Do not be afraid to crop

Cropping a portrait is a valid option. I remember sending my Mom (RIP) a picture that I took of one of our grandsons, where I cropped part of the top of his head. She emailed me asking if that photo had a second file that included the top of his head. I asked her, when you watch TV, have you not noticed that most scenes show the faces of the actors, and the top of their heads is often cropped?

Here are two pictures that help clearly explain the concept.

 In this picture, the message is all about the picaresque character of the boy. The way he is looking at me and smiling is what is important. The rest of this head does not add any value to the scene. 

Let's discuss why cropping works so well in this second picture.

 It strengthens eye contact
The crop brings the viewer very close to the subject’s eyes. The eyes are sharp, well lit, and positioned near the upper third of the frame. This immediately pulls attention to the expression, which is calm and focused. By removing extra space around the subject, the emotional connection becomes stronger.

 It removes visual distractions
The background is a solid red mat. While it is clean, a wider frame would show more of it without adding information. The tight crop limits the background to just enough color to create contrast with the white gi and the skin tones. This keeps the viewer focused on the face instead of the environment.

It emphasizes facial detail
The crop allows freckles, skin texture, and eye color to be clearly visible. These details add realism and personality to the portrait. If the image were looser, these subtle features would be less noticeable and less impactful.

 It improves composition and balance
The subject’s head is slightly tilted, and the crop follows that angle naturally. This creates a dynamic composition rather than a static one. The framing feels intentional and balanced, with no wasted space pulling the eye away from the subject.

 It supports the story of the image
The karate uniform is still visible enough to communicate context, but it does not dominate the frame. The crop prioritizes the person over the activity, which works well for a portrait focused on character and presence rather than action.

Summarizing. Cropping out part of the head is a valid and widely used compositional choice when done intentionally to strengthen an image. It helps direct attention to the eyes and facial expression, removes unnecessary or distracting space, and creates a more intimate connection between the subject and the viewer. This approach often improves balance by placing key features more effectively within the frame and can result in a cleaner, more impactful composition. This technique is commonly used by professional photographers and is considered a creative decision rather than a technical mistake when it clearly enhances focus, emotion, and visual clarity. 

This is exactly why editing matters

The following image is the original wedding photo.

A distracting object was touching the bride’s dress. It was real. It was there. It pulled attention away from the moment.

Here is the edited version.

The object is removed. The dress looks clean. The focus is back where it belongs, on the bride and the emotion of the day.

Editing is not about changing reality. Editing is about protecting the memory.

Weddings do not get a second chance. Moments happen once. Photos are what remain.

If a small distraction breaks the story, it is my responsibility to fix it with care and accuracy.

This is the difference between taking a picture and delivering a finished photograph. 

I enhanced this image by shifting the green tones of the leaves for an artistic purpose, guiding the eye toward the bride and the emotion of the moment.

This type of editing is valid in photography when it is used intentionally to support the story, not to change the truth of the scene.

Photography is not only about recording what was there, but about expressing how it felt.

Background Replacement

Sometimes replacing the background is not about changing reality. It is about removing distractions so the subject can finally speak.

A busy background can pull the eye away from the story. A cleaner background can guide attention, improve contrast, and strengthen the emotional impact of the image. This is especially useful when the original background adds nothing to the moment or when it distracts from the light, the gesture, or the expression.

Background replacement is a tool, not a shortcut. When done carefully and honestly, it helps the viewer focus on what mattered when the shutter was pressed. The subject. The light. The feeling.

Editing is part of the creative process. The goal is not to fake the scene, but to present the photograph in the strongest and clearest way possible.

Here are some examples I have prepared using Luminar Neo, which does a wonderful job in these cases.  

Original

Edited

Original

Edited

Original

Edited

All Right Reserved

For more than 10 years, I have shared some of my work for free on Flickr, accumulating more than 89,000 pictures. That does not mean in any way that those pictures are not important to me. I love them, and by sharing them, I hope that the audience feels at least a fraction of what I felt when I took them. I do not add any restrictions on downloading or sharing; I only add a copyright notice. Expecting the courtesy of crediting the source. 

What does this copyright notice mean?

 

Quote:

"All rights reserved" is a copyright notice meaning the creator retains all exclusive rights (reproduction, distribution, etc.) to their work, prohibiting others from using, copying, or adapting it without explicit permission, serving as a warning that the owner intends to enforce their intellectual property rights under law, though it's no longer legally required for protection in most countries.

What it means: 

Exclusive Control:
    The owner has the sole right to copy, distribute, display, perform, or create new works from the original. 
    Permission Needed:
    Anyone wanting to use the work must first get written permission from the copyright holder.
    Warning:
    It's a clear signal to others that the creator takes their intellectual property seriously and will legally protect it. 

How it works in practice:

    Automatic Copyright:
    Under modern law, copyright protection is automatic upon creation, so the phrase isn't strictly necessary for protection.
    Common Notice:
    It's still widely used in copyright notices (e.g., "© 2026 [Name]. All rights reserved.") as a reminder and deterrent.
    Historical Origin:
    It stems from older laws, like the Buenos Aires Convention, that required such a statement for protection, a requirement now largely obsolete due to international treaties like the Berne Convention.

A little thing like this means more to me than all the money I could have asked for any of those pictures.

 If you need pictures without any copyright restrictions, please check my portfolio.

