C&C Help me crop properly please

[C_mo]

After my last post I took my son outside because it was cloudy out and I wanted to take advantage of the lighting to practice. I know it is a little soft, I think I missed my mark, but I do like the colors and I think the lighting is better than the pictures I posted last.

Here it is cropped. I tried to use the rule of thirds and have him off center, but he has plenty of background around him. His fist is dead center, I'm not sure if that is a good thing?

Here it is unedited for anyone who wants to show me how to crop/edit it better.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[marmots]

it is imposible to crop this properly
you need the negative space on the other side of him
at this point, no matter how you crop it it will feel claustrophobic
and you dont want portrait orientation, because he is almost as wide as he is tall

 

[C_mo]

There was a tree on the right, would it be better if he was looking to the left or should I have included the tree?

 

[marmots]

it may have actually made a more balanced image
if it were a similar color to the fence it would have been perfect, with the proper compostion
red/ brown tends to play pretty well with blue
especially if you could get a much shallower dof
it it isn't the right color/has more contrast than the child, it wouldn't work


but this all depends on a lot of unknowns, so final answer, maybe, maybe not
if not you might just need to move him to a new location

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[C_mo]

Thank you! That looks a lot better

 

[robertandrewphoto]

If you ask me, crops are for farmers. Frame your shot the way you want it to look when you are taking it. You'll get a higher quality shot and it makes you a better photographer.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

If you ask me, crops are for farmers. Frame your shot the way you want it to look when you are taking it. You'll get a higher quality shot and it makes you a better photographer.

Cropping while learning is the most effective way to learn how to frame shots on the fly, in the field. Baby steps.

 

[C_mo]

If you ask me, crops are for farmers. Frame your shot the way you want it to look when you are taking it. You'll get a higher quality shot and it makes you a better photographer.

It's funny you say that, because my husband and I are farmers... thank you for the advice, but for now I'm still learning to focus and set my settings properly

 

[KmH]

The original shot should have been made with the camera closer to the subject (zoomed or a couple of steps closer), and held with the frame vertical, like Bitter Jewelers crop, not horizontal.