Square Crop Attempt

[scottvd]

I'm trying to get the square crop concept down - been looking at my photos trying to see what would benefit from a square cropping. Here's a photo from a recent trip to Belgium - before and after. Subject is kind of bland - but I'm focusing on the crop here - square good or bad?

After


Before


`S

[MHD]

Never have been a fan of the square crop... see I would have cropped so the subject was more in a corner so there is a sense space in the image...

[gstark]

Scott,

Rather than trying to convert an existing image from your library into a square image, you might find it more useful to go out and shoot with a square crop in mind.

[Marvin]

I don't mind the crop but I would have had the main subject a little to the left.

[MATT]

I quite like the crop..BUt I also like Gary's idea of going out with the square crop in mind.

So the question begs , What makes a good square crop?


MATT

[ATJ]

So the question begs , What makes a good square crop?

In my opinion, subjects that are already square or circular work well with a square crop. Subjects that aren't necessarily square or round, but are as wide as they are high can also work. e.g. a close up of a spider in a web works for me. But that's just the obvious ones.

[rflower]

I look at the photos you have provided, and I think you have cropped too much to make the square crop.

For me, the columns on the left and right do not do a huge amount for me ...
I would crop the left (as I view it) to almost the edge of the pillar closest to the statue. On the right, I would go just outside the candle near the bottom.

It may not be exactly square in the actual dimensions left-right vs top-bottom, but it would be very close ...

my 2c worth

[Reschsmooth]

The reason I don't think this image works as a square crop (the image itself is very good) is because of a lack of symmetry. I believe an image destined for a square crop should either have a symmetry in either the vertical, horizontal or diagonal planes (or all three) or have an absolute lack of it creating a sense of unbalance. In this photo, the statue head is in the centre of the image space, but is looking to camera right, so is only just 'unbalanced'.

Dunno if that made sense