A few things I have learned about sports photography

I do not pretend to be an expert in this field, but after a year of doing it, I have picked up a few tricks that I would love to share.

Picture No 1

Position: I’m lucky enough to have been given access to the entire arena when shooting karate, thanks to USA Sport Karate in Florida. This allows me to position myself in a way that lets me capture the athletes’ faces while they are performing, rather than taking photos of their backs.

If you are shooting a sport where a ball is involved, it is important not only to capture the athletes’ faces but also to have the ball somewhere in the frame or in the player’s hands. Otherwise, the picture will not tell viewers much, and an image should always convey a message.

If you are a spectator, do not stay in your seat. Try to walk around to find the best possible angle and position. If you can, shoot from a low angle. I am old and cannot achieve this most of the time, but shooting low creates a more appealing perspective than what you see in my photos. Believe me.

Picture No 2. 

Camera Settings:
Mainly, I work with two settings saved into two different custom C slots on my Canon camera.

C2 is configured in Aperture Priority to achieve a narrow depth of field and obtain a blurry background, like the one in Picture No. 2. I switch to this mode when the athlete is not moving too much because, due to the poor illumination at indoor events, the shutter speed tends to be low in this mode. In this setting I shoot in Continues Shooting at a low speed. 

C3 is configured in Shutter Priority at around 1/1200. This is fast enough to freeze the action, and I use this mode to get shots like the one in Picture No. 1. In this setting, I use Continues Shooting at a medium speed of 10 to 12 fps. 

In both configurations, I use Auto ISO. Over the last few years, I have been using DXO PureRaw to clean noise from my images as the first step in my post editing process. This is a step I can afford to take because I do not have to rush sending my pictures to anyone. Sports photographers working for an agency do not usually have this luxury. Most of them send the RAW or original files to the agency, which is responsible for selecting the images and retouching them as needed.

In this scenario, you may set the ISO manually, but you must adjust it if the lighting changes depending on your position.

I'm shooting now with two cameras, one set with a 70-200mm lens and another with a 50mm lens, this last one for wide angle shots.  

At the last event, I ended up with around 2400 pictures. Of those, fewer than 1000 reached the eyes of the end viewers after I edited them.

I am not saying this is the right or best way to shoot sports, but it is the approach that works best for me.

DO NOT USE FLASH. That distract the athletes! This distraction can cause accidents!  

During the last weekend

Last weekend was a foggy one. Some people think foggy days are bad for photography, but on the contrary, I think foggy and cloudy days are special because the light is evenly distributed, and you don’t get harsh shadows in your photos. Some may complain about fog adding an extra layer of grain to their portraits, but I do love that layer. 

On foggy mornings, the light is more consistent than on cloudy days, when it can vary depending on the clouds. For someone who uses Auto ISO, like I do, this isn’t a big concern. For photographers who shoot fully manual, however, it means constantly adjusting settings, and that may be the reason why they don’t like these kinds of days.

There are 2 pictures that I love from this last weekend. 

These were somewhat difficult shots because the bird, a Carolina Wren, was perched in a very dense bush, making focusing challenging. The branches in the foreground added an extra 3D feeling to these pictures, which I love.

AI and Photography

 I recently created and posted this AI created image in Instagram and Facebook. 

 The original picture used to create this one is this:

The way this works is simple. You upload a high quality image to the AI application you choose and create what they call a prompt, where you describe the image you want the AI to generate. The more specific and detailed the prompt, the better the results you’ll get from the tool. That’s the secret. Up to a point, creating these descriptions is an art. It’s a fantasy that starts in your head.

The reaction to this post was mostly positive. My grandson Liam, this is his picture, complained that he was missing his freckles.

There was one rude comment that I deleted because it was not just against AI, it became personal. I do not allow people to call me names simply because they do not like what I post. If you do not like it, just keep scrolling. I am happy to debate any topic as long as we keep it civilized. When name calling starts, the conversation enters the territory of stupidity, and those who provoke it usually win because they have plenty of experience there.

That comment made me think about the fact that some photographers feel attacked by AI. That person probably felt that way and was expressing his frustration in my post. If I depended on photography to pay my bills, I would probably be worried too, and I would feel the same way.

The fact is that AI is here, and like anything that represents progress, you need to adapt and start using it to your advantage. If you cannot take your model to a beautiful location like that river, and you do not have the gear to light the scene the way it was done in that image, then master AI and get the results you want using this new tool. Do not go around blaming others for your inability to adapt.

Are images produced using AI still photography?  

That’s a good question, and it’s one the photography world is still arguing about.

In my view, images produced using AI are not photography in the traditional sense. Photography has always been about capturing light from the real world through a camera at a specific moment in time. AI generated images do not capture light or reality. They create a visual interpretation based on data, prompts, and algorithms.

That said, AI imagery is still a visual art form. It shares goals with photography such as storytelling, emotion, composition, and aesthetics, but the process is fundamentally different. It is closer to illustration or digital art than to photography.

Where things get interesting is when AI is used as a tool within photography. Noise reduction, sharpening, subject selection, sky replacement, or even guided edits still start with a real photograph. In those cases, the foundation remains photography, even if AI plays a major role in the final result.

So for me, the line is this: If there is no camera, no light, and no moment captured, then it is not photography. It is something new. And that is not a bad thing.

Progress does not erase photography. It expands the creative toolbox.