A question for the pro photographers......
 

When it comes to composition, I personally feel that it is best to get it right during the shoot and not have to go back and crop every image later.

I've heard that some of the pro shooters out there feel differently.

So......Composition.....Shoot it right at the time or dial it in at post production?

I am nowhere near a pro, but I agree with you on this. Deal with it at shoot time and do less work in proccessing...

I am no pro but have seen some fashion phots. doing tests with polaroid before shooting - just to get an idea of whole scene.

during the shoot - we have never cropped one single picture... :2 cents:

i hire pros to shoot for me. :) only best will ever shoot this fugly mug, let me tell ya.

rofl

The less work you have to do on pics the better it is, for Me anyway. I am not a pro as you know by any means.

i dont crop

A professional photographer would be someone who shoots for penthouse, playboy or a person who is an expert studio lighting. It's doubtful there are more than a few of those around here. :1orglaugh I take my time and frame the shots as I go but sometimes have to crop afterwards. I usually end up at f8-f11 and have good focus on ass and face shots. These amateur photogs who think they are pros cuz they shoot on f4 are just plain fooling themselves. :1orglaugh

Technically speaking, a pro is somebody who gets paid for it.

Although yes, your definition is more along the lines of who the question is directed at.

Red Ezra, bmb, Dean Capture, Chrome........These are the kind of shooters I am referring to.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh Wish i could shoot on f4 :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Although ALL input from other photographers is appreciated.

f5.6 Close enough to 4. I must suck too.

http://ampcontent.com/Pikz/SCN/SA/f56.jpg


Damn...Prune thumb from the water. :1orglaugh

Photochop
 

Aaron
i feel that as much work as possible should go into the image in camera rather than rely on Photochop to fix the cock ups. I would be so happy not to have to spend time in CS2 other than convert Raw images to jpegs for the web.
http://www.fantasyforge.com/images/ariaatfantasy.jpg

That's a juicy image !!!

Thanks. Shot it 2 days ago.

http://ampcontent.com/Pikz/SCN/SA/f56behind.jpg

Shit man you really get into your work, don't think i would get soaked like that. Kudos to you

[QUOTE=AaronM]Thanks. Shot it 2 days ago.

[QUOTE=imageman]Shit man you really get into your work, don't think i would get soaked like that. Kudos to you


It's been in the 100's around here lately....Getting in the water is a good way to cool off. :thumbsup

http://ampcontent.com/Pix/Studio002.jpg

Always, always, always, get it in the camera. Shooting digital is just like shooting transparency film. Better to get it right without fucking with it in post.

It kind of cracks me up to hear some of the posts on this subject. Although I don't shoot porn, I have been shooting fashion for 15 years. Post work should be used to enhance your work, not shoot it and I will fix it later.

Since the advent of digital, everyone thinks they are a photographer now.

I would post my site, but i would rather not have my clients know that I have a porn business on the side. :winkwink:

If ya want some insight, although it looks like you have your shit tight already, hit me up on icq 228406109

to me a pro is someone who sees what no one else does... you dont need all this expensive gear,lighting, etc.... you can study all the techniques and rules etc you want and take amazingly lit shots... but if the pic is boring or 'just another shot seen like everyelse' you aint a pro in my book.

... i find it best when you do all the work at the shoot and minimal work on the comp... almost 95% of the time i dont recrop my shots... i take time and crop the shot as i shoot it and never touch it again...

:2 cents:

:thumbsup

spanky....I'll be in touch. I would love to see some of your work.

I don't think they suck because they shoot on a wide aperature but alot of the work I've seen reveals certain parts of the body/background way out of focus which IMO looks more unprofessional than the background being in focus. :2 cents: Your pic is good and the face is out of focus but not too bad.

I print alot of prints in the darkroom and I do crop. I often get better results when cropping. So when I can improve composition by cropping I have no porblem with that.It is also a great tool for mastering your composition skills. Of course I prefer to shoot without need in cropping in first line thought.
Anyway its fun to crop in darkroom and not much fun on PC I think :)

Shoot for comp. But, lets face it, some things need to be cropped. If you're doing, say, fireworks shots like I did last week, chances are you'll need to crop.

btw, $70 for a cable release for the 20D is a bit much, esp since my cable release for my 35's ran all of $13.

