Aspect Ratio

[caspianx67]

Howdy folks,

A little background: I'm a new member to POTN and have been enjoying reading over many of the articles here. The more I read, the more nervous I get... I've been shooting digital as an amateur for several years (Sony Cybershot DSC-S70, Canon G2) and last year picked up a used Canon 10D. I've shot candids at some motorcycle rallies, and lots of nature, flowers and bugs and such. So, let's see, equipment wise - Canon 10D, 50mm f1.8, 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 II USM, 100mm f2.8 USM Macro, and my new baby 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM. I'm borrowing a Sigma 15mm and a 580EX Speedlite. I just picked up a Demb Jumbo Diffuser and have access to a 3' light reflector (white on one side and gold on the other). Oh yeah, and I'm shooting a friend's wedding on Feb 17th (as a favor, so no $$$ involved). Oh yeah, it's my first wedding. Oh yeah, I've never even assisted shooting at a wedding. Hence the nervous twitch... My budget is depleted, so I won't be acquiring any more equipment. Fortunately for me, the B&G are really laid back, but I still want to do a good job for them.

Anyway, like I said, I'm doing tons of reading here, there, and everywhere, looking at websites for inspiration, praying, etc. One of the many questions I have is how do you folks think about final product when you're shooting, particularly regarding aspect ratio. The 10D has a 4:3 native aspect ratio, which fills a 1600x1200 monitor nicely, but you gotta crop to get a decent 8x10 or 5x7. Do you intentionally hold off filling the frame with your subjects to leave room to crop during PP (I'm thinking mostly of the Portrait orientation shots, but it's something to consider for the wider group shots too)?

Sorry if someone's already asked the question elsewhere. I'm still learning my way around the forums here. All in all though, I'm impressed by the advice I'm seeing, so thanks in advance, even if it's pointing me to a thread elsewhere.

-matt

[CyberPet]

Here in Sweden the print sizes has changed a bit, so now it's not uncommon to have both prints and frames for the prints in the right aspect ratio. But yeah, I do try to leave some room for cropping when I shoot for the older formats.

[Phil V]

Firstly, welcome, 2ndly the ratio of the 10d is 3:2, so it natively produces 6x4 12x8 24x16 etc.

Personally I buy albums that'll accept the above as well as other crops. This does come with experience, but generally I do the following:
If shooting formals / general atmospheric shots I leave a little room around the subjects to allow for different crops.

When shooting closeups (either of people or detail shots) I go in close, I find that if I need to crop for a different format it'll usually work. Alternatively if a picture works best printed at a certain aspect ratio, that's how it gets printed. I find that newbies tend to stress about this, but experienced shooters tend to take it for granted that it's beyond absolute control*.

*exceptionally perfectionist pro's do exist, and some of them mark their focus screens for 5:4 ratio to print 10x8's.

[picturecrazy]

Yeah, for group shots I usually just leave some space on each size because those are the typical 8x10 prints. For others where it may not have been composed for optimal cropping, I just suggest one of the 3:2 sizes like 8x12.

[tim]

I leave space at the ends too, for 8x10s, but most people order 6x9 or 8x12 on my suggestion. You might like to read this (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=2453681).

[Yella Fella]

not sure about other places, but where i looked in the UK, it seems that there is more frames suited for say 10x8 than 12x8