And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:22,23

It used to be that when you took an image, it would be best to get your shot just right. If you had a picture of an animal you photographed, and you wanted to frame it, you would be best to get as close as you could to maximize detail of your subject. But then you find out, it's not a one size fits all solution... Literally.

Have an 8x10 or 16x20 frame? Better make sure you can cut those sides. What about a background for your smartphone? Those get pretty slim and tall... How about that portrait for your social media account? Do you have enough headroom? Finally, Let's say you have a super widescreen monitor and want a screensaver for that? You'll need to lop the top and bottom big time.

So where am I going with this...

Well, take a look at this one I took of Courthouse Rock outside Sedona, Arizona, below:

Ok, so that's a nice scenic! So what if we want to do that 8x10, for example? Let's see:

Whoops that didn't turn out well, ugh... Well, ok what about the super widescreen pc monitor, hmm wonder how that would crop...

Ok, so that's not working! What's the issue? Well, as I have learned the hard way, there are times where in your photography, you simply need some space. Pan out with a wide angle, or if you have a closer lens, see if you can back up a bit. Let's take a look at the same location, this time with a much wider field of view:

Alright, let's try that again - same as last time. First the 8x10:

Very Nice. No crop issues there. Let's see about the superwide monitor:

There we go; see how that turned out? Having enough room around our subject lets us really take advantage of so many crop shapes, and utilize the flexibility that digital cameras offer over film. This will work really on anything, not just beautiful mountains either. Portrait sessions, pet and animal candids, outdoor wildlife, car or air shows - you name it. Give yourself some space, and see what options unfold!

Going back to the Gospel message at the top from Luke, we have a scene described where Jesus is telling His followers the importance of being ready when God Calls us to the Supper of the Lamb at the end of time, and that those who were supposed to be there, well, they decided not to come, so others who have been faithful to the Lord will come in droves to take their place, and yet there will be plenty of room! God Has so carefully made sure there will be plenty of room in heaven for all His people.

In a photographic sense, I keep this verse in mind. How important it is that we leave plenty of room - plenty of space - in our pictures, so we don't need to worry about them filling up!

Until next time...