Re purposing photos for the web requires making the perfect crop. I have always taken pride in my balanced compositions and how they would stand on their own. For many years I sought to make vertical compositions that worked great for the covers of books and magazines and excelled as a full page bleed. Now with website templates favoring square and horizontal compositions, vertical photos need to be re-cropped to fit these templates.
Like the principals of a good painting, re-cropping a photograph seeks to maintain balance, create quiet tension and keep a strong focal point. Years ago I would visit the great museums and study how old masters dealt with the edges of the frame, a skill I use today.
Andrew Fisher and Jeffrey Weisman make up the very chic San Francisco design firm Fisher Weisman. In their wine country home above the Russian River in Sonoma County they bring city elegance to country casual. Here I have made examples of photos from their original vertical format by cropping them into a horizontal format with a 3 to 4 aspect ratio. Vertical or horizontal this home is always a treat to see.
These photographs were seen in the San Francisco Chronicle and Paper City magazine.
Here are the original vertical images before they were cropped into a horizontal 3x4 format.
