A How to Guide to Cropping Pictures

Have you ever had that perfect digital image you're dying to print but find out when you go to print it at the lab of your choice that it comes out with an arm or head chopped off? That's because of this thing called "Aspect Ratio." I'm going to spare you all of the technical and mathematical jargon and show you a quick illustration that will help you improve the composition of your pictures.  The size of a camera's sensor is what determines this. Most cameras have a sensor (sensor?-think of film, this is what records information) with a ratio of 3:2.  As long as you print a picture within the same ratio, you won't get part of your image chopped off. So you can print a 4x6, 6x9, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36 and keep the composition intact. This is why you can print a 4x6 and nothing changes but, try the popular 8x10 and part of your image is cut off. Frustrating! I know! This can greatly affect the composition of an image and is a huge reason why I would prefer for you to print your images with me. I spend so much time making sure an image has the right color balance, proper composition and correct crop before I send it off to the lab, that If you don't know what you're doing, it's easy to really mess up such a valuable investment you have made. Next time I'll talk a little bit about why the print lab you choose is so important.

Aspect Ratio/Cropping Guide McAllen,TX photographer Notice the first image, if you print in any of those sizes you'll keep your composition intact but if you print an 8x10, 4x5 etc., two inches is cut off. Also, the 5x5, 20x20 is a square crop and completely distorts the composition and actually ruins the story behind this picture.

Here's another example,

Aspect Ratio/Cropping Guide McAllen,TX photographer In this instance, the 8x10 and 20x24 creates a tangent (line of intersection) on the left side of the baby's hat. This is not flattering! Do I even need to mention what's wrong with the 5x5, 20x20?

One more example...

Aspect Ratio/Cropping Guide McAllen,TX photographer

I hope this guide will help you improve your precious memories! Feel free to contact me with any questions.

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