Master This and Photography Becomes Effortless.

[@andrepel]

Hope this one helped! If you're interested, check out my new photography zine "The Sinking Sun" here! : www.andrepel.com/books

[@mattmathai]

I once attended a talk bu someone who shot for National Geographic for years and took many of the magazine's covers. She said (I paraphrase) "Before you press the shutter ask yourself 'why am I taking this photo in this place at this time?'. If you can't answer that question, don't press the shutter" That's deceptively simple. Doing this will make you more mindful when you're shooting and very likely will produce better images.

[@derekbarkham2314]

Great advice.

[@jimmason8502]

She was likely shooting Velvia or Provia film and only had so many shots in the tank. With digital just take the photo, what's the harm? I've gone back over all kinds of shots that when taken did not make me excited but after review a few weeks later, were actually quite good. Digital film is cheap.

[@TheRflynn]

Also she wasn’t photographing a sports event or “hawk swooping on rabbit”.

[@mattmathai]

@@jimmason8502 True enough, but her advice to be more intentional about photography still stands. I'm not a fan of the 'spray and pray' method.

[@mattmathai]

@@TheRflynn I come from many years of shooting professional sports. Don't know anything about wildlife. I think her advice probably applies more to slower-paced genres, and doesn't consider if you have to get 20 usable shots to the editor at halftime. :) I know I think about what she said when I shoot travel and landscape stuff now

[@natekong3596]

This is the first lesson I learned from my first photography class: a photographer operates in reverse of a painter. A painter starts with an empty canvas and gradually adds elements to the frame. A photographer starts with a scene and gradually removes elements that shouldn't be in the frame.

[@SourPlanet]

Something kind of interesting, fwiw, painters actually do start with everything and remove down to simplicity. They just do it at the thumbnail stage 😉

[@1970rsc]

that's crazy. I do studio work. If I took this approach, all my photos would be background paper. lol.

[@xiii_junior]

@@1970rsc elements doesn't mean "people"

[@1970rsc]

@@xiii_junior yes, i know. I speak english. "studio work" doesn't mean people either. it can mean taking pictures of products, flowers, etc. - any pictures that are taken in a studio.

[@tashihishey34]

I started out with many lenses with auto everything cameras. Now I am 67. I now own only one manual camera, the Leica M240 and a manual 35mm lens. As with photography subtraction is essential, so too with the equipment. I now see the world through a 35mm lens in black and white. The colours don't distract as I capture the essential. Manual focussing allows me to be take my time to subtract. The rangefinder requires both the eyes to be open so as to subtract what is not needed in the framelines. I zoom with my feet, subtracting what is not needed. Subtraction is an art where the only thing you need to add is time.

[@alexdysphoria101]

67 isn’t a sentence. Open up to something new just to freshen up shooting experience. Try 85mm, I swear by it for street photography. Try those sexy 50/55mm Takumar lenses, they produce fantastic bokeh balls and vintage rendering. For cheap. Try ultra wide-angle. Or 105mm. Each lens renders differently which can be rewarding for your mind and variety of shots. 35mm is standard, but the only focal length to enjoy.

[@daktarioskarvannederhosen2568]

@@alexdysphoria101 ???

[@BernhardSchwarz-xs8kp]

So wise - his remark about using single lenses versus zooms. Using your legs instead of zoom changes the perspective of the picture rather than just cropping a picture with a zoom.

[@1970rsc]

you sound painfully pompous for someone who just snaps pics. you even had to drop the brand name of your camera in your little statement for that extra bit of superiority.

[@arrangearrange]

@@1970rscyea but he didn’t say which lens 😂

[@BernhardSchwarz-xs8kp]

100% of the absolute best shots you missed are those you did not take. These few minutes of video contain more wisdom about what "photography" is all about than what you will find in any book. Bravo Andre, and thank you!

[@keithklitses6433]

Cropping has been in practice as long as photography has existed! It amazes me that people scoff at this practice!

[@jeremychurch5683]

You're absolutely right about cropping. especially with the high megapixel cameras these days, it gives you a lot of real estate to work with, why wouldn't you want to get it just perfect so it looks as best as it can. I can see why people scoff at composites but cropping and straightening shouldn't be an issue with anybody.

[@MartinOcando]

This is the first time a title that looked like clickbait, it wasn't. And for that you got yourself a new subscriber. Thanks for sinking in more deeply a though that I have been toying with in my head for the past few months, but you just gave it a name: "What can I remove". I'll print some stickers and put them on my lens caps so I get reminded every time I grab my camera. Thank you!

