First let me tell you where I heard about this. I get a newsletter from Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics One of the more recent ones talked about cropping. They suggested cropping from vertical to horizontal or horizontal to vertical (whichever the case may be). There were some examples of what a difference it made in the final photo. Let me just say WOW I liked it.
Here are a couple of my examples for you. Now on the after picture I also did some additional editing but even without it, there was a big improvement. At least I think so anyway.
My first example is a horizontal shot of the cat I used to have. Not a very good picture really but heck he was a pretty cat.
Now when I cropped, I turned it vertical. Then of course I changed it to black and white and probably several something elses that I can't remember. What do you think? Better?
This next one is a picture of me :) Why I'm posting this I'm not sure because I hate pictures of me. But, I really like what I ended up with. Now before you look at the picture I want you to pretend that you don't see any gray hair. What was I thinking when I let myself be photographed without coloring my hair first? OMG
Again I went from horizontal to vertical and you wouldn't believe that this is the same picture. Now again I did a whole lot of editing after I cropped and can't for the life of me remember exactly what I did but this is what I ended up with. So what do you think?
So give this a try on some of your pictures. Turn landscapes into portraits and portraits into landscapes.
Just as a side note here, when you do something like this, save your originals that way you can always go back to it if you decide you don't like your edit so much after all. I've done some edits late at night that, at the time, I thought looked spectacular. The next morning? Not so good.
Duke wanted me to add here that he is a little upset with me right now. He thinks that since the title of my post was "You can teach an old dog new tricks" I should have included at least one picture of a dog.
Sorry Duke, maybe next time. This post is mom's
24 comments:
Wow. I'm so amazed. I shouldn't be because we all know how talented your are. That really makes a difference. You turned poorly composed pics into something lovely. I'm going to try that. i sure have lots of poor compositions to practice on.
Those look way better after you cropped and worked your magic (although I think your eyes in the first one are gorgeous)! How do you turn a horizontal photo vertical though? Is this all done in PhotoShop?
Buggys thanks so much for the compliment. Believe me I have tons of poorly composed pictures...lol
beaded tail aww thank you, believe it or not that is actually straight off camera, didn't touch anything. All done in photoshop elements but any program would work. You could probably do this 2 ways. either open the picture then crop it to the opposite proportions or open the picture on a blank canvas that is opposite of what you're starting with. I hope that made sense.
Ann, it's amazing what you can do. We had a really anicient photograph of my husband's great great grandma. It was sent to us via email and the picture was almost jet black so the features were difficult to pick out. I lightened it and found it was a reproduction from a very old and damaged photograph with lines across both the face and the dress. I nourished the picture bringing it back to dark sepia then painstakingliy eased out the lines (not all but those that affected mainly the face) then I pulled out the detail and was delighted to find that the dress had decorative buttons. These were not at all visible on the original email picture. It took ages to do but now we have a wonderful photograph of his great great grandma. As you say it's wise to keep copies both of originals and also if you have to make several alterations then have copies of these too. Otherwise, you may commit to too light or too dark and then not be able to undo something - if you have to begin all over again this can be a little more than frustrating.
You have a lovely face - and what beautiful eyes. (Now I feel like the big bad wolf out of Red Riding Hood! Lol!!)
Excellent picture transformations....but I think I agree with Duke Ann...you really should have included an edited photo of him too!!!!
The original photos look fine to me, but you did a great job with the edits. I sometimes do this with my stuff too, but mine are mostly squirrels or trees.
Cropping is a fine art. We are always trying to learn how to do it better. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the tips Ann.I am going to give them a try.Your photo's always look good.
That is really neat! It really can improve those pictures that weren't all that great. I think that you have the most beautiful eyes!
Kloggers I've got a couple pictures from way back when that are in need of some repair I've been wanting to try the restoration thing but I know it's a big job and I'm not sure I've got the patients for it. Sounds like you put a ton of work into yours with great results.
allotments4you yeah Duke has been giving me the evil eye ever since I posted....lol
ratty I don't know why but I'm never satisfied with just the originals...lol I think this would work great on nature and wildlife pictures as well
Daisy, I agree cropping can be tricky, I always seem to run into a problem with cropping too much then when I print I lose things I didn't want to lose
Grampy, you are welcome, always hoping my tips can be useful to someone. And thank you
Angel, it is amazing isn't it. thank you so much for the wonderful compliment.
What a COOL trick!! I May try it!! And you look LOVELY!!hughugs
Donna, glad you like my little trick too bad i can't take credit for thinking of it :) Thank you so much for the compliment
Oh Ann, you look fab ... great pictures, TFS!
Better? Maybe not. Different - Yes. Eash have their merits, tho I like the first shot of you better, with a little judicious cropping and tweaking I think it would be great. But I tend to be very literal when it comes to photographs.
I love B&W photos. They look dramatic!
Hmmm... you know, you kinda look like a startled Mona Lisa there... hehe
you have the brightest prettiest eyes. Your personality shows in this picture.
I agree sometimes cropping the original really makes a difference by cutting off the parts that distract from the subject. I have no clue how to even begin to flip them opposite though so I may have to try that. I liked both the original and the finished ones.
I have never tried this, but I really like the concept. I can imagine you could take an ok pic and turn it into something really cool when cropped differently. I do not know what but I tend to use my photos as is with a little lighting help and that is about it! Im gonna work on it!
I think they look more artsy once cropped. Very nice.
Aww Vickie, thanks so much, you're so sweet
Grace, ah well, DH always hates ALL my pictures, I guess I just have a much odder preference than some :)
Nessa, me too. A startled Mona Lisa huh? too funny
Roschelle, thanks so much that's so nice of you to say
Jude my pics are always loaded with distraction
Tanyia maybe your photos are better to begin with than mine are.
B Boys Mom me too and I go for the artsy look even if it is just my weird version of it...lol
I often play around with photos in the manner you demonstrated... sometimes it can be surprising what results in the end.
I LIKE your gray hair. It looks lovely with your blue eyes. I sometimes used to dye my hair when I was younger, but I stopped once the white hairs started coming in, because I like the look of them. And I earned each and every one!
I like them, Ann..I'm addicted to photoshop at times..
Jaya, aww thanks so much. Only problem with the gray is that it tends to stay just on top and the rest is a different color, always looks horrible...lol
Icy, thank you, I'm addicted for sure :)
Clever tricks with photography, Ann! BTW, what beautiful blue eyes you have!
Thanks for visiting my post about Sigge the Cat.
Hugs,
Anna
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