Cropping Photos to Improve the Visual Effect

Cropping is a useful tool for photo improvement. Though it sounds like an easy trick, cropping is more art than science and you need an eye for it. Still there are some general guidelines that can help you improve the visual effect of your photos.

Focus in!

Crop to bring the attention to the main object or person. In a portrait, the person's eyes are the focal point. If the person is looking sideways, make sure to allow 'space' for her to look into or include enough of the object so the viewer knows what the the person is looking at. Otherwise the viewer will wonder what is missing. Cropping also lets you remove the parts of the picture that didn't turn well, let's say because of awkward posing like in the example below.

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Don't amputate!

Cropping off people's limbs at joints makes them look like amputees. Despite a very popular concern, it's okay to crop part of the head if it's a close portrait, as it will bring more attention to the eyes. Cutting between the joints is alright as long as it's still possible for the mind's eye to fill in the blanks to complete a person's torso or limb.

An example of bad cropping where the hand cut off at the wrist appears detached. The only way to fix this effect is to re-crop the photo to a close portrait."

Combine tilting with cropping!

In some situations tilting can save the day when you realize the only photo that you like is still bad.

Remove distractions!

Remove the view-spoilers, parts of unidentifiable objects and things that distracts from the story the image is telling.

In this picture, someone's back was a view-spoiler in otherwise a nice portrait. The photo allowed for easy cropping that brought the new balance to the composition by seemingly adding to the empty space in the direction of the person' glance."

Watch the 'negative space'!

This is the space around the central object. Cropping too tightly will make the photo look awkward.

Cropping Contextual Images

The images surrounding the person or the object in the center of attention serve as the context and create the picture story and establish the mood. It becomes a critical compositional component that need to be cropped to have a balanced visual effect. To reach the optimal result, it is recommended to follow the Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds:

Divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically. The points where those lines intersect are good starting points to place the main subject. Essentially the primary subject is slightly off center. Look at the illustration bellow. In the original photo the person is put squarely in the middle and the background is cropped too tight leaving no breathing space above and below the figure. By cropping right below the hand (not to lose the gesture) and reducing the space on the left we re-balance the composition to bring it it in line with the Rule-of-Thirds."

You might find it impossible to follow all these rules as they start to clash when your photo has more than one problem. You would need to compromise or send it to us at PhotoHand and we'll apply more advanced techniques to perfect your mementos.

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You might also want to read:

Cropping Photos to Match Printing Standards

Other Point-and-Click Tips

Point-and-Click Tips: Taking the Red Eye Glow Out Of the Picture

Red eyes (red glow in pupils) in photos is a common phenomenon when taking pictures of people or animals using a flash.


Some cameras support a "red eye reduction" mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this helps reducing the red-eye effect, it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they blink when blinded by the pre-flash).

There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes.

1. Take the pictures with sufficient light in the environment so that your subjects' pupils decrease in size.
2. Tell them to look to the side of your camera - not straight at the camera.
3. Have someone divert babies or pets' attention so that they look away from the camera.

Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos, or you can use Picasa or other online photo editing software. Make sure that the software only effects the eye area and doesn't change the color of other elements in the picture that happen to have the tint typical of the red eye effect. Software trips in such cases as it works on formulas and doesn't exercise common sense.

Another option is having it done by professional photo retouchers for as low as $3.50, especially in case you have captured a close portrait in a dark environment and now the whole eye retina is glowing red.

Digital Photography for Moms and Aunties: How To Avoid Blurry Pictures

Modern digital cameras equipped with automatic settings make it easy to take beautiful pictures of your family. Still there are some tips to remember to avoid pretty common photo defects that can not be fixed with photo retouching. We'll cover them one by one and give you very simple practical tips to avoid these mishaps.

Our first topic is picture blurriness. We, at PhotoHand, quite often get request to sharpen blurry photos. This can be done only to some extent before the image turns pixelated. So how to avoid blurriness?

First of all, use a real camera, not a phone camera. Even if your phone camera takes multi-megapixel shots, there are a lot of other technical parameters that are missing from it to deliver a quality image.
The second common problem is "shaky shots". A digital camera is very light and there is a big probability that it could be easily shaken or swayed when you take a shot.

We suggest you always hold the camera with both hands.

When taking a shot, assume a steady and stable position to avoid any shaking or wobbling of your camera that will result in blurring in your pictures. If you are standing, make sure that you are on level ground and that your feet are shoulder width apart. If possible, lean against a wall or a tree.
If possible, do not hold your camera at arm’s length as this could cause swaying of your camera. Keep your elbows close to your sides.

When kneeling, rest your elbow(s) on your knee for support.

If you have a DSLR camera, your left hand must be placed around the lens and the bottom edge to support the edge of the camera.

If you are still getting shaky pictures, it is normally recommended to use a tripod or a monopod (a one-legged tripod). We don't see these as a practical solution for a moms. But there is an easy-to-carry lightweight (4.8 oz) alternative to tripods and monopods - SteadePod. It resembles a stainless-steel tape measure - you attach one end to your camera, pull the retractable 6' steel cable down to the ground, hold it with your foot, and the slight tension on the cable gives you a steady camera position. This device costs $24.99 at B&H and can be ordered online.









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