To crop or not to crop, that is the question.

To crop or not to crop, that is often the question facing a painter or photographer. Why are we asking this question? It is because we are trying to improve composition. Occasionally I finish a watercolor which has great color and technique, but it just doesn't look right. The composition need work--that is my gremlin! I more frequently crop photographs for the same reason. Maybe the horizon is not level or a church steeple is not plumb and must be fixed. I have cut away half a sheet of watercolor with some very good brushwork just to make a good picture. The good brushwork just did not add to the picture.

The photo above is one of my Alaskan photos. I have beefed up the contrast and desaturated the color a bit for the look of a cold day. Although it is good I thought the cropping would make it better. To me landscapes almost always look better in a horizontal format. After deciding that I wanted a distant point on the river to be my focal point is began cropping.

You will note that I cropped off the top of the mountain. I felt it distracted from the river. Notice that almost every line in the landscape leads your eye to the river. Be aware that the center of interest is at the intersection of the lines that would be drawn for the "rule of thirds". Man-made elements are removed as well. I like it. Don't you?