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Aspect ratios

Started Sep 22, 2021 | Questions thread
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Columbusrat Regular Member • Posts: 296
Aspect ratios
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I get terribly indecisive when cropping photos - how close can I crop, do I need to adjust so the subject isn't in the middle, portrait or landscape, square? I've just tried my 5th crop of the photo below (top is the original) but now I'm thinking maybe I need a little more space to the right.

I quite like the attempt below, but felt it could do with a little more of the flower below, and it also lost the purple in the top left corner - which complements the plant?

What my question really is, though, is whether it's generally better to stick to the standard ratios (or a perfect square). Do they tend to look better as that's what we're used to seeing, or is it better to forget about them and just concentrate on the content of the photo? I don't trust my own judgement, particularly after staring at the same photo for ages.

After a lot of fiddling with the original, I was quite happy with the one below though (which I think is standard 3:2) - it wasn't good enough to make the eyes of the bees the main feature, but I like how the colours bring out the beauty of the wings. And hubby liked the light coming from the right, which I hadn't noticed.

 Columbusrat's gear list:Columbusrat's gear list
OM System OM-5 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro
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