Last week I shared the following three images of a Yellow-throated Toucan, all cropped from the same original, and asked which crop looked best. Here are the pics again:
A.
B.
C.
Almost all of the responders said they liked “C” (the last image) the best. In general they said that the toucan is a visually impressive bird and they wanted to see it as close up as possible. Many also said that the background really didn’t add anything to the picture (although one person said that “B” puts the bird in context). A couple responders said that the green trees in the background in “C” looked more “blurred” (called Bokeh). Since the image is the same in the three examples the Bokeh would be the same, but the closely cropped “C” brings the trees closer so the blurring is more evident.
In conclusion, the closely cropped “C” makes it easier for the viewer to focus on the bird, particularly if the background doesn’t add context (i.e. habitat or color) to the shot. In fact, the background becomes less and less visible the more that the bird takes up the frame. Are there instances when a wider crop is better? Yes there are, and I’ll share some examples of that in the future. Thanks for all the responses!
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What an incredibly beautiful bird!