I had to search through my files for a bit to find an example of cropping as a way to keep vertical lines vertical because I don't often need to use this technique.
It's simple, and similar to the one I wrote about in the previous post: back off or zoom out until the subject is positioned in the top of the frame with the camera level and the vertical lines vertical. Make the photo, then, if there's nothing interesting or significant in the foreground, in Photoshop or whatever program you use, crop off as much as you like to achieve the composition you want.
Actually, what I did here was turn the camera to make a photo in vertical format, lined it up so that the lines of the courthouse were vertical in the top part of the frame, then cropped off the bottom half. Below is what the courthouse looked like in the original photo before cropping. (I also cropped off a bit of the top.)
This photograph, which was made for my limited edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait, is a good example of the cropping technique. It illustrates the point that the camera must be kept level so that vertical lines in the subject show as vertical lines in your viewfinder. Grid lines in your screen will be very helpful if you have them. Most recent digital cameras can be set to do this. In the days before digital cameras arrived, I installed screens with grid lines in all my film cameras.
I remember the first time I used this technique: it was very early in my professional career and I was given an assignment to photograph a three-story parking garage in downtown Chattanooga. I didn't, in those early days, have a 4x5-inch view camera, which would have been ideal for this kind of assignment; but I did have a medium-format Bronica with a Nikkor 50mm wide-angle lens which made a 2-1/4 X 2-1/4 negative; and that was enough to make a good-sized print. I put the camera on a tripod, leveled it, and made the shot. I cropped the negative in the enlarger, made the print, and the client was happy. At least, I suppose he was -- he paid me.
About the photo: Canon EOS 5D Classic digital camera, Canon EF 24-85mm lens.
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Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.
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