Help! I shoot too tight

... and I cut off limbs, and feet, and fingers. And I don't even realize I'm doing it until I go to look at it in post, and realize.... awww, crap.

Any tricks to help me get over this? I think it's one of my biggest weaknesses right now.

Shoot wider and pay attention to your composition.
Should be simple enough.

Slow down. I find things like that happen when I'm not taking enough time to really LOOK through the viewfinder.

It should be simple, I agree.

I think I'm too focused on focus. Make sure the AF point is right on the eyes, and double-check that it's crisp, and take the shot. And then I look at it on the PC, and the face is perfectly in focus but they have no feet.


Ah, practice practice, I guess.

Make yourself "box the viewfinder" and examine all four corners/edges while shooting...

Don't get "Buck Fever" and just zero in on center mass.

I know its easy to say slow down and take your time but that really is the answer. If you were to go out for a day of shooting, lets say some of the family in the park and just some scenics, how many shots are you coming home with. Some people like to think that if they shoots lots and lots of exposures that they are getting practice. In some cases that may be the case but you are only getting practice in pressing the shutter button if you aren't learning something from each shoot. You need to mentally and purposely slow yourself down when you start to raise that camera to your face. That could be have someone with you remind you or a simple phrase you say to yourself as you start that will twig you to take care and attention. Its not about the number of exposure you can bang off in a fixed time frame.

Something to bear in mind -- sometimes a closer composition pays off. Yes, get a "visual" of a composition that you want, but then, in post-processing, finalize the visual that makes for the best image!

I end up doing some amount of cropping in about 90% of the photos I take. It's so much easier to go slightly wider than needed then just cut out the dead space in PP.

Shoot carefully and review your images. Since I am often doing Candid type photography my biggest problem is blinking, awkward posing and awkward expressions on peoples faces. There is not a lot you can do to prevent this.

I shoot a few, pause, review and possibly delete the bad shots and keep going if I don't believe I got the shot I wanted.

Another reason to shoot wider and frame with a slight crop is the need to accommodate different aspect ratios.

If you always fill the 2:3 frame right to the edges, you'll probably have a really hard time making an 8x10 print which is a 4:5 aspect...

If you have to compose the image in such a way that a limb or part of the body gets cut off, make sure it's done in a tasteful manner, so for example you should never frame the subject in a way that the frame cuts off on a joint (knee, elbow, so on). The only exception here is the torso.

Also, why not at least show an example of what you consider "too tight"? Sometimes photographers intentionally shoot subjects with the face taking up most of the frame for effect.
As long as it's done right, there's no such thing as "too tight".

Maybe try using live view and when you get tired of wasting time that way maybe you will look through the viewfinder more carefully.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #13193931
Also, why not at least show an example of what you consider "too tight"? Sometimes photographers intentionally shoot subjects with the face taking up most of the frame for effect.
As long as it's done right, there's no such thing as "too tight".

Here are a couple of examples from the shoot I did on Wednesday. The processing is not done yet, so no criticism on that just yet (unless you have helpful advice on making it look like a silent film).

In these two poses, I shot six or eight takes. The ones with the best facial expressions and poses have cut-off limbs.

In the first location, I was already flustered with the lighting. That back wall is SO GLOSSY that I was getting hot hot hot spots from my umbrellas' reflection, so I was not concentrating as much on the composition as the lighting.. Also, there was a little bit of clutter (props etc) out of the right of the frame, so I was trying not to get that stuff, though in retrospect it would have maybe been easier to clean up in post.


1a. Better pose but cut-off limbs. I love the perspective distortion in the pointing finger, and the stretched hat.

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nathancarter wrote in post #13194400
Here are a couple of examples from the shoot I did on Wednesday. The processing is not done yet, so no criticism on that just yet (unless you have helpful advice on making it look like a silent film).

In these two poses, I shot six or eight takes. The ones with the best facial expressions and poses have cut-off limbs.

In the first location, I was already flustered with the lighting. That back wall is SO GLOSSY that I was getting hot hot hot spots from my umbrellas' reflection, so I was not concentrating as much on the composition as the lighting.. Also, there was a little bit of clutter (props etc) out of the right of the frame, so I was trying not to get that stuff, though in retrospect it would have maybe been easier to clean up in post.


1a. Better pose but cut-off limbs. I love the perspective distortion in the pointing finger, and the stretched hat.


Damsel_and_Villain.201​10929.0163.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

1b. Slightly worse pose, worse perspective, less cut-off limbs, but I still chopped off her toes (argh)


Damsel_and_Villain.201​10929.0168.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

The second location, I was much cooler-headed. I had practiced with the lighting a couple of days before, so I was well prepared. Still, when I get "into it" I don't pay as much attention to composition as I should, especially when we're having fun and laughing the whole time.

I haven't even begun to process these.

1a. My favorite pose from this bunch, but I cut off her toes, grrrrrrr


Damsel_and_Villain.201​10929.0249.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

1b. My second favorite. Perspective isn't as good (I had to step left to keep the light behind his hat) and it's not quite as amusing as the moustache-twirl. By shooting loose here, I obviously have more room to crop, rotate, maybe even clean up the perspective by a couple of degrees, etc.


Damsel_and_Villain.201​10929.0240.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

I guess the lingering question was implied by Tony and Kolor-Pikker - does it negatively affect the overall image? Not counting the critics here on POTN, will anyone care that the tips of her toes are off the frame?

Hmm, IMHO, yes.
Awkwardly cut off limbs could make or break otherwise properly exposed and composed shot.

Please don't take this to heart, but even if we put aside cut off limbs, the overall composition of these shots has to be worked on..

Hermeto wrote in post #13194524
Please don't take this to heart, but even if we put aside cut off limbs, the overall composition of these shots has to be worked on..

Please elaborate.

"Worked on" is not really enough for me to learn from.

nathancarter wrote in post #13194665
Please elaborate.

"Worked on" is not really enough for me to learn from.

I think he might be referring to the Rule of thirds or the Golden rules as well as the use of lines.
http://photoinf.com/


IMHO, better to shoot too wide than too narrow.