Cropping and perspective correction

[Benchista]

I think cropping to neaten up composition is the result of failure at the shooting stage.

Oh! Oh, I'm in trouble

me too!

... but I don't agree ... shots can be taken with cropping in mind as anyone coming from TLRs and 6x6 film will know.

It's hardly a serious crime....

Ah, I can sleep easy in my bed

Quite so..... I always painted in the corners of my Rolleis to give alternative 5x4 views. I almost never composed as a square.

Whereas I like cropping to a square with digital, as I love the format.

[Barney]

I think cropping to neaten up composition is the result of failure at the shooting stage.

Oh! Oh, I'm in trouble

me too!

... but I don't agree ... shots can be taken with cropping in mind as anyone coming from TLRs and 6x6 film will know.

It's hardly a serious crime....

Ah, I can sleep easy in my bed

Quite so..... I always painted in the corners of my Rolleis to give alternative 5x4 views. I almost never composed as a square.

Whereas I like cropping to a square with digital, as I love the format.

Ditto. Square rocks.

[digitravel]

I think cropping to neaten up composition is the result of failure at the shooting stage.

Oh! Oh, I'm in trouble

me too!

... but I don't agree ... shots can be taken with cropping in mind as anyone coming from TLRs and 6x6 film will know.

It's hardly a serious crime....

Ah, I can sleep easy in my bed

Quite so..... I always painted in the corners of my Rolleis to give alternative 5x4 views. I almost never composed as a square.

Whereas I like cropping to a square with digital, as I love the format.

Ditto. Square rocks.

Square rocks dont roll.

[Nod]

They do if the hill's steep enough.

[Malcolm_Stewart]

...Now - and it might be just a phase I'm going through - I almost always adjust slightly converging/diverging lines to make them parallel, as my brain knows they are in reality. Do others do this? If so, why do you think it important? If not, why do you not do this?...

Thought I'd better re-read your opening post again.

I often feel that very slight under-correction looks better to me than strictly parallel verticals. When I was experimenting with 5x4 (and sheet Provia 100F) I can't remember correcting verticals, but I do remember using the horizontal offset when I was shooting in a ruined church. Definitely worth doing.

What does worry me is when I come across strictly parallel verticals, but that I then notice something odd about the vertical versus horizontal scaling.

And cropping? I do it quite often.
OTOH I was relieved a week ago when shooting the Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth that my Eos 5D does include just a little more than shown in the viewfinder.