That night I cropped the stars out and it made the shot way better

Everyone posts these ultra wide field shots with the milky way arching across everything and I used to think more sky always meant more wow. But last month I was editing a shot from Joshua Tree and someone in the astro group on here said the stars were stealing focus from the rock formations. I cropped out about 60% of the sky and just left the core plus those big boulders and honestly it changed how I process every photo now. The composition felt tighter and the colors popped more because there was less clutter. I still love wide shots but now I ask myself what the actual subject is before I hit export. Has anyone else gone through a phase where less sky made their photos stronger? I'm curious if it's just me or if this is a common shift.

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baker.riley11d ago

Is the composition actually better, or did you just get tired of the same milky way shot everyone posts? I mean, cropping in the dark mode of editing is hardly a revolutionary take, but hey, if it makes you happy, that's what matters.