A shot from a foggy morning in mid-April with some very early spring color along the Charles River in Massachusetts. I have attached two versions of this because I have been going back and forth on the crop, and have lost my sense of perspective. I guess my crop concerns boils down to the trade-off between showing a mirror reflection of the trees, vs. having a little tighter composition that makes the hints of spring color a little larger in the frame. I’m leaning to the tighter crop, but would appreciate having some perspective on this from others. Does cutting off the tree reflection bother you in the tighter crop ?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
any critique and comment is welcome, but especially looking for input on the crop.
This is a very gentle image. The muted reds and gold stand out beautifully against the blue haze. And I love that gnarly little tree near the point. This could make for a compelling monochrome image as well. As to your question - I have to go with the second version. The crop doesn’t really bring me in noticeably but it does make me feel cramped - having that reflection cut off that way just has me feeling that I wish you’d given it a bit more room.
i prefer the second version because the reflection doesn’t get cut off at the bottom edge. the tree on the right edge is a little distracting, but i’m not sure i would have noticed it if the first version wasn’t shown. the red and gold tones against the subtle blues makes for a very effective color palette.
Hi Ed! The red stands out beautifully against the blue fog. I like the wider crop for the cleaner bottom edge but I think the right edge is cleaner on the tighter crop. I suppose you can also burn the bright grass on that far bank.
A really nice peaceful scene. Put me down for the second, wider version. I like the full reflection and sense of place and I feel the colors still stand out well.
Hey Ed…this is great. Love the color and fog in this image. I too prefer the less-cropped version. I’d be tempted to burn the trugnk of the tree in the middle of the image the tiniest bit…the shadow of it looks a bit darker actually, so would leave that part alone. Agree with burning the bright grass on the right margin. Superb image - definitely a wall-hanger.
I love the quiet tranquility of this image, it was a pleasure to look at it. I too like the wider crop better given the choice. Maybe just a touch of negative de-haze on the darker tree line reflection on lower right edge.
The clear winner for me is the uncropped version, Ed. I really think seeing the whole reflection is the way to go as I think the details with the spring color look just fine when opening the larger version. The mood here is sublime with the subtle light on the land and the atmospherics with the light fog soften the BG and make them less prominent thereby making this all about that gorgeous spring color. Looks like a beautiful morning.
Well that’s a pretty unanimous view on preferring the un-cropped version, I’m now not even sure why I was considering the crop, thanks everyone for the sense of perspective. I also agree with burning down the far shoreline, so the suggested tweaks have been helpful.
Wonderfully moody shot, Ed. Put me down as favoring the second version as well. My only nit is that the vignette seems a little heavy and the transition too short. The red/brown combination look great.
Just to be contrary, I prefer the tighter crop. I might even crop the bottom just a tiny bit more. For some time I have been paying attention to the “crops” of various old masters paintings and have noticed that many times the “crop” is such that if it were a photo of mine I might feel it is too severe. Look carefully at Ansel Adams photos and you will often find what initially appears as a severe crop. Yes, showing everthing can seem pleasing, but there is something about cutting off “everything” and making the viewer imagine what is there can make for a more powerful image.
Of these two versions, I prefer the wider second. It is such a subtle and serene scene that it can be presented in a lot of different ways based on how much you choose to reveal or hide in the crop as Tony eludes to. One ‘shot within the shot’ that my eye caught was a vertical portrait of that small tree in the center of frame, cropped down to just it, its reflection and the bit of red in the tree directly behind.