[@PushUphill]

I will agree that this is actually a bit of a magic bullet to making better photos. I came to this concept through the Robert Capa quote "If it's not good enough, you're not close enough". And while most people will agree he was talking about an emotional connection with his subject matter, he also got very close physically, and I took that quote literally. I started taking an extra step, or two, or ten closer, leaving out a lot of peripheral junk, and it made a massive difference immediately to my composition.

[@winc06]

Simple, but profound. The misunderstood no cropping advice comes from the introduction of grainy 35mm film, and color slides. 35mm film degraded very quickly when cropped and of course with slides which were all a standard size, processed and mounted by someone else, it was all but impossible to crop after the shot. The advice then was not "zoom with your feet", but "crop in the viewfinder." That has all changed with digital where you have control of the whole process, but people keep repeating the same old advice they heard somewhere in a world that no longer exists.

[@rick6429]

Right and a pro would case out a shoot, check to see what time the sun is best, set up a tri pod, take lots of shots and crop in the lens. I on the other hand walk or ride by something I won’t to shoot and I pull the trigger. During editing I crop out what I don’t want. Saving pixels for large prints makes sense but cameras have plenty of pixels to allow cropping.

[@finkerr6077]

You can very easily crop with 35mm negative film, it holds loads of detail cropping when printing in the darkroom is a very common practice

[@gc2161]

Finally a good video about a practical guide on how to take better photos. Thank you!

[@robertrowles4948]

On many occasions I go back to my photos {mostly Street} a few days after I took them, and realise the elements that lead me to take the image in the first place are there, but often lost amongst unnecessary surroundings. It is then that I start my cropping, and am frequently delighted to find that what I thought to be a bit “ordinary”, is now quite a decent image. I strongly recommend waiting a day or so before making these decisions because you then see your image in a new, and fresh perspective.

[@StraightHeffin]

I also do this.

[@patrickpowell5430]

Spot on, best advice any photographer can get or pass on. Before Photoshop in the days of 35mm film, I did my cropping when printing pictures. It was surprising how often you could get an interesting image from what seemed to be nothing special. The essence of this advice relates to colour v B&W photography. ‘Taking away’ the colour somehow ‘simplifies’ an image and allows us to concentrate on shapes and contents. But I have always preferred B&W images and still do.

[@dagwoodstreets]

I like your style of being direct and common sense- well said!

[@musaquazi3495]

A sincere and noble thanks for an incredibly helpful tip!!!!!!!

[@PhilChavanne]

French aviator and author of Le Petit Prince, Antoine de St Exupéry, once wrote: « Perfection is not reached when nothing else can be added to the work, but when there is nothing left to substract from it. »

[@PhotoswithArt]

Now I got another principal key that I must put it in my head. That negative thing made it easy to grasp while many Pros like to talk in a bit too formal and too complicate way. I'm more like hobbyist currently but trying to up skill my photography. Thanks for the video.👍

[@tonyknightengale2447]

If cropping was good enough for Alexey Brodovitch then it’s good enough for me. The video we needed. Thank you.

[@jimmason8502]

Given that you can crop/zoom in-out with a lens or with your feet, how can cropping in post be bad? Sometimes you only have a second or two to get the shot so better to be a bit wide and crop later than to try and "crop" in the field and miss it.

[@vaultdweller966]

As far as cropping is concerned, I always try to leave a little space around my composition, as most of the time my photos are not perfectly horizontal and I need to rotate them slightly in post-production. We have the luxury of many superfluous pixels, so we can use them to our advantage.

[@sollykhan2385]

Thank you for posting this great video, it is the best sound advice I have heard of in a very long time, 🙂😇

[@john_in_Berlin]

Starting (again after years) with the X100V helped me understand this deeply. Find the general scene that grabs your eye. Zoom with the feet to frame it. Finish composing the shot and push the button. Then, working with zooms (e.g. 28-70mm), I learned to punch in and frame, taking out stuff at 28mm and going to 50mm or even 70mm. One shot I took of a car's gorgeous back end provides proof of concept. You follow the line and that's really all the eye needs for that car shot, not more. Nice video. Simple but instructive.

[@RyanKorea]

I've been watching your channel since your Bronica film camera videos. It's great to see your channel starting to take off!

[@joeszeto310]

I have another take on the concept of "Negative". When I teach my assistants, I'll tell them to not get greedy. All too often I see beginners trying to jam as much "stuff" as they can into a photo, thinking they don't want to miss anything. Instead, I encourage them to, as you said, cut out the noise and clutter. Decide on what's important and leave out everything that is not. Side note, on one of the shots with the X100VI, at 4:33, there was a light tan color strap. Which brand and model is that? Anyhoo... great video concept. Look forward to seeing more.

