[Leica] C&C solicited for show entry

[chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford)]

I am going to disagree with everyone else and choose the square "Core
Crop". I don't like 1 because the shrubbery is ugly. I don't like 3
because it crops part of the white foam at the wave-front. I feel like the
full width of the white wave-front is needed to complete the shape it
creates. I don't like 4 because it cuts off too much of the green band at
the top, looking cramped.

Good luck with the show.

-- 
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-437-8990

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
Become a fan on Facebook



On 12/24/11 10:54 PM, "Howard Ritter" <hlritter at bex.net> wrote:

>Hello All?
>
>I'm planning to enter my first show ever, the annual Healing Arts show
>put on by and for the local medical community in March next year, open to
>entries from the graphic arts. I selected a photo I took at Pictured
>Rocks National Lakeshore of Lake Superior on the UP of Michigan on a
>short trip there last year. The subject is a wave breaking on a
>multilayered sandstone shorline. (OK, OK, I can hear your eyes rolling
>now. What new way is there to show a wave breaking on a shore? Well, I
>think this is one.) Because the purpose of the trip was not to go to
>Pictured Rocks or to take photographs, I wasn't expecting to encounter
>any subject that would benefit from FF, so the only camera I took was my
>Lumix GF1. Lesson learned (not for the first time). The GF1 is a great
>little camera, but the degree of the crop here really would have
>benefitted from the larger sensor and greater number of photosites of a
>FF camera.
>
>The viewpoint is an observation platform about 300 feet above the water,
>at the top of a nearly vertical cliff, explaining the perspective. I have
>uploaded four photos to the Gallery
>(http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hlritter/Fotos/). One is the full
>frame, taken at 45mm (90 equiv) containing a good deal of foreground
>shrubbery. I started to crop down to clean the worst of this out, but as
>I worked, I realized that the picture works best (for me) as an almost
>abstract composition with the shore, the breaking wave, and the colors of
>the lake bottom forming a nicely proportioned and colorful array. I think
>this is an unusual perspective for this subject, and is the reason why I
>think it's worth showing. The other three are crops.
>
>The first photo is the full frame. The second is the largest crop I could
>get that contained only a small amount of foreground clutter that I could
>PS out (some of which I've already done) and preserved all of the green
>water. The problem with the core crop is that I don't like the
>near-square proportions much?but I like all of the parts of the
>composition. The other two are crops in conventional print proportions,
>each using one of the full dimensions of the core crop. The 11x14 is the
>proportion I find most pleasing, but even though it occupies the full
>horizontal dimension of the core crop, it leaves out a lot of the
>beautiful green waters and some shoreline detail.  The 8x10 is about as
>near-square as I find pleasing to look at, and includes all the water,
>but its portrait orientation is at a right angle to the flow of the
>picture elements. But I don't think that's a deal-killer, and the 8x10
>may be better in that it comes closer to conforming to the rule of
>thirds. And I like the off-center location of the most prominent part of
>the wave in the 8x10 crop, as well as the inclusion of more interesting
>texture and detail on the shore. Right now I favor the 8x10.
>
>I'd appreciate C&C, especially on what might look best framed and on a
>wall?the square core crop, the 8x10, or the 11x14. Or any other cropping
>and proportioning suggestions.
>
>Thanks in advance.  Merry Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah) to all, and to
>all a good night!
>
>?howard
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information