This week Ritva is challenging us to be bold and creative with our cropping. She is encouraging us to deliberately defy traditional framing conventions. At first I didn’t think I could come up with anything but her many great examples inspired me to give it a try.
I almost always crop my photos to begin the editing process. For this post I tried some new to me cropping techniques. The original photo of our dog checking out the butterfly was not close enough to see the details of the butterfly. Normally I would crop the photo into a rectangle but I tried making a square image instead. It’s out of my comfort zone but I hope you like it.


This photo of a crocodile was originally shot in landscape mode. I like the way it turned out after I cropped it to portrait mode.
I wanted to have lots of negative space in the next image so I cropped out the palm tree that was in the original.

I snapped this final photo of the Sidney Lanier Bridge out the car window as we were leaving Jekyll Island, Georgia. At first I wanted to trash it but I decided the negative space of the cloudy sky added to the image.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my challenge last week of What Astonishes You! Your responses were amazing and showed us many astonishing images.
I hope you will join us this week for Ritva’s Lens-Artists #385: Unusual Crop. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and link back to Ritva’s post.
Be sure to check back on Saturday, February 21 at noon eastern time when Patti will be hosting the challenge.
For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.
Every Day is a Gift

Beth, you did well used negative space, tighter crops and more unconventional crops. The dog and butterfly is a delightful.
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Thanks Ritva! You really challenged me on this one! I had forgotten about our dog with the butterfly but I stumbled on it when I was looking for something else. I’m glad you like it. Thanks for taking me out of my comfort zone.
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Happy to do that 😂
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Beth, your photos are awesome. I love the adorable photo of the “Curious Labrador Retriever” and the butterfly; what a magical moment you captured. Well done!
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Thanks Suzette! Our dog was fascinated by that butterfly and I just had to capture it.
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So beautiful. Your dog is so sweet.
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Thank you Suzette. Sadly our dog is no longer with us. She was a sweetie.
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Oh, I am so sorry for your loss. Bless you, Beth.
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Abfab! Your pup with his wee friend is adorable and your crop is perfect! Changing the perspective of the croc makes it a very interesting image and your eye is drawn to the length of that jaw (yikes!) and to his watchful eye. Great crop choice! But, um… Exactly how close were you to him? One of my new favourite photography subjects is bridges and I really admire how you cropped that image. Great shots, great crops and thank you for sharing those gems with us! pp
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Thank you so much for your kind words! We were in a boat and spied the crocodile lying in the grass beside the river. I took the photo with zoom lens and cropped it to just show his jaw. He watched us as we went by in the boat. I really like photographing bridges, too. I’m glad you liked this one.
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Except in a zoo (I think?) I’ve never seen a croc!
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Very well done Beth! I loved them all and the crops are great. Your dog w the butterfly is a prize-winner!!
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Thanks Tina! I almost didn’t use the dog and butterfly. I found it while I was looking for something else. I’m glad the square crop worked.
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I love the Butterfly/Dog, and the Alligator images. The Negative space image crops are fantastic. You nailed the challenge en mon avis.
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Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad you like the images.
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You’re welcome!
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Great response Beth. When cropped, the crocodile looks like a log. Loved your dog and the butterfly. It’s amazing the butterfly didn’t take off.
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Thanks Anne! I think the tour guide pointed out the crocodile as we went by. He just ignored us. The butterfly must not have been bothered by our dog.
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Great response to the challenge. I think the portrait format crocodile and the bridge with the negative space are especially effective 😀
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Sarah, thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the images.
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Beth, I think you struck gold with each image. I love the results. The dog and butterfly is gorgeous. The viewer sees the dog, obviously, but the focus is on the Monarch. Great gallery!
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Egidio, thank you so much. Our dog with the butterfly seem to be the favorite this week. I experimented with a lot of images before I narrowed it down to these. I’m glad you like them.
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You have given me inspiration, Beth! I love the effect of the crocodile! At first I thought it was just a piece of driftwood – then I saw the eye.
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Thanks Lindy. I don’t know if I would have noticed the crocodile if our tour guide had not pointed him out. I’m glad I gave you some inspiration! I can’t wait to see your response.
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Great job on all the images, Beth. You captured the contrast between the dog and the butterfly so beautifully. Well done!
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Pepper, many thanks I really appreciate your kind words.
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My pleasure. 😊
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I loved your dog and the butterfly! And what about that crocodile?!
Cropping always is a learning lesson at times. You did well.
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Nancy, thank you so much. I enjoyed trying different crops on a lot of images and finally decided to just include these. I’m glad you like them.
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The dog with the butterfly is such a great capture!
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Thanks Rebecca! The dog and butterfly photo has been sitting in my archives for years. I’m glad it worked for this challenge.
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Wonderful photo, glad you included it.
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Great crops Beth, that one with the bridge and clouds looks like a painting too.
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Leanne, thank you so much! I’m glad you like the bridge.
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Beautiful, my fav is the dog and the butterfly, dogs are so curious!
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Excellent, Beth! The crocodile is a brilliant crop, I love the cleverness of it. The bridge is simply beautiful.
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Sofia, thank you so much! I wasn’t sure the crop on the crocodile photo would work. I’m glad you like it.
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Wow, you are a pro in this, Beth! Love them all, clever and fun. Negative space is also efficient. The bridge and the dog and butterly are my favourites!
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Thank you so much!
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