[@robertcsmith7773]

Hi Andre. Thanks for a wise and concise video. The reference to Michelangelo was an interesting one, especially in relation to sculpture. By definition sculptors work in the ‘negative way’ as they are chipping (or taking away) from the raw form. It also seems to me, regarding cropping, that this practice is also one of negative work. Like in movies, the art of deletion or editing is often where the art is revealed. Great cropping itself requires an artistic eye. For me, I sometimes take an “archival” version of a photo to include a lot of information - like a diary entry or travelogue. Most often no one sees this, but rather a cropped version that contains the “kernel” of what is needed to entice a sense, or tell a story. I think you are correct to tell people to ‘just get out there every day’ with their cameras. There is no substitute for this act, but don’t undersell what you give us through your site; it is more helpful than you may know. All the best to you, Bob

[@sSdestinySs]

Great lesson, even for life! If you’re not who you wanna be, subtract everything that’s not important.

[@ralphchristianson]

This is great advice, I have taken photos from when I started in the 60s, many years ago and each time I shoot there is always some magic in the light and the subjects. It is hard to believe that someone would not want to crop in the darkroom (way back when) or now on your computer. It is just one of many tools to enhance your images. However you are right the closer to the final image you can get while shooting, the better off you are.

[@geraintwilliams6328]

Excellent advice... always accentuate the positive and disregard the negative..!! Enjoyed your narrative and images hugely. 🤗

[@McCurleyFries]

I love these ideas… I am going to go out and shoot with this mentality in mind this weekend! Let’s see if it yields any improvements in my photos for me 😊

[@Hamyhamster24]

Great tips! I’m also trying to apply this subtraction in my daily work as a designer.

[@thebiggbabu]

This was extraordinarily helpful. I've been very frustrated with where I live, as it's not a very interesting place. I find photography difficult here. Just a smaller city in the upper Midwest. This mindset can help my perspective on my surroundings. This video pretty much forced me to subscribe. Thanks again for this.

[@jetwoman10001]

Loved this! It makes so much sense and I think it is what I unconsciously seek to do. I tend to shoot with the longer lengths of my 14-140 telephoto lens and I also use a 25mm prime with my Micro 4/3 Lumix. I enjoyed the way you spoke of these ideas. Very clear and simple. But elegant in some way. A bit mind shifting. Eliminating any excess in your ideas, just as you suggest in thinking about photography. Very nice!

[@20111111jorg]

Good point. One practical way I do that after bringing it up on the computer is to put a frame on it and adjusting it's size, shape and location to see what composition might work better.

[@unlockyoursoulmemory4199]

wonderfully worded and very valuable insights, thank you for sharing

[@rickspencer957]

5⭐️ Your eloquence and fresh presentation style is superb, André! Greetings from Cape Town.🇿🇦

[@WolfValor]

Its all about focus, and sometimes focus means to introduce elements into your photo - such as foreground elements. I agree that usually, in photography at least, less = more - but only when that less emphasizes your subject

[@mauriciolee7349]

Thank you for sharing your effective knowledge.

[@leeg1970]

Thank you - My life is visual, you reminded me of that.

[@kevingoza]

Well stated! Your youthful good looks hide your seasoned wisdom! Subscribed.

[@danrudolph4545]

Andre, what you just said pretty much applies to everything we do. Much thanks!

[@lupindeweir]

Good stuff man. Photographing whatever is there is called snap-shooting. The point isn't to see from horizon to horizon, it's to identify the Muse.

[@mynameistrd6841]

this is so true. i need to watch videos like this often

[@_HMCB_]

First time watcher. What a great intro your channel. I’ve subbed.

[@kevinokeeffe9219]

Makes sense to me. Pointing a specific camera with a specific lense somewhere is already a choice, or number of choices, ergo a whole string of subtractions from a given reality, so it goes from there. Fiddling with the dials etc. is just a continuation of that process.

[@tintoretto526]

Very deep my friend! I am glad I ran into this vlog!

[@babygopnikson7310]

This vídeo is god damn gold brother, i started with photografy last year, and this concept makes me think of it as something easier THX

[@commanderset159]

That’s a cool spot, I shot there during sunrise and the morning time, it’s unbeatable views!

[@anta40]

And this is why medium tele lens like 85, 90 or 105mm is useful. In the context of street photography, I think some good examples are Saul Leiter and Ralph Gibson. No, it's not about bokeh or compression, but tight, less cluttered framing. This is a bit challenging on wide angle lenses because you tend to put more stuffs in the frame. But sometimes, more objects in the photo can work great, e.g Alex Webb, which is known for his "layered framing".

