As difficult as any task the nature photographer faces when making an image is the challenge of cropping. The idea of reducing the format of the original image to fit the artistic vision the artist/photographer desires is a complication everyone encounters though few if any master. As a matter of equipment, most photographers begin the road to making a crop with a image captured through a 3x2 ratio frame. It parallels the ancient format of old 35mm film which in turn was taken from old 35mm movie film of the early 1920's. Through almost 100 years of photography, the 3x2 format has become less a rule and more a law that can't be broken. The idea is any photographer has to compose and create his image as much as possible in camera and eliminate any "after the fact" adjustments. Post processing/editing has been termed as "cheating" and any photographer worth his salt wouldn't pursue such a path to make his final image. If he had it right the first time, in the camera, he wouldn't resort to using post proccessing techniques to make the image more than what it was out in the field. If that was the end of the conversation, we'd be stuck with 3x2 ratio frames on all our walls. Still, there's some sense to that process though generally an absolute rule such as this flies in the fasce of my absolute rule "there are no absolutes".

Cropping is a powerful tool allowing the photogrpaher to influence how his audience sees the subject. Combined with composition, cropping can make the difference between a simple interesting image and something that's truely remarkable. It can emphasize a particular aspect of the image therefore enhancing its qualities. It's powerful enough to truely make the composition sing. That eye not located in the right portion of the frame? Crop the image to make it look right. You aren't close enough and don't see enough detail in the image? Crop the image to increase its apparent size. You have extraneous material in the image? Cut it out by cropping.

Before we run off to thinking every image ever made with problems can be fixed with a good crop, let's think about what happens when over doing it. The problem in my book of always depending on the crop to make a great image causes a lack of discipline when it comes to shooting. Let's look at what I mean. To me, the most important moment when shooting anything occurs when the shutter is depressed and the trigger pulled. It's the moment when everything has to come together. The light, the exposure settings, the composition, the unlimited variations of choices all have to come together when the image is made. The essence of the capture has to come together at that time.

Those that know my style know I don't approve of the machine guy style of photography. The whole idea of depending almost wholely on technology to make an image by chance is just not right in my book. I believe there's an amazing quality to an image that was honestly made using the highest human standards and skills when the trigger was pulled. There's a characteristic/quality the surrounds an image that's perfect out of the camera and nothing after the fact needs to be done. It's something no amount of post production could do to improve a lesser image to bring it up to the same standards as a remarkable one done correctly the first place in camera.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all post production is bad and lesser photographers practice its complicated art. Far from it. I'm a total believer in post processing. I completely believe the maturity of our tools limit our capabilities to capture what we see when the triggered is pulled. I don't believe we have the tools to reliably create the art we see with our eyes. There is something well beyond just pulling the trigger and letting chance determine whether we captured something worthy or not. Thoughtfull control of the photographic process is the only sure way to make more "keepers". Let me use a metaphor. Some say a room full of unlimited numbers of chimps sitting at type-writers would eventually create a master-piece. The logic is that by chance this room full of simeons will stumble on to something amazing. I guess statistically that could be true. Being that I'm only one person and don't have unlimited time to wait for chance to assert itself, I perfer not to leave things to chance and take matters into my own hands.