To Crop, Or Not To Crop....

[Winnie]

...that is the question*

Can't decide whether this looks better cropped or not? Changed the feel of this image in Raw processing, giving it more warmth with the WB setting and the Tint. I think it works better than the original which was a bit drab. Anyway, back to the original question, cropped or not?

Original format - I feel the beach might be a bit too large an area although it does balance out against the shape of the sea.



Cropped version - Not sure if this is better?



Or maybe I should lose a little off the top to balance the land, sea and sky?

Help me decide and please give your reasons as to your preference.

Thanks in advance

Alex

[dc2]

I prefer the top . Like more of the beach in that shot

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by dc2

I prefer the top . Like more of the beach in that shot

Thanks.

Are you on here all day! We are watched like a hawk at work, internet usage is closely monitored.

[dc2]

Im at home waiting for some carpet to be delivered and fitted

[cedric_r]

I'll confuse things a bit: I prefer the bottom one. The beach is pretty dark and uniform, it doesn't bring anything to the shot for me. Compared to the colours of the sky or the patterns of the structure it's a boring bit of the photo. Also removing some of the beach lowers the horizon and avoids the bang center horizon. You could even get rid of it completely and have a narrower frame.

[ohenry]

I also prefer the cropped version. The line of the shore is more intersting being lower and is also deemphasized at the same time. I might even consider cropping slightly more so that the shoreline ends right at the corner of the image (or mat it as such if printed).

[Winnie]

More like this?

[cedric_r]

Even like this.

[Mr. Pickles]

The cropped version is better. With a diagonal like you have in the beach, I prefer that it cross the image and hit the corner. When it is above the corner like the uncropped version, it looks to large, like you are thinking you are seeing. With it hitting the corner, it looks "thin", and thus isn't as "fat" like the top one.

The upper pano look looks better because you have the beach in the corner too. The bottom one has no beach. And the beach IS adding a "color band" that adds to the image. Otherwise, you have a band of water, a band of structures, a band of color above the horizon, and a band of sky. Lots of "bands", but the beach adds another darker color band, and a diagonal one at that.

[scoundrel1728]

I would go for about halfway between Winnie's most recent crop and Cedric's. Still enough beach to add context and the diagonal line but removing enough beach to keep it subordinate to the real subject - the bits of structure offshore, especially the more distant platform. The more aggressive crop also puts this platform within reasonable distance of the lower right intersection of thirds and gets the horizon even farther away from dead center. Reducing the prominence of the beach also increases the effectiveness of the cantilever from upper left as a lead-in line.