[@joshhoe]

great video! will keep this in mind the next time i go out to shoot with my XT4!

[@mvia236]

Very well put. Thank you.

[@Windycitysammy]

Great video, thanks. Does this principal apply to videography as well?

[@pitiwong1]

well said, precise and full of experience, subscribed!

[@emmdod]

I've stood a dozen times in the exact spot at 0:40, I can even see my apartment building from there, and also the same spot at 1:50 going down the stairs...lol.

[@avjake]

"Cropping is cheating"? Every time you point the camera in a particular direction, you are cropping everything else out of the photo. Whether this occurs in camera or in post makes no difference. I consider cropping the image my most important tool in creating a successful picture. Also, determine whatever has drawn you to a scene and maximize that element.

[@jmoffitt36]

Yeah I never really got that. Even in the days of film we still cropped our photos with the Enlarger or marked the crops on our proof sheets and had the lab do it.

[@urbandiscount]

In photography school I had to print the film perforations too, or the photo wpuldn"t be graded. It taught me to compose from the edges inwards. That's why rangefinders because those better enable that way of composing

[@Life_of_TUSH]

This is me. Thank you for having me go out.

[@alf.quijano7582]

This is great advice and a dope philosophy that can apply to so many things. Thanks for dropping a gem.

[@bill3117]

Thank you for sharing a great approach to be applied to photography. I need to get better at composition, before I take a picture. Although I end up applying some of your ideas while editing, I wish I could do it in real time before I hit the shutter button!

[@analogue_cassette]

your video just became my go to for new photographers asking me why i recommend a nifty fifty prime over anything else for beginners. thank you. 💙

[@erikgarcia5938]

You are a star, brother. Stick with your gut. See you at a Million subs.

[@dewindoethdwl2798]

Practice makes perfect. Faffing out of doors makes your approach efficient, you quickly spot what kit is just carried. Taking images leads to better images, processing improves processing skills. If you don’t go regularly taking photos you aren’t doing photography

[@wouldoox8024]

HI - thank you for an interesting perspective. What this movie lack are examples - so let's say you framing a shot and narrating what you focus on, what u can subtract and leave behind and what you include in your photo and why. It would be much more interesting to see the process. Cheers mate!

[@brucefrazier5025]

"... remove everything that is not the photo." Love it!

[@Walt.2013]

Hey, Andre, nice bit of practical advice. You have a 'truth as I see it and No BS) vibe! Refreshing 👍

[@theodoremann1461]

Thanks.... good advice.

[@martinandersen7628]

thanks for the video. Interesting perspectives!

[@OilCanHarry2U]

Great stuff…well presented too!

[@alxmtncstudio2066]

This is why I became instantly fond of the 45mm (on m4:3) after starting on a 17mm. Because on the 45mm you leave out a lot, it's easier to pick a subject apart. 17mm is a lot more thinking, less opportunities to capture a great shot with it, you need the right scene, finding the right distance between you and your subject is harder. That said, my all time fav shot of mine was taken on the 17mm (and cropped out a lil' of course, I'm a graphic designer originally). Precisely 4 days after starting photography from scratch ("let that sink in", I tell myself all the time

[@martinlennon4673]

That was most excellent and very true advice 👍

[@davidmcculloch8490]

In landscape photography I often change the aspect ratio to crop in camera. Thus it would be churlish to argue against cropping in post production.

[@thekrolli95]

This was amazing thank you

[@BobACNJ]

Excellent advice!

[@gerardneedham]

Nice bro this video has some great insights

[@gregorysargeant6305]

Pure genius!

[@Brian-ug3cy]

Many thanks you have "hit the nail on the head"🔨 Combined with another KZbin photographer, "What do I have to leave out of my photo to make it interesting and compelling? 👍

[@amsterdamguy520]

Saw u first time. Like what u said. Learned something. So: Subscibed 🙂

[@14nafster]

4:17 This is exactly why the term “making photos” has been getting on my nerves. We are capturing the world not making it :) great video! Also yes obviously this has more to do with a non-studio context

[@edrodriguez951]

Great tips. I’d love for you to do at least 1 walkthrough scenario and show your way of thinking.

[@garymorrow9324]

Such a terrific video!

