Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #96: Cropping the Shot

This week’s challenge is a chance to explore a photo editing technique and the benefits of cropping the shot.  Show us how cropping helped to improve an image and create a desired effect.  Include the shot “before” and “after” so we can see the difference.

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I often call this time of year “fun with flowers” since I am always gifted with beautiful bouquets on Mother’s Day and my birthday. Yellow blossoms…my favorite flower color…are usually in the mix.

This year was no exception. A bouquet of tulips arrived from my son…and I had a great adventure yesterday chasing the sun as it crept around the room streaming through the windows in our corner condo unit. I moved the vase from window to window as the afternoon wore on. Crouching…bending…balancing…catching the light from as many angles as I could.

Fifty four shots later, I happened to glance at the clock…oh wait I should make dinner....

Here are a few samples from “Fun with Flowers 2020″…

For this shot I stood above the bouquet, but wanted to highlight the yellow tulip.

Which I did…after the crop.

I captured another shot crouched on the floor looking up. Unfortunately it also included the corner of the window…

I still wanted to salvage the image, but obviously without the distraction of the window frame in the corner.

Cropping proved to be more of a challenge than usual.

These are two different cropped versions. Each emphasizing different aspects of how the light plays with the petals. As much as I enjoy cropping as a way to create, I really didn’t want to eliminate too much in this case.

Which do you like better?

 

Any ideas and suggestions welcome!