Unit 3 · Project 2
Cropped Compositions — 5
Take 5 existing photos and create dramatically different compositions through cropping alone.
Cropping is one of the most underrated tools in photography. A single photo can tell completely different stories depending on how it's cropped. In this project you'll take 5 photos (they can be your own or provided reference images) and create at least 2 dramatically different crops of each — changing the subject, the mood, or the story through cropping alone. No other edits allowed. This project proves that composition happens in editing, not just in the camera.
Objectives
- 1Select 5 photos and create 2 different crops of each (10 crops total)
- 2Each pair of crops must tell a noticeably different story or create a different mood
- 3No edits other than cropping — this is about composition only
- 4Present all 10 crops in a comparison layout with a one-sentence caption for each
Materials
- Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop
- 5 photos (your own or provided)
- Canva or Adobe Express for comparison layout
Tips
- Try extreme crops — go much tighter or much wider than feels comfortable
- Crop to change the subject: what was background can become foreground
- Try different aspect ratios: square, wide, tall — each creates a different feeling
- The best crop is often not the obvious one