Quick tips - Where is it safe to chop off an appendage or two?
Although I do not consider myself foremost as a portrait photographer, I am a strong believer in learning every photographic technique, as you never know when you can adapt those skills to your chosen subject area.
I was chatting with a wedding photography friend, Chandan Atreya, the other day about portraits and the topic of where was acceptable to crop the model came up in conversation. I remembered seeing this diagram a few years back and had found it useful so decided to dig it up again to share with you.
It is a cheat-sheet depicting where you can 'crop' a subject, either in camera by framing or in post-processing, to give the "best" (or at least less likely to look weird) portrait. The article by DigitalCameraWorld.com states correctly, that bad cropping can ruin a great portrait. So bare this in mind next time you a framing a shot or editing a shoot! :)
While writing this, Jared Polin aka FroKnowsPhoto, made this video which you might also find interesting! :)
How many times have you seen a photo where the subjects fingers have been cut off and it just feels painful to look at. Not actually cut off but cut off in the composition? How many times have you seen someones toes or feet cut off and it just makes the images feel awkward?
Quick question... Does this apply to wildlife too? ;)
Green lines - OK to crop a portrait here.
Red lines - Looks odd to crop here.
I got this image from DigitalCameraWorld.com
