Crop, crop, crop ...

Once you've taken a photograph, you're only halfway done with the process. Making your photos look their best requires a bit of post-production work. There are many things that can be fixed or fine-tuned, including exposure, white balance, color saturation, contrast, and noise removal, but today we'll just look at two basic things that should be done to EVERY photo: leveling and cropping. Doing these two basic steps will help your images take a giant step from amateur snapshot to professional-looking photo.

I use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, but you can do these basic steps with any photo-editing software. The mechanics of how to do it vary by the program used — the important thing is to learn how to do it with your software, then incorporate the process into the workflow for every photo you take.

Although I'm using a sports photo as an example, the basic guidelines apply to most types of images involving people (as well as pets and objects). The top photo is uncropped, straight from my camera. It was taken from the sidelines at a high school football game.

Start by straightening the photo. A dead giveaway of an amateur photo is a horizon that's tilted or an object in the background that should be vertical (doorway, light pole, etc.) that's leaning at an angle. (Yes, there are times when you can tilt a photo at an angle for artistic/dramatic effect, but 95 percent of the time the photo should be straight.) Find an element in the photo that's supposed to be vertical and rotate the image until that object is indeed vertical. This is especially important if there's a body of water in the background: Make sure it's level! Tilted water looks funny, like it should be running out of the side of your photo.

In the top photo, notice that the image is leaning to the left. You might not notice it in looking at the player, but look at the wall in the background: The pilasters are tilting, as are th

e visible posts in a chain-link fence.

Next, crop the photo. Most people leave photos too loose, with excess dead space (or distracting clutter) around the subject. In this football photo, the subject is the quarterback. There's no reason to show any more of the background than necessary. The middle photo has been straightened, then cropped tightly around the entire player. Leave enough room for the subject to "breathe" on all sides — the crop should be tight, but not so tight that the subject is bumping the edges. If you're planning to print the image, allow space for a frame, then be sure to crop the photo to the proper ratio at which you'll be printing (a 4 x 6 requires different cropping than a 5 x 7 or 8 x 10).

I tried a tighter crop in the bottom example. When cropping a person, don't cut them off at a joint: cutting

someone off at the knees or an arm at an elbow looks awkward. Also, don't crop off extremities: don't cut off someone's hand or foot. If you've accidentally cut off part of a foot when taking the photo, crop the photo tighter (mid-calf or mid-thigh) to give it a better look.

Cropping is a key reason why you should always, Always, ALWAYS shoot at your camera's highest-quality image setting. (Memory is cheap: Buy bigger memory cards, and store images on your computer and external drive, not your camera ... but that's a post for another day.) If you shoot at the top-quality setting, you can crop a photo tightly and still get a sharp, clear image. If you're using the low-quality setting, cropping tightly will result in an image that looks fuzzy and starts to show pixels.

Basic post-production work will do wonders for your photos — I do at least some editing on 99 percent of the photos I take. The more you use your image software, the more comfortable you'll become, and the quicker and more efficient you'll be when using it.

Tech info: Canon XTi, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens; ISO1600, 1/320, f/2.8, ambient lighting.

Not the usual team shots ...

I had some fun shooting basketball team photos last week. It's easy to fall into a trap when taking team group shots: Line 'em up in two rows and hit the shutter release. However, if the players are enthusiastic, there are many other cool images to be had. For youth teams—when it can be like herding cats to get them in order for a "formal" group shot—telling them they can do a couple of goofy shots AFTER they do the standard shot can get them to settle down. By high school, boys usually just want to do the normal serious shot, but girls are often not only receptive to goofy shots, they often suggest ideas.

The "circle" shot is a popular one. I stole the idea long ago after seeing a similar image online, and use it often when shooting girls' teams. I used a DSLR to shoot it, but it's a very doable with a point-and-shoot camera. To do it, get down on the floor on your back and have the players line up around you in a circle looking down. Make sure all of the players' heads are fully in view. The key to this shot is to make sure the players tilt their heads downward — if they don't, you'll be looking up a bunch of nostrils, which just doesn't work well. Make sure the camera focuses on the faces. I use manual focus to make sure the autofocus doesn't look through the middle of the group and lock on the ceiling. A room with a high ceiling works best — so the flash won't illuminate it — as you want a dark background. I also use a diffuser on my camera flash to soften the light, as direct flash can be harsh at close range. Some photo editing is also usually needed to even the lighting.

Doing a shot of goofy poses can also work well. This photo is one of my favorites of these. My directions were simple: Everybody do something different with a ball. The girls were great: they got creative and came up with their poses in a matter of seconds. I took four or five shots. Each was slightly different, and this was the best. Make sure you can see all the faces and that none of the basketballs is blocking someone's face or the light.

I think both of these work well (and were fun to shoot) because it lets the personalities of the players come through in the images, which — of course — is always the goal when photographing people.

A word on backgrounds for group shots: AVOID WALLS. (OK, that's two words, but it's important.) The wall itself (even if plain) will be distracting, and the resulting shadows directly behind players' heads are also distracting. Get into an open area, so that the background objects/walls will be darker (which directs attention on the people).

