Besides having all the flowers, plants, and trees that you could ever possible need and then some, the nursery also plays host to a small menagerie of animals. These were actually the first thing I took notice of and photographed when we arrived, because I’m kind of a sucker for animals. There was also a very large turkey stalking about, but as he scared me a little, there are no pictures of him (I really need to work on this honesty thing, it’s becoming quite unflattering).

I ended up doing a fair amount of cropping of each of these images during the editing process. The composition of your photo, what’s actually in the photo and where, is one of the most important aspects of photography. Unlike painters, illustrators, and other designers, however, photographers don’t always have complete control over the arrangement of their subject matter. Animals, for instance, don’t just hold the pose while you worry about composition. The good news: you have two chances at achieving good composition. The first opportunity is really the ideal one, and it comes when you’re taking the picture. I encourage you to get the best composition possible at this point. It just makes everything easier. However, if things don’t come out exactly as planned (which is more often than not) than you have a second chance during the editing process. There is no shame in reinventing your composition in Photoshop. Let me say that again: there is no shame in reinventing your composition in Photoshop. I’ll tell you right now that I sheared off a good deal of the image in all three images that are featured here today. And you know what? They didn’t really start off all that shabby, I just had a different image in mind. It seems like people give up on pictures if they aren’t composed well right out of the chute (or perhaps shoot is a more apt term, hehe…forgive the bad pun). If you like your subject matter and managed to expose and focus properly you’ve got so much to work with, I promise you. So be bold and unafraid of cropping. It’s a useful, and oft overlooked, tool.