Cropping a photo too closely - reason for rejection?

How close should one crop a photo?

I screened a few this morning with less than ten pixels either side out of a 1024 pixel image, that's about 1% of the image.

I'd love to know what the members think.

Tight cropping? I'm not really a fan of it!

Provided no parts of the image are clipped then I don't think that cropping close is a reason to reject an image. Having said I would certainly suggest leaving enough space to let it breathe, if you see what I mean. I usually look to leave one to two centimeters at the edge of the frame depending on the scene.

It is always nice to have a bit of space on each side of the photo,but sometimes if you take a photo and it needs a bit of correction the only way to correct it is by going to close to the subject when you crop the photo , good luck

My view,

Yes some photographers do crop too tightly.

And yes I think it can be reason enough to warrant a rejection. Personally I approach it a little bit as if it was a skyshot. Perfect light, composition, rare aircraft etc. and I will most likely accept, but will make sure I comment on it. A tight crop that have other minor flaws will be rejected. The Air France A380 shot discussed in another forum is an example (distracting fence and a very tight crop = rejection)

E.

Personally I hate seeing images with only a few pixels between the edges of the frame, it just looks clumsy and awkward to my eyes. I'm very definitely a fan of having a little space!

^ I agree.

Too many people crop their shots way too tight. I personally leave just enough space for the aircraft to "fly into" to convey movement. Tight but not too close!

I think these are fair points but sometimes in the heat of the moment your image might need a rotation to make the horizon level. In such cases, you might be forced to make a tighter crop than you are used to and if it is a nice shot(i.e. color, sharpness) then it shouldn't be rejected for just having a close crop.

The sad thing is that no one cares what the back story behind an image is, all they see is the end result, which is a closely cropped image.

Close cropping is poor composition, which is something endemic within our community.

Hi,

Composition should cause the viewer a good impression. I think that the object in the direction of movement or perspective should have more free space. I am not a supporter of a small space around the object. In the past some of my photos were rejected because I had "too much" free space in the picture.

Agree....and....Disagree.

Much depends on conditions at the time. Viewing angle, proximity of other intrusive items, accessibility.....can all be a reason why an image has to be tightly cropped. Provided the subject isn't clipped off then I see no reason to reject for a tight crop. It is unreasonable, indeed unfair, to accept a tightly cropped rarity and then reject a BA A320 for the same tight cropping.

Close cropping is not necessarily poor composition...sometimes it's simply a case of saving what was available at the time. Trouble is, once it's been cropped you have no way to know why it was cropped that way unless the photographer gives a reason ?