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Cropping a Neighborhood
22 April 2024
Looking down at the city from Twin Peaks, we were charmed by these houses lined up below us. They seemed like the perfect little neighborhood.
Houses. Nikon D300 with 18-200mm Nikkor at 200mm (300mm equivalent), f8, 1/250 second and ISO 200. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
So naturally we pointed our lens at the scene and snapped a shot.
What could we have been thinking?
The problem was apparent the minute we brought the image up on the screen. It was uncroppable.
We liked the park at the top and the streets on either side. But including all that made the image feel out of balance.
And when we tried to tidy it up a bit with a closer crop, we left a bald bit of street up in the top left corner.
The only crop we were sure of was the bottom one, which eliminated the top of a school building.
We took a clue from that and pulled the top crop down for a strangely wide aspect ratio. But it was the best we could do.
Still, we aren't happy. We almost like the little thumbnail on our home page carousel better. That's the tightest crop of all.
Here's the uncropped version. Try it yourself.
Oh, and good luck!