Crop ratios

[EightBitTony]

Do people have strong feelings about sticking to standard crop ratios, or cropping to any ratio which ultimately suits the image?

i.e. my Canon creates 4:3 images, but I often crop without any regard to the ratio, to get an artistic result that I prefer. Recently, I've been restricting myself to 4:3, 1:1 or other more 'standard' ratios (based usually on film sizes) and working within those.

Some of the issue is that I don't compose well enough in-camera, I'm often shooting quickly, and I need to work on that in general, but sometimes I think that a non-standard crop can enhance the emotional impact of a picture.

Anyone got any strong feelings?

[Stan]

Re: Crop ratios

It really all depends on if you are planning to print the image and if so at what size. The standard canon DSLR ratio is 3 : 2 and that is usually fine as most of the time I am printing either small at 6 " x 4" or large at 15" x 10 ". However sometimes due to composition factors or distractions I do just crop to whatever I need and make up the print size by adding a white border.

Additionally my home printer prints at A4, so that is another ratio to consider

stan

[Parsen66]

Re: Crop ratios

It really all depends on if you are planning to print the image and if so at what size. The standard canon DSLR ratio is 3 : 2 and that is usually fine as most of the time I am printing either small at 6 " x 4" or large at 15" x 10 ". However sometimes due to composition factors or distractions I do just crop to whatever I need and make up the print size by adding a white border.

Additionally my home printer prints at A4, so that is another ratio to consider

stan

Very much as Stan as stated. I've been printing more and more at home, both A4 and now A3 too. Recently I've been cropping to suit the paper size and forgoing some of the composition. Ultimately I crop to suit the image and poo to convention

[EightBitTony]

Re: Crop ratios

Oops, and of course, I meant 3:2, not 4:3 (had 3:2 and 6x4 in my head, and then conflated the two!)

[David Morison]

Re: Crop ratios

As the majority of my photography is wildlife I often crop to 4:3 which in most cases suits the subject better. I've also come from the Olympus stable so this format suits me more but in cropping to this format it makes me realise just how good my E-M1 is, equal in IQ to the 7DII IMO - if only the AF was as good I wouldn't be here!

David

[Redgrape]

Re: Crop ratios

I generally crop to 7 X 5 or 6 X 4 if printing but otherwise I crop unrestricted so that it suits the image. My biggest issue is with getting suitable card frames in appropriate colours for mounting . I was taught how to do this at uni (many moons ago) & am very particular about getting colours & mounts correct.

Sue

[EightBitTony]

Re: Crop ratios

I really don't do much printing, interesting to hear you all (pretty much) do more than I do. Do you create prints for yourselves or other people?

[Parsen66]

Re: Crop ratios

Only prints I've done have been for me or family. Although a part of me thinks be good to make multiple copies, mount them up and flog them down the market

[Redgrape]

Re: Crop ratios

Prints I do are for family & friends.

Sue

[AlexR!]

Re: Crop ratios

The only time I print my images out are for my annual calendar for family (it has now become somewhat of a tradition, and I do find myself ticking shots off as 'ok, that's August done'). But, although unconstrained by that, the vast majority of the time I stick to the original ratio unless there is an obvious advantage in terms of composition to go square or letterbox, or I really can't edit out something so I need to crop it. To be honest, I don't have any great artistic reason to keep to the original Canon ratio, I think it is just because it is one less variable to prevaricate over when cropping.
To display my photos at home I have a couple of digital photo frames but as these are both different aspects, that doesn't help me settle on a standard.

[Muscat]

Re: Crop ratios

If I am printing for the family then I will try to stay with standard formats such as 6 x 4, 5 x 7 or square as people can more easily fit the images into frames or albums.

However if if I am printing for a competition or an exhibition then I will simply crop the image to whatever format works best with the image and then print it in that format, typically on A3 paper cutting the sheet down and mounting it in 50 x 40 card mounts.

[planetc]

Re: Crop ratios

I've tend to stick with either 7x5, 8x10, or 1x1. I do occasionally do something different, but the main thing I avoid is anything a4 because it just shouts amateur at me. I like 8x10 because it fits an a4 printer, has plenty of frames available and is scaleable to a nice 16x20 canvas too.

[El Sid]

Re: Crop ratios

On those occasions when I do crop then I tend to start with the old standards and then go custom if I still can't get what I want. One ratio I am fond of 5x4 in portrait orientation as I generally find 3:2 too long and lanky when upright...

I've never really understood why some people get so precious about cropping. We had a speaker at club last week who uses a square format Hasselblad and to hear him talk you'd think cropping was a mark of the devil and a sign of photographic incompetence - it wasn't even like his picture were particularly original or inspiring either. Takes all sorts I guess...

[paul linton]

Re: Crop ratios

My biggest headache is frames that you buy over the counter most frames are 7x5/10x8.
Where the 3:2 format comes out at 7.5 x5 or 9x6 and 12x8 meaning i have to chop some part of the image and that's not always possible or search the internet for a frame to fit which takes too much time.
What sensor/camera shoots in the 7x5/10x8 ratios only compacts cameras with small sensors i think?

Paul

[2Beers]

Re: Crop ratios

If you want to print at 10 x 8 at a resolution of 300ppi then 10 x 300= 3000 and 8 x 300 = 2400 then to print at 10 x 8 resize your image to
3000 x 2400