Friday 12 February 2010

Union Canal





I've been experimenting with cropping my photos, so here are a few examples - featuring boats and their reflections along the Union Canal in Edinburgh. You can see more photos of the Union Canal at their Flickr group here.
Lucy over at Box Elder posts a lot of cropped images amongst her always wonderful photos - her blog is always worth a visit.

35 comments:

Deb G said...

Cropping is a lot of fun sometimes. The red boat adds a really nice bit of color.

Forthvalley scribe said...

It comes in useful for banners. I love the intense blue of the one you've got now.

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Cropping can be everything.

Bondbloke said...

Thanks for the inspiration :)

Golden West said...

Love the reflections you captured!

Caroline Gill said...

Yes, I love cropping, too. Your shots are very striking. Great colours.

Pomona said...

I love the distressed paint on those boats - the colours are wonderful.

Pomona x

Sistertex said...

Cropping is the way to go. When I was in school the professor would tell me...crop it in your view finder first. (so on and so forth) However, that only works for shots you have time to plan...the rest get cropped after taking. Really works well and looks like it worked very well for you!

Carolyn Ford said...

I love boats and water reflections. I like the fact that these boats need a new layer of paint. They are more photogenic this way! Cropping can really create a work of art. Nice!

angie said...

oh, lovely!

I love the colors--the red especially--and the fantastic reflections!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I like those cropped images, Juliet - I think they work because the boats are a long narrow shape too.

Suburban Girl said...

Love reflections of boats. So peaceful.

Regina said...

Love the reflections.
Beautiful shots.

Gemma Wiseman said...

Lovely rippling reflections! Love how the red of the boat seems to domnate the ripples in the first photo!

James said...

I really like these. It's so wonderful how cropping can completely change an image and bring it to life.

Anonymous said...

Great photos, I do quite a lot of cropping, but don't get the chance much to do boats. These are beautiful, and wouldn't a shot of boats make a nice header?

Michael said...

These remind me of a jigsaw I did when I was a child. Row boats reflecting in water always make me think of that jigsaw puzzle and my granddad who helped me complete it. Nice pics.

Kat said...

I like these photos alot, and I love that red boat. Beautiful work. Kathy

Bill said...

Looks like fun. I love the way the red boat sits apart from the others in the top photo.

Carletta said...

I love the composition of the first one - nice work!

Anonymous said...

I like the long parade crop in the last image best. A good image isn't ready until the artist is satisfied. Cropping in the darkroom is an integral part of the creative process. Fun isn't it. Nice job on all of your images.

Serendipity said...

These are lovely. I really like the colours of the boats.

steven said...

sweet photos. i especially love the way colours and light scatter in disturbed reflections. steven

RG said...

One photo becomes so many!!!

James said...

Great shots. I found myself drawn to the top one. I remember reading somewhere that people like to see sets of three. Maybe it's true. :)

Martin said...

I'm all for cropping a photograph if it produces something special, just the way you have done here.

Kcalpesh said...

Wow, your pictures remind me of my last visit to Goa...

Amazing reflection pics...

Pixellicious Photos

VioletSky said...

I've also been experimenting with cropping - it can creates some really artistic shots and is great for memes like this (less ditraction).
I like the way the colours blend together in the reflection of the top photo.

Victoria said...

Gorgeous work! Like a stunning painting and the feeling of poetry..just beautiful!
Kiki~

this is my patch said...

I am guilty of a bit of cropping myself! x

Rune Eide said...

That must be a canal worth visiting!!! :-)

Tania said...

Nice reflections and good to see places without snow:-)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by my playground. I really appreciate it. These are wonderful photos and great reflections. Boy I'm lucky to get the whole picture on my blog let alone to crop it. Well done. Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family and Gung Hay Fat Choy :)

Anonymous said...

Cropping can make for interesting perspectives and I love to experiment with that too. I like what you've done here ;-)
Hugs and blessings,

Lucy said...

Thanks for the mention and link!

The 'crop it in the viewfinder' is still good practice I think, for getting your eye in and being aware of composition all the time. But we are so lucky these days to be able to crop and adjust freely and instantly, why not take advantage? Often only one part of an otherwise indifferent photo can yield a good picture if it's snipped out, and with all those largely unnecessary megapixels we have thrust upon us, you can afford to lose plenty. Sometimes too, with elusive subjects, it's good to know you can get your shot and use the cropping tool as a kind of retroactive zoom.

And of course, there's the potiential for attractive different shapes and formats, as you've discovered here. These are lovely photos!