Cars in frame

[Jeremy Alan Glover]

Hi..I have a little question. In my photos I like to not always have the car centered in the frame. For me I will try to get it as close as I can and then crop in post. Id like to get it spot on in camera but a lot of times if I want the car lets say in the bottom left hand corner my camera cant focus there so I have to just place the car in the lower part of the frame where I can get it to focus and then I crop after.. So pretty much Im asking what do you guys do..I see so many nice images on this site and I always wonder how it was done.it it was in camera or cropped in on after.
Thanks
Jeremy

[Jacob Leveton]

give us some examples ;)

i've cropped to get the framing i wanted before, I don't think that's a huge surprise.

[Tim Hulme]

Cropping is used a lot of the time, but also bear in mind different camera's have more auto-focus areas.

[Mark Scheuern]

Manual focusing works well, too. I actually prefer it most of the time. Just pre-focus on where the car will be when you shoot it.

[Jeff Boerio]

I crop less than I used to. If my 30D will focus where I want, then I will do that. But if the circumstances aren't going to allow it, I will either auto-focus and adjust the frame or I will manually focus and take care of it that way.

Jeff

[John Thawley]

Use the sensor focal points to key the focusing where you want it. Keep in mind, none of them are as quick or sensitive as the center point... but that's your best bet. I use the lower center point most of the time. It tricks me into keeping the lens barrel UP and gets the subject down in the bottom of the frame where I usually like it.

Regarding cropping... be careful. I wouldn't reccommend going beyond straightening the horizon or a trimming a touch here and there. You don't want to give up too much information file-wise. If the image winds up being used in an offset printing job you could find yourself in trouble. Crop to enhance, not create.

JT

[Jim Sykes]

As JT said, just use the proper focus point to give you the framing you want. Almost none of what I ever post here has any cropping done to it. I hate cropping after the fact unless its just very slightly to straighten something.

I basically use one of 9 main points for my shots, whichever is best.

Top and bottom left right and center. And when shooting vertical either the very top or bottom sensor in the vertical orientation (or very left and right in horizontal orientation). Then the center when the subject will fill the frame enough that I can still put it where I want and keep the center point on the subject.

[Daniel Buck]

since I shoot static/still shots, I crop mine in the camera, I'd say 80% of the time I don't adjust the crop in photoshop (aside from obviously having to crop to fit other print ratios). For my auto focus lenses, I focus using the center point. For my manual lenses, I use a split focusing screen.

(edit) sorry I just realized this was in the motor sports section, sorry about that. For my drag racing shots, I do about the same thing, center focus point, but I often have to push-in a bit on my final images. I stand back a little bit more than I need to when I'm shooting launches, because I don't know if the car is going to just squat down and go, or if it will pop a huge wheelie. If it rides a wheelie, I want to make sure I can get the entire car in-frame just as it launches. So, I usually end up cropping and pushing in on my dragrace shots a bit.

[Mike Ditz]

FWIW when it comes to cropping I find nothing sacred about the original frame. It is rare for me use an uncropped image. I like to make long skinny shots or square or other ratios to fit my vision. If I am sending these to a client who doesn't already have a layout I will include both the uncropped and my version in case the the client is a blind fooish philistine land cannot see my artiistic genius.

[Dennis Murray]

I shoot as close to the final product as I can for the same reasons mentioned above, as well as presenting to print sales customers a product that is very close to what they will get.

The off-center AF points do pretty well for motorsports in many cases (pans especially) because the distance from you to the subject is not changing a lot in most cases on most lenses.

[John Thawley]

If I am sending these to a client who doesn't already have a layout I will include both the uncropped and my version in case the the client is a blind fooish philistine land cannot see my artiistic genius.

I'm sure the list is long... yet distinguished! :)

[Todd Corzett]

I shoot as close to the final image as possible. I have 11 points enabled (I think) and will move things around as needed for the final shot that I have in mind. There are times, when shooting wider mostly, when I'll even manual focus to put the subject exactly where I want in the frame (regardless of AF points).

There are times I'll crop photos to create the best composition, but most of the time it's just a minor tweak from how it was shot. Not only does this save time when submitting photos (if I had to crop every shot I'd be there forever), it allows me to get the highest resolution image available (as I'm not cropping away data). Yes, there are times I'll miss a shot because I was going for something more dramatic than just the center focus point, but when you nail it the shot is well worth the effort.

-Todd...

[Jeremy Alan Glover]

Thanks guys..great advice!!