[@null0byte]

One thing I like to do is similar to “what you leave out” (may even be just a different form of it) I like to call, “and also.” In this, a shallow depth of field is needed, but you’re not “leaving things out” so much as using it as your backdrop to what you’re focusing on. Example would be taking a picture of a sidewalk cafe. Blur out the bustling cafe as your backdrop and put a single table where someone had just left as the subject. The idea is to have the majority of the image be the blurred out bustling cafe with just that table in focus. May not be the prettiest subject ever but the contrast between abandoned table and bustling cafe in the blurred out background may evoke a sense of melancholy or curiosity over what just took place at that table. Something to experiment with as it doesn’t work for everything. Oh, one final note about this: People are _never_ the subject here, only ever part of the blurred out backdrop (if you have people at all). If you do have people, you don’t want a strong blur either, they still need to be recognizable as people. The idea is “something happened here, what was it, and also this took place in X.” The example isn’t the best, but you get the idea.

[@HeikkiTakala]

All true. Depending on do you want to leave in context. If you only shoot subjects, this is fine. If you do documentary however, you have to master the art of the whole image, and compose it well. And so that everyone understands the situation. Greates street shots are documentary or commentary, not isolated subjects.

[@hansdegebruiker1968]

I shot for many years street enviorment with expensive primes. Being told by so called famous street photographers on multi media. I learned that primes are not the best for street photography at all. For the reason you just made clear in this video. So now I make much better pictures with a 35-150 zoomlens and I1m able to make the most stunning pictures. Even better as those so called top photographers with their bunch of primes.

[@ChandanKumar-xi2ed]

Thumbnail is dope AF!

[@hombrelobomedia3503]

Love your stuff. Do you live in Long Beach man?

[@edwardpike1]

I worked for 10 years shooting for a weekly newspaper, taking the photos, developing film, and then printing the photos in a wet darkroom. I always cropped, in fact the 8x10 paper was too small to fit all information on it. The Nikon school said, the name of the game is to fill the frame. Each photo had to tell a story.

[@ChetanDodwad]

Wonderful.. Loved it. ❤❤❤❤

[@Smilemyang]

"They spend too much time thinking and fantasizing about photography instead of going outside and actually taking photos." Lol, wow you just called me out 🤣 this is a good video though. Thank you!

[@eops.resilience]

Great video Man 👌

[@chriswittstruck282]

Nice vid thanks! Subbed!

[@markielinhart]

Henri Cartier-Bresson cropped like crazy‼️

[@weebadwolf4893]

Very useful... thanks 👍

[@tedphillips2951]

Cropping is essential in camera or in post!

[@paulneedham9885]

Use a prime and zoom with your feet, I agree but also crop with your feet too. The more you can do in the camera the better the end result. Why lose megapixels when you don’t need to. Use your viewfinder to remove things.

[@Dragonkiller4ever]

Excellent video.

[@fly-pedro]

Great advise👍🏼 helps a lot!

[@REMY.C.]

Agreed on the crop, if it works it works. I just don't do it cause I'm perfectly perfect 😂 Joke aside I only use cropping when I messed up my horizon or need to work perspectives but then I get mad because I really like, in the process of taking a photo, to get my framing right and generally I frame tightly (don't want to use the word "precisely", too pretentious) so the cropping removes things. But hey, if it can save the photo why not?

[@alxmtncstudio2066]

I'll add something: Learn Graphic Design. As a graphic designer and Art Director, I realize that most photographers (that I see on instagram) have a lesser developed "global" eye than graphic designers. With graphic design you learn to master all mediums and all aspects of visual arts, and mature a global eye that photographers often lack. It's easier and quicker to become good in photography with no tuition coming from visual arts and graphic design in general, than starting as a photographer and sticking to photography only even with tuition. You limit yourself IMMENSLY from maturing your eye in diverse contexts and using different mediums. For example, knowing how to frame a photo comes from graphic design -knowing how much space you need between the borders and the photo according to a photo specifically, or if you even need a border, or if it's better to display your photo in large or in small: you need a graphic designer eye, not a photographer eye. Photographers who are bad at framing their photos is the number one most common issue I see photographers struggling with on instagram, then comes photo cropping and composition

[@taterandy3958]

Good advice ❤

[@derbyshirewalker]

Great tips and common sense

[@ChrisDN]

"Cropping is cheating" is one of the dumbest things I've heard in a long time, and it's been gathering momentum a lot over the last 3 or 4 months for whatever reason.

[@Ashraf0182]

1.Learn (learn from the best) 2.imitate (imitate great photographers style) 3. recreate (recreate AMAZING photos, not exactly the same photo but similar)

[@markgoostree6334]

One thing my dad said to me... fill the frame with your subject. I try to follow this mostly and I like your comment about if it works it works. After all, it's my photo . I just want to enjoy the process. Excuse me... gotta go out ... let me grab the camera.