Earlier today a fellow blogger made a suggestion on one of my posts. This is one of the things I have come to like most about WordPress and this blogging community – the willingness of bloggers to share knowledge.
The suggestion came from Gemma who blogs at First and Fabulous. Her suggestion was to crop out some of the grass in the foreground of the photo I posted March 30th, making the focus the building not the grass.
I am new at this photography thing and I have not learned to focus on cropping (unless it’s a glaring distraction) so it really didn’t dawn on me to crop out the grass.
As suggested by Gemma I went back to the original photo and cropped out most of the grass. I get it!! I see what she was talking about and I’m excited that she was kind enough to share her thoughts.
I see more detail in the reflection and the building is now the main focus.
Thanks Gemma!
Conversations Around the Tree 
Very interesting. I wonder if you cropped a bit too much of the grass. I probably would crop a little bit of sky and a little bit of grass so the building is in the middle 1/3.
Thank you so much Helen for sharing your thoughts. I guess in reality beauty is in the eye of the beholder! 😉
Isn’t that what creativity and art is all about….You and I could take a picture of the same building and our photos would likely capture something very different. Our eyes seem to view things so differently.
I hope you have a great day!!
This is interesting. I don’t know anything about photography, but I follow several talented photographers and admire their compositions. Cropping comes up, too. What I find often helpful is to put both pictures into one post, then your visitors can compare the two directly. I clicked back to the first one, which I liked a lot. In the cropped version I miss the drama. The contrast of dark lawn and glowing building and sky is dramatic. That doesn’t show that much in the cropped image, because now the bright building is in the center, and the light is overall brighter. I guess it depends on what your focus is: the reflections in the windows, or the drama of the situation. Sorry, I don’t know how to describe this more professionally. 🙂
Thank you for commenting Gahlearner….I think you described your thoughts perfectly. I am very much a beginner in this photography thing….but I am learning so much from everyone that is willing to share.
Even though you aren’t a photographer…your input is thoughtful and honest….we can all learn from that!
Like Gahlearner, I’m no photographer, but follow many, like yourself!
I have learned a bunch about cropping. I like the new crop, but I wouldn’t have known that until I saw the ‘after’ photo.
I also think it’s what your focus was. An architect may want to focus on the building. A landscaper wants the grass. .. I think sometimes you do need to focus on a subject, other times include the whole kit-n-cabbootle!
I agree….I don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer. I believe what you said about it depending on your focus is the point Gemma was making. Her eye was drawn to the building so that’s where her focus was and she gave me an opportunity to bring that to the foreground!
Thanks for commenting Plant Girl!!
By the way….is it ok to call you Plant Girl or should I call you Ms./Mrs. Plant Girl? 🙂
Mrs. Plant Girl was my mother 😉
Just don’t call me late to supper!
😉
Gemma is a gem of a person. Tree I do like this a lot better. Just and FYI, 95% of the time, I do a little cropping of my photos. Sometimes I do a lot of cropping. Play around with cropping it can really change the appearance of your photo and even your perspective. Just have fun and crop until it looks good to you.
Thank you Cee. I admire your gift for photography very much and your opinion means a lot. I will be playing around more with cropping….you can be assured!
Very cool, Tree! Thanks for being open to a different version (or as my little charge says, ‘virgin’) 😁
Both are fabulous. Eye of the beholder and all that jazz👋👋👋👋😊 You rock! With or without grass
Hilarious your little guy says virgin instead of version!!
I really do appreciate you taking the time to share your vision. You gave me an opportunity to open my eyes to different options. You are awesome!!
Awesome? I think not but thank you anyway. 😍
I’ll be waiting for you to send some tips MY way. 👍
Awesomeness is in the eye of the beholder!! 🙂
I’m not sure what I can share….I’ll get back with you!
I’ve learned so much from other photographers. The willingness of others to share their knowledge and observations never ceases to amaze me!!
me to!