Editing and Cropping

Credit goes to Amber Fox of the Facebook group High School Photography Educators for the lesson idea, resources and WAGOLL images.

The Power of Cropping

For this lesson I want you to take 10 photos of anything you want and CROP them! In this exercise you will learn about the power of cropping and how it can really make an image go from blah to amazing.

Step 1: Walk around your home and take pictures of anything you want.

Step 2: Watch this YouTube video which will give you lots of tips on how you can crop effectively.

Step 3: Using the editors on your phone or Snapseed you should crop the images to make a more interesting composition. For example, you could fill the frame more, or you could position the main focus in the center or to the left or the right.

Step 4: Once you have cropped, you should edit the colour and contrast. Maybe make a few a of them black and white. You can use your mobile phone or the free Snapseed app to edit.

Step 5: Using the collage function on your phone or PicCollage, create a simple before and after collage of your favourite shots. Watch these YouTube videos which show you how to do this: Phone collage, PicCollage app

WAGOLL

Below is an example of the collage of photographs you will create following this lesson:

Cropping and Filing the Frame

Your goal in this lesson will be to find ONE car that you want to take photos of and shoot it with three different things in mind:

  • Angles. Try to shoot the car from a variety of angles. Focus on the front of the line, and then allow the line to fall out of focus.

  • Details. This should be something distinctive to that vehicle, often the emblem of the manufacturer or a design aspect that is specific to that make and model.

  • Abstract. This should be shot as close as you can get and still remain in focus. Once you are in editing app, you will probably crop it even tighter so it is not a distinct aspect of a car at first glance.

Tips about photographing cars:

  • They are extremely reflective, almost like a mirror

  • Backgrounds become distracting quickly, so make sure your background is not cluttered

  • Angles can make the photo much better

  • Rims should be flat, you should not be facing tires, so shoot them from the side

  • Try shooting the inside of the car

  • Your editing style should match the style of the car, meaning if your car is a vintage vehicle, then try a vintage edit. Watch this video to see how.

  • ZOOM IN AND FILL YOUR FRAME! CROP OUT THE EXTRA STUFF AND FOCUS ON THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE CAR!


Step 1: Using all the tips above, take at least 15 photographs of any car of your choice.

Step 2: Choose your favourite photographs and edit them. You must crop them to improve the composition of the shot. You should also edit them (You can use your mobile phone or the free Snapseed app to edit). You could make them all black and white or tweak the contrast and colour or do a few of both.

Step 3: Create a collage of your edited shots using the collage option on your phone or the app PicCollage. Watch these YouTube videos which show you how to do this: Phone collage, PicCollage app

Step 4: Go back to the Google classroom assignment and turn in your collage.

WAGOLL

Below is an example of the collage of photographs you will create following this lesson: