Please Critique - As it says, "Always room to improve."

[Bitter Jeweler]

Yes, but it's not a hard, fast rule, and it depends on many variables that help you decide. Personally, I find it one of the tougher nuances of composition in portraiture. The "rule" that applies more often than not, is cropping at joints.

You'll see a lot of comments saying cutting off the top of the head is wrong, even though it actually works for a particular image. A lot of people just parrot back what they have heard, and aren't real good at deciding objectively when applying that rule on a per image basis.

For example, we've had a few people say to NEVER cut a body part. This is stoopid. If you can NEVER cut a body part, then every image of a person would be full body shots.

 

[MTVision]

Is it a pretty common rule not to cut off any limbs or head off of the subject?

Why would you cut the head off someone? You can chop limbs but do it "boldly" as they say. Don't chop limbs at joints - so you don't want to chop someone right at the knew, elbow, wrist, ect. So you wouldn't want to decapitate someone in a picture either. I saw, somewhere online, a diagram of a human and there where "chop/crop" lines showing where it was OK/good to chop...I'll look and see if I can find it.

Understood. It was my sarcasm that pissed you off. Thanks for your input.

About this....Nobody commenting on a thread is in no way UNcommon. It happens all the time and it happens to people who have been members for years. CC is voluntary and some people won't write anything for many reasons. I pass on a lot of CC because I am still fairly new and I am usually on my phone. I can't give solid CC when viewing from a tiny screen! If people don't comment you have to ask yourself WHY? Was any thought put into the pictures.....are they just snapshots..... Nobody commenting on your photos should give you incentive to improve. New people come here everyday, post pictures and want CC - it takes time and effort to CC photos so yeah unfortunately some people do not get any replies.
Also, double posting is bad etiquette - most forum members view the threads by current/active topics meaning everyone saw your original post they just chose not to comment. I saw both your posts pretty much at the same time. So, one sub-forum isn't any busier then another sub-forum - people just pick and choose the threads they want to post on.

Anyways, welcome to the forum!

 

[thinkricky]

I meant cutting off the top of the head not the whole head. Lol.

I've been on this forum since 08. When I said I was new I meant I'm still new to photography. not the forum. I know what you are saying. I even asked if different pictures would help so I can get some feedback. And still no response after 130+ views. Lol. Like I said I was hoping for immediate feedback so I can think about the tips throughout the day.

Regardless the beginner section is where the party is at! I didn't double post immediately. I posted the first set yesterday and the second set practically 24 hours later give or take and finally got someone to respond.

 

[SCraig]

Is it a pretty common rule not to cut off any limbs or head off of the subject?

There is only one rule to photography, and that is "There are absolutely no cut-and-dried rules in photography". Seriously, there are no rules. There are some Laws that we all live within; physical laws such as the exposure triad, high ISO equates to noise, etc. But there are no rules. Even the vaunted "Rule of Thirds" is nothing but a recommendation.

You can break any so-called "Rule" of photography that you want to as long as you can defend your reason for doing so. Want to cut the top of someone's head off? Go right ahead, but be ready for the "Why did you cut the top of his head off?" questions. If you can defend your reason for doing so, and the generic "I thought it looked better that way" reason doesn't work, then do so.

The position I frequently find myself in is I see something that I know breaks all kinds of "Rules" but for some reason I can't explain I like it. What I generally do in situations like that is take two shots, one the way I like it and one that adheres to the accepted "Rules". If I post the one I liked and start getting all the "Why the hell did you do THAT" questions I replace it with the other and say "Oh, sorry, wrong shot. I uploaded the wrong file."

Seriously though, if you see something you like there is a reason for it. Shoot it! When you get home study it and figure out what it was that caught your eye because there *IS* something there that appealed to you. It may just be the way the light falls through a tree or a wisp of fog in the morning, but something caught your eye so don't lose it. If you can't figure out what it is, post it. Just say "There is something I like about this but I don't know what" and maybe someone can help you identify it.

 

[thinkricky]

I cut off the top of his head because you should see his Mohawk hair. I find it distracting.

I know what you mean art is up for interpretation. But I was asking simply so I have a guideline to think about when I shoot. I havent heard the so called rules about portraits. I know all the rules about art...

 

[cgipson1]

Yes.... Cutting off body parts looks odd. If you must do it, try to do it between joints, so the the subject does not look like an amputee!

 

[cgipson1]

I cut off the top of his head because you should see his Mohawk hair. I find it distracting.

I know what you mean art is up for interpretation. But I was asking simply so I have a guideline to think about when I shoot. I havent heard the so called rules about portraits. I know all the rules about art...

Mohawk hair? Great.. get that.. get him to show some attitude, tell a story with it! Just don't over do it!

 

[thinkricky]

Mohawk hair? Great.. get that.. get him to show some attitude, tell a story with it! Just don't over do it!

Ha its his natural Mohawk. I'll put a picture with it later on tonight.