Portraits and Cropping...

[KevC]

Hey,

98% of my shooting has been portraits. I really love to capture emotion in faces. However, I'm afraid of cropping. Whether it be in Photoshop or with my camera, I want to include everything. I don't know where to start, where to stop. Granted, I haven't read much on composition, so I should start to pick up a book and read...

But it's just when I shoot, I want everything in the frame. But I dislike full body portraits. I do head and shoulders. Or even just a close face shot (though my 50mm isn't long enough for that, I'm afraid of distortions... unflattering. my next lens will be 85mm f/1.8 :D). But when I'm doing half body shots, I don't know if I should include all the arms, or just shoulders, or what! Usually in photoshop I crop more to suit the dimensions of what I need to print out (frame size) instead of cropping to make the picture look good.

Any help please?

[PhotosGuy]

See if this helps:
http://jzportraits.home.att.net/

[IndyJeff]

Thanks Photos Guy. That is a great link.

[raztazor]

Also, you should take a look at this link http://www.dcmag.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/553/v/2/sp/590827280427208765298

Take a few test shots following these guidelines and you'll love the results.

[PhotosGuy]

Good link, Raz, except he clearly doesn't know how to take a pic of someone with a fish! (Who cares what the guy looks like?)
Use a WA lens & hold the fish toward the cam - makes it look about twice as big! ;):D:D:D