop. Just wondered if anybody had any other ideas/suggestions on cropping. TIA

#1 Slight crop on the original (the subject was to centred)


#2 Angled crop


#3 Letterbox. Kept the white line horizontal but the subject is too centred for my liking
 
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I think the biggest issue is the original is a bit to tight at the top (unless you removed a bunch).

Untitled-152.jpg
 
I like the angled one :)
 
Good shots given me a nudge cos I have a carting centre near me.

I like the angled shot best lovely n sharp.
 
sk66 said:
I think the biggest issue is the original is a bit to tight at the top (unless you removed a bunch).
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I'd agree, its a bit tight to do much too it.

However, others notice what SK has done with this - driver is now (roughly) on the thirds line and he's taken the white line and placed it so it ends in the corner.

Rule of thirds and leading lines, this is good composition technique and a really good oppurtunity to talk about it :)

We don't tend to get very "photography technical" in the motorsport section (we leave that to the artsy fartsy folks elsewhere lol!) but when you realise that pretty much all of the "normal" photography concepts do apply here as well, well, then your images really start to shine.
 
They are ok :) perhaps a little too tight on the Kart in 2. At the end of the day its pretty much what looks best to your eye. I found cropping with cars is quite difficult to do well, especially if you try and loose bits of them outside the frame- with these all being a case of removing the background, none are offensive, some folks don't like angles but its a technical fact that it can create a dynamic composition.

Rule of thirds and leading lines, this is good composition technique and a really good opportunity* to talk about it
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not wishing to hijack - I Just tried something similar with positioning in frame and using lines in the track to guide the eye

kubica by Fireproof_Art, on Flickr


kubica mapped by Fireproof_Art, on Flickr

There's quite a good overlay grid tool for this sort of thing - Atrise Golden section here overlays both rule of thirds and golden section, more flexible than the standard crop guides in photoshop
 
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So, you've tried it and what do you think now?

In more recent versions of Photoshop you can turn on the thirds grid :)
 
yup, the atrise version though alows you to swap between a few presets (such as golen ratio and spirals etc) rather than just thirds - and as it overlays you dont have to use the crop tool untill you think its worth it.

Looks ok to me, but then im a photoshopper with flagrent diregard to these rule things :) - I usually use this method when cropping - when I said just 'trying it' i meant I was doing it as I read your post about it :D - thought id join the discussion
 
Aha! I see.

If you have a minute - can you go back and do some variations to show how it looks better like that vs central subject?
 
I don't mind adding angle for drama, but just like the "dutch angle" in portraiture, it is often overdone. And, IMO, you always need to keep in mind basic physics.

In your example, the angle and position of the car in the frame makes it seem as if the car is going to slide out of frame and nothing could prevent that. The track being that far off camber in a corner is just unrealistic.

I think due to the multiple directions of the car I would have composed it with the car ~centered at ~the upper 1/3. If anything, I would have added angle in the opposite direction.
 
sk66 said:
I don't mind adding angle for drama, but just like the "dutch angle" in portraiture, it is often overdone. And, IMO, you always need to keep in mind basic physics.

In your example, the angle and position of the car in the frame makes it seem as if the car is going to slide out of frame and nothing could prevent that. The track being that far off camber in a corner is just unrealistic.

I think due to the multiple directions of the car I would have composed it with the car ~centered at ~the upper 1/3. If anything, I would have added angle in the opposite direction.
Click to expand...

Apologies - it was just a 5 minuite hack together using the rule of thirds and a lead line :), I was only trying to illustrate substructure in an image for those who didnt know. :)
 
I think this is all great discussion for others to pick up tips :)

Once you've got your sharp, well exposed image, this is what makes it truly shine and its not difficult, you just need to understand the basics.
 
colspics said:
This is one subject I am very interested in. I am getting some really good shots now but composition lets them down. I keep hearing the rule of thirds, just need to start using it now ! Am I right in thinking that you do it in pp or when you crop ? Col
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Best to do it in camera, but always feasible to do in post if you don't have the reach
 
colspics said:
This is one subject I am very interested in. I am getting some really good shots now but composition lets them down. I keep hearing the rule of thirds, just need to start using it now ! Am I right in thinking that you do it in pp or when you crop ? Col
Click to expand...

I think people take too much heed to the theoretical rule of thirds , most of the really oitstanding comositions I have seen have totally ignored it , and after many years of researching I still have not discovered where the rule of thirds came from .
 
Andy, you haven't paid much attention then, a quick google would yield the answer if somehow on a photography forum the size of this one you couldn't already find the answer...

As for *never* seeing it in great photos, you either have a very strange taste in images or just aren't looking properly.

I've written on here many times that people who ignore it as an essential consideration to a great image largely do so because they either aren't aware (which could include doing it without being aware of why) OR stubbornly refuse to try because "its a rule and I am a rebel", imagining that this will lead to some sort of elite originality.
 
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