Cropping for the Subject in Post

Lesson Info

Cropping for the Subject in Post

We also have cropping for other things, like cropping for the specific subject matter. So these are instances where you have your camera, you're all set up. This is a perfect one in Chicago. My buddy and I, we had just gotten done eating dinner, we were waiting for the sunset, waiting out the sunset, and it was one of those just pay the check and get out of there because we've got a beautiful sunset coming in. And this, I put on a telephoto lens and I shot specifically for the church. But when I shot for the church, I had to get some of that building in on the outside. Now, I could have just moved my camera over and gotten more of the other side of the image. But there's nothing really there that was really that important for me to get into the image. So I had to make the conscious decision to just cut a little bit into this building because what was the left of it wasn't all sky. It was a bunch of other buildings and such. So, this is where we're specifically cropping, not necessarily...

for composition, but we've made a decision in camera that we now need to correct for in post-production. So, if I click here from my crop tool, cycle for my rule of thirds, I can go ahead and press and hold Shift and keep it within the constraints of that image. Now I say press and hold Shift while you do that because I want to maintain that aspect ratio. I want to maintain the same ratio that I had when I shot the image, so that if I press and hold Shift it automatically makes sure that that happens. Press Enter and now that's what I would say is a much better crop than what we had before. You definitely don't need to see that building there and even losing some of the bottom of the church is fine. I just feel like we're a little higher up now. Here's another example of that. The palm tree, it doesn't feel like it's alone in it's beautiful environment like we would typically want to see a palm tree because we've got all of this clutter of the human world that comes into this that doesn't make it necessarily as attractive. It gives us too much of a time and place. So if I'm cropping this specifically for the subject, I'll just come in and I'll just crop that out. And then maybe move this around, get that rule of thirds and boom, I'm done. So, the idea is not to necessarily just shoot because of the sake of when we photograph that image, it's got to have everything in there. You can shoot whatever it is that you shoot and then come in later and just crop it in post. There's nothing holding you back from cropping it in post and still making a good image. Don't sacrifice a good shot for the fact that you just don't feel like there's something there. Take the shot, more than likely, there's a reason why you're snapping that image and your brain sees it and it's telling you that there's a reason why you're doing this and you don't really know. And you get back to your computer and you're like, "Well, why did I shoot that?" And then it clicks and it triggers. So this is one of those instances. I didn't like all of the junk that was on the bottom. But I really did enjoy that palm tree that was in front of me. Here's nother example of cropping within a wide angle lens. It takes in everything. Cropping specifically for the subject matter, I'm just going to go ahead and crop in with the rule of thirds, press Alt while I Shift-click, get that tree trunk out of there. And get a nice composition that looks more like that timeless feel of being in the palouse with those dilapidated barns. We look at the before, pressing Command or Control Z, pressing Command or Control Z again and we see the after. It's a much better, more powerful crop.

Class Description

Lessons

1. Bootcamp Introduction
2. The Bridge Interface
3. Setting up Bridge
4. Overview of Bridge
5. Practical Application of Bridge
6. Introduction to Raw Editing
7. Setting up ACR Preferences & Interface
8. Global Tools Part 1
9. Global Tools Part 2
10. Local Tools
11. Introduction to the Photoshop Interface
12. Toolbars, Menus and Windows
13. Setup and Interface
14. Adobe Libraries
15. Saving Files
16. Introduction to Cropping
17. Cropping for Composition in ACR
18. Cropping for Composition in Photoshop
19. Cropping for the Subject in Post
20. Cropping for Print
21. Perspective Cropping in Photoshop
22. Introduction to Layers
23. Vector & Raster Layers Basics
24. Adjustment Layers in Photoshop
25. Organizing and Managing Layers
26. Introduction to Layer Tools and Blend Modes
27. Screen and Multiply and Overlay
28. Soft Light Blend Mode
29. Color and Luminosity Blend Modes
30. Color Burn and Color Dodge Blend Modes
31. Introduction to Layer Styles
32. Practical Application: Layer Tools
33. Introduction to Masks and Brushes
34. Brush Basics
35. Custom Brushes
36. Brush Mask: Vignettes
37. Brush Mask: Curves Dodge & Burn
38. Brush Mask: Hue & Saturation
39. Mask Groups
40. Clipping Masks
41. Masking in Adobe Camera Raw
42. Practical Applications: Masks
43. Introduction to Selections
44. Basic Selection Tools
45. The Pen Tool
46. Masks from Selections
47. Selecting Subjects and Masking
48. Color Range Mask
49. Luminosity Masks Basics
50. Introduction to Cleanup Tools
51. Adobe Camera Raw
52. Healing and Spot Healing Brush
53. The Clone Stamp Tool
54. The Patch Tool
55. Content Aware Move Tool
56. Content Aware Fill
57. Custom Cleanup Selections
58. Introduction to Shapes and Text
59. Text Basics
60. Shape Basics
61. Adding Text to Pictures
62. Custom Water Marks
63. Introduction to Smart Objects
64. Smart Object Basics
65. Smart Objects and Filters
66. Smart Objects and Image Transformation
67. Smart Objects and Album Layouts
68. Smart Objects and Composites
69. Introduction to Image Transforming
70. ACR and Lens Correction
71. Photoshop and Lens Correction
72. The Warp Tool
73. Perspective Transformations
74. Introduction to Actions in Photoshop
75. Introduction to the Actions Panel Interface
76. Making Your First Action
77. Modifying Actions After You Record Them
78. Adding Stops to Actions
79. Conditional Actions
80. Actions that Communicate
81. Introduction to Filters
82. ACR as a Filter
83. Helpful Artistic Filters
84. Helpful Practical Filters
85. Sharpening with Filters
86. Rendering Trees
87. The Oil Paint and Add Noise Filters
88. Introduction to Editing Video
89. Timeline for Video
90. Cropping Video
91. Adjustment Layers and Video
92. Building Lookup Tables
93. Layers, Masking Video & Working with Type
94. ACR to Edit Video
95. Animated Gifs
96. Introduction to Creative Effects
97. Black, White, and Monochrome
98. Matte and Cinematic Effects
99. Gradient Maps and Solid Color Grades
100. Gradients
101. Glow and Haze
102. Introduction to Natural Retouching
103. Brightening Teeth
104. Clean Up with the Clone Stamp Tool
105. Cleaning and Brightening Eyes
106. Advanced Clean Up Techniques
107. Introduction to Portrait Workflow & Bridge Organization
108. ACR for Portraits Pre-Edits
109. Portrait Workflow Techniques
110. Introduction to Landscape Workflow & Bridge Organization
111. Landscape Workflow Techniques
112. Introduction to Compositing & Bridge
113. Composite Workflow Techniques
114. Landscape Composite Projects
115. Bonus: Rothko and Workspace
116. Bonus: Adding Textures to Photos
117. Bonus: The Mask (Extras)
118. Bonus: The Color Range Mask in ACR