Photography Tips Videos
Cropping Images

Cropping images can be one of the most effective ways to totally change the focus point of your pictures. It can change a totally ordinary scene into one of interest and full of energy.

Many of my most successful images have been cut from photographs that I had discarded due to their lack lustre. It's a great way to teach your creative eye to see things that aren't initially apparent and to give your photography art a much more powerful prospective.

Sometimes an image may only need a small amount of snipping to remove unwanted items from a scene, other times you can dramatically cut whole chunks away to reveal a much better focus for the image.

This video is an excellent tutorial and is well worth watching all the way through. It will help to show the different ways cropping can be used to create fantastic, striking images.

Trimming tips:

• Trim to fit standard print sizes. If you want a 5x7 inch print from the photo on your screen, adjust the trim tools' settings in your image editor to 5x7 inches. That way, the photo fits the print size exactly.
• Try unusual shapes. Sometimes, a photo looks bland when cut to a standard print size. If you photographed a sprawling cityscape, try a wide panoramic shape.
• Radical cuts such as tight portraits with the hair, chin, and ears trimmed out, or the subject spilling out of the edge of a frame make for a tight image full of impact.
• For special occasions you could try custom shapes, such as hearts for Valentine's Day or holly for Christmas etc.
• If you've successfully composed the photo at the time it was taken, don't automatically feel the need to trim more.