Tech info:

Circle: Canon XTi with Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens at 17mm; Canon 550EX flash with diffuser mounted on camera; f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 200.

Goofy group: Same camera/lens/settings, but at 21mm, with two tripod-mounted Canon 550EX flash units with umbrellas, one at each side.

Capturing a moment

Shooting sports action provides many opportunities to tell a story through a photo or photos. This girls' basketball game came down to the wire, with teams trading baskets through the last few minutes. It finally came down to free throws at the end of the game. I was lucky to be on the end of the floor that would let me show the shooter and the scoreboard, which told the story: Tie game, 1.5 seconds left. The first free throw was missed; the second shot is on its way. I love the reactions; the shooter looking and hoping; her teammate behind her at the start of a fist-pump as she sees that the ball is going to go in; the opposing player next to her pulling her jersey over her face; and the looks on the other players' faces as they begin to move into the lane for a possible rebound. The second photo shows the results; the basket was good and the home team is now ahead as the players drop back on defense.

As much as I like these, could I have done better? Yes. The first image is rather static, but in a slightly earlier shot of the player actually shooting the free throw, the ball is directly over her face. Oops. I would have liked to show the ball in flight or at the basket, but my lens wasn't wide enough (I was using a fixed 28mm lens), and I cut off the feet of the players at right. Ideally I would have liked to have shot this from the floor, as a lower angle would have been much more dramatic, but space in this gym didn't allow it — I was sitting on a stage at the end of the court, and was as low as I could get.

As time expired, the players celebrated briefly, but they were then too far away to capture well with my wide-angle lens, and the resulting shots were slightly blurry. By the time I got across the floor to get closer, they were shaking hands with the other team.

The moral? Always be prepared for these situations, and know how to react when they happen. Take lots of photos — you can always hit the "delete" button later.

Tech info: Canon XTi, Canon 28mm f/1.8 lens; ambient light, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/320.

Frozen baseball

Special-effects photos can be fun to shoot. I tried this one out after reading a post on the Canon Digital Photographers forum where several sports photographers shared their attempts at freezing a baseball pitch in mid-flight. One key is using a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action of the ball. Manual focus is also needed – the idea is to set the focus on a point about two-thirds of the way to the plate, frame the shot, and hit the shutter release when the ball gets to that point.

This was my best shot of about two dozen attempts. At f/2.8 and 200mm, the depth of field is quite shallow, so it's no easy trick to catch the ball at the correct point. One could narrow the aperture to increase the depth of field, but part of the goal is to have the background very soft, which helps frame the ball.

Tech info: Canon XTi with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens, at 200mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 100.

I think it turned out OK, but I know I can do better – I think I'll try it again next spring. The only change I'll make will be to bump up the shutter speed to better freeze the ball, and take a few dozen more shots to increase my odds of catching the ball in the sweet spot.

Basketball portraits

I had the chance to shoot basketball player portraits for a local school the other day. These sessions are always a lot of work, and can be very hectic — in this case, about 24 players and 23 cheerleaders, plus four group shots — but it's also a lot of fun. Compounding the difficulty in this case was having to get all of the portraits taken quickly, in the half-hour window between the end of the school day and the start of the first game. I'd love to be able to take more time for each shot, but the time constraint meant taking them in assembly-line fashion rather quickly.

It's fun to see the differences in photographing boys versus girls on these shoots. For the most part, boys just want to get it done. They'll hop right into the shot, pose the way you told them to, and wait for the flash. Some will smile, but many like to try to look serious. Girls are much more concerned with appearance. As they wait in line for their turns they will adjust their jerseys just so, and mirrors will pop out as they fix makup and hair and make sure everything looks just right. I noticed a few of them managed to sneak on earrings and other jewelry for the photos, even though it has to come off before the game. Thank you, ladies, it was fun, and I hope you and your parents enjoy the photos.

I sometimes feel bad with these sessions because I can't take the time that I would with a studio session or senior portrait – for instance, the background wasn't great for these – but I really want to make every photo as nice as possible. As I shoot and edit each photo, I look at it as if I were the player's parent, trying to make each image a "wow" shot that's worthy of framing and hanging on a wall. I hope I succeed on occasion.

Tech info: Canon XTi with Canon 17-40 f/4.0L lens; the lighting was from two 550EX flash units off camera, bounced with umbrellas.

Courthouse Clock

Back in October, I had the chance to get a private tour inside the clock tower that stands atop the courthouse in Cody, Wyoming. It's a beautiful clock, and it had recently been restored.

The visit was courtesy of my brother-in-law Dennis (shown above), the current caretaker for the 1913 Seth Thomas clock works that reside inside the tower. The mechanism rests on a cast table in the center of the tower, with arms that extend to each of the four clock faces. It was amazing to me to see this clock from inside, especially considering that it is 96 years old and still keeping good time.

It only seemed appropriate to process the images in black-and-white, considering the subject.

I love old stuff like this.

Tech info: Shot with a Canon XTi with Canon 17-40 f/4L lens, handheld. Interior shots are a combination of available light coming in through the clock faces and a shoe-mounted Canon 550EX strobe bounced above and behind me. Processed with Photoshop Elements.