We have many great snapshots. But not all of them help you tell your story. And some capture the story better when cropped.
A photo is an image with an idea. When added to a story, it adds more detail to the story – time of day, environment, the expression on someone’s face. Often, you need to edit the photo to provide the enhancement you want; this is called cropping.
Say you’ve written a story about your little brother. He always stares at you with that “hairy eyeball.” He probably won’t admit he does this, so you have to sneak up on him – take a picture when he’s staring at you. Since your story is about his hairy eyeball – which is really a bushy eyebrow – you’ll have to crop the photo to get the detail of his face, especially his eyes. And that eyebrow.
So go ahead, get real close, let the cropping of the photo help you tell your story. It’s best to only crop around his eyes – and even closer – only his eyebrow. Close-in cropping will make your story more interesting – and draw the reader to your page.