In-Camera Cropping
There’s a weird time warp that happens when you write magazine articles. You get an assignment, and of course wait until the last minute to fulfil it, so there’s a bit of a lag there. Then you submit the article, and it is generally at least a couple months before it goes to press. And, typically, it takes at least another few weeks before you receive a copy of that issue and actually realize that your article is in the magazine.
Such was the case as I finally reviewed the November/December 2008 issue of Layers magazine. It features an article I wrote called “Taking Aim”, which talks about framing the shot properly in camera instead of relying on Photoshop to fix things after the fact (though I also talk briefly about cropping in Photoshop for situations where that becomes necessary).
Seeing the article in print (and enjoying the great job Layers magazine did with the layout) brought back part of the inspiration for writing the article in the first place. I’ve noticed a growing trend lately, where photographers are starting to focus more on the fundamentals of photography than the details of digital.
Now, as someone who makes a living primarily helping photographers make the most of what happens after the image is captured, it might seem odd that I’d be concerned about what happens during the capture. But the truth is my passion revolves around producing the very best images possible, and that requires starting with the best capture and then performing the best techniques in post-processing.
So I’m gratified to see more and more photographers focusing on creating better images in the first place, and I hope my article in Layers magazine helps some photographers improve upon that goal.
Explore posts in the same categories: Photography
April 15th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Not to mention that if you don’t need to crop, you don’t lose those pixels you paid so much for…