Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Feli offered his cropped pictures for all to see: > http://www.clearsightusa.com/feli-crop.html > > The top frame is my cropped and tilted version. My question was if it was unethical to dodge/fix the lower left corner. Joseph made a few crops and #7 seems to work the best, although it could maybe be cropped a little lower on the bottom. Hi Feli, Let's get this part out of the way first. >> I understand that it is completely unacceptable to manipulate a image intended for journalistic purposes, but didn't understand if that included something like this. I didn't study journalism, so I am not familiar with the standards of the profession.<<< When you are fiddling / cropping or any other manipulation of a photograph for your own use do whatever with it that makes you feel good about what you've done. As it makes no never mind what you do in home. But what we photojournalists' balk at, are pictures manipulated and presented for publication as the truth in which it was supposedly taken! And that my friend is about as unethical as anyone can get. Plain old darkroom stuff, burning in, dodging, cropping is done all the time and been done since the beginning of time. I mean in nearly every discipline of photography some manipulation takes place, heck even scenics have burned in clouds or fore-ground to enhance the scene and it's accepted. But it's blatant computer PS changing the shot to be something else all to-gether and that is the lowest from of manipulation and journalism ethics of the worst kind. In your case you could do whatever makes your little ol' heart happy..... because you are looking for better impact in your personal picture. And not for use on the front page of the Daily Blat! We printed out all the cropped photos and looked at them no differently than a photo editor would. Besides it's much easier than looking at them on the screen when you can't see them all at the same time. > http://www.clearsightusa.com/feli-crop.html > > The top frame is my cropped and tilted version. My question was if it was unethical to dodge/fix the lower left corner. Joseph made a few crops and #7 seems to work the best, although it could maybe be cropped a little lower on the bottom.<<<<< I see Sonny made almost the same cropping suggestion as I thought to myself the second I looked at the first shot. It's the two guys and that's all there is! The bus is meaningless unless in the next second one or both guys were run over! Too bad that didn't happen with you standing there then you'd have a "great news photo!" And we'd not be going through this exercise about how to crop a picture, that I feel you are reading far more into the "real-time experience" compared to the actual captured image. We all do that as news photographers, it goes with the emotional and physical connection of being there and feeling the experience. When I first read your words the bus was about to run over two fighting guys etc and whatever other enhancing words describing the photo, I was anxious to see the real picture and what the problem was. My feeling as Photo Editor would be crop the two guys tight and forget the bus as it "don't mean nuthin'!" ;-) The main body of the photograph is the action of these two clowns rousting each other over the demonstration signs and a difference of opinion. And I'd sure as hell have hung tight with them and banged off a bunch more frames as their body language changed. And waiting for the one to win the battle. Or got run over, whichever came first. So my friend put the neg. in the enlarger or scanner and crop it tight around the fighters and then sleep tight to-night as that's the best part of this whole negative. ted - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html