I like to get what I want as tight as possible and as correct as possible. I like to get it right during the shoot instead of what I can fix in ps. Also I found the tighter the pic on the model the pic can be smaller but still look bigger. Then a big pic that has more of the room then the model in it. I found going to school for videography made me a better photography because video isnt as forgiving especially shooting main stream.

I know that a lot of guys who shoot for DVD covers allow more room at the top the model and sides in case they want to use the entire pic as a 1 girl box cover... they will have extra room for text and DVD title.

I'll be looking for ya!

Absolutely when you shoot it.. Final product will always depend heavily on the raw materials.. If you gt it right the first time, you don't have to compensate later.

Compose In The Camera
 

Everything you get right when you're shooting is something you don't have to screw around with later. I very rarely crop images.

Mike Jones

I like to crop my shit in the camera. I know photogs that spend hours recropping their pics. I'm certainly not against recropping, but I just prefer to compose them when I shoot them.

http://www.glamourshoots.com/pics/011.jpg

Speaking of bad ass photographers.

Damn, bro.....That's wicked! :thumbsup

Nice rim light. It's funny cuz the other day I actually got some cool rim light by accident. I only needed a light for a trigger but ended up getting the rim light affect on one side.

Very nice shot Dean. I agree, crop in the camera.

There is rarely a time when I'm happy with exactly what come out of the camera. I always want to do a bit of cropping. A bit of lighting adjustment. I learned that from someone I consider one of the best in the business.

Those who say their best images come out of the camera that way are full of shit. Seriously. VERY LITTLE comes out of the camera like that. There is ALWAYS work to be done.

Before digital, the work was done in the dark room. Do you think some of photography's masters have their famous images just pop out of the camera as you've seen them? If you do, I have a bridge in San Fransisco for sale, as well as one in Havasu that used to be in London. Let me know. I'll sell them both for a cheap package price.

It doesn't make you less of a photographer to have to do some photoshop work, guys. Photoshop takes the place of what used to be done in the darkroom.

Some of the replies in this thread crack me up because I've been sitting behind the computer screen right beside certain board photographers before.

You don't have a bigger dick if you get it "in the camera". In fact, sometimes I want it a little less cropped in camera so that I can make sure to get what I want later.

Oh yeah... I rarely have the desire to shoot at f4 either. BFD. "Which photographer has the biggest cock? oh so and so does 'cause he shoots at f4".

I've never had that conversation. It's absurd.

When you shoot it.

Im not nearly as good as some of the guys mentioned above at all, but I dont crop after the fact. If I had time I would do more i guess.

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples/h1.jpg

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples/4.JPG

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples/11.JPG

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples-fresh/fresh19.JPG

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples-fresh/fresh30.JPG

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples-fresh/fresh36.JPG

This pic is fucking HOT... great job. I love her pussy :thumbsup

http://www.shootingmanic.com/samples-fresh/fresh19.JPG

Not naming any names, but I know for a fact there are some truth stretchers in this thread. :)

This is fucking GFY - everybody on here stretches the truth :thumbsup

"Truth stretchers" That's a good one. :1orglaugh

I rarely crop photos, except for design purposes sometimes. Composition for me is the easiest part of still photography. Having to take a lot of pics quickly while I am on set (near-) simultaneously filming video with multiple models sometimes means I have to spend time with color correction and levels though in post.

that's a great shot :thumbsup

Fucking gorgeous indeed. :thumbsup

it's always better to let the camera do the work however you deal with every situation in the best way possible. I shoot in a high pressure environment. by this I mean I have a small window of opportunity to gather the material I need to meet my needs. for instance the other day I had 3 hrs total time with a model for $500 to capture 6-7 sets, 2 solo mast vids and bj. the model was so sore from a previous shoot with a large boy that she could barley touch herself. the shoot went 22 min long, the agent called up screaming and yelling and cussing 'cause the model had another scene to do . . .

so what I do is gather as much material as I possibly can and sort through it later, due to my shoot environment.

a glamour shoot might run 8-12 hrs and only about 500 images are captured, a magazine shoot might go 12 hrs with each shot talking as much as 1/2 hr.

these glamor guys have the time and resources to carefully compose each shoot. I don't. hopefully this answers yer question?

regards, bmb

so I been wasting all that time stretching my dick?

I'm going to give this one a big WOW! Killer shot.

Another nice pic. Almost doesn't look real.

Yeah, that picture is damn hot :thumbsup

Im humbled.... thanks!


:thumbsup