Cropping ratios

[skifurthur]

Pretty much most of the people who post in PA use a 4 x 6 crop for their photos. Early on I noticed that I tended to compose my shots naturally in a 4 x 5 ratio and went with that, not really noticing that I was going counter to the norm. Recently I have saved a bunch of shots that didn't work otherwise in a 1 x 1 crop ration and some of those are now stellar.

Why do you crop the way you do and why the resistance to alternate cropping ratios?

[FlyingPhotog]

You can almost always get 4:5 out of 2:3 but vice versa can be tough if you shot specifically for 4:5.

I shoot 2:3 with some pad when able and then you do whatever you want with it.

One obstacle to "custom crops" is lack of off the shelf custom mattes and frames.

[narlus]

i typically shoot w/o post-crop in mind, so most of the shots i keep in 2:3 ratio...lately i've been doing other crop ratios, though...sometimes a 4:5 or square works best. it really depends on the image.

[johnstoy]

My first objective is keeping the *in camera* ratio of 2:3...Those I can crop further if needed, individually...

And 4:5, I reserve for printing enlargements, intended for framing in standard frame sizes... There are no standard 8x12 or 16x24 frames... and Custom frames in those dimensions start at $45 dollars and up, per frame...

Therefore, final prints; 8x10, 11 x 14's and 16x20's, are my choice for framing...

[Dermit]

...and then there's the new content aware scaling in Photoshop CS4 which allows you to re-ratio the image by stretching the background without distorting the subjects. It actually works better than I expected it to and have already used it once in a real situation where I shot too tight and the customer wanted an 8x10.

[narlus]

hmm...interesting feature. but not enough for me to spring the $ and move from CS 3

[BeckyMax]

Cropping gives me a pita every time....if I crop to a 4x5, they want a 5x7. If I leave it at the 2:3 ratio, they want an 8x10. If I try to pad it, it seems like there is a ton of headroom and foreground so I tend to not pad enough. I guess more experience will be my only help.

[londonblue007]

I just got CS3, I'm staying with it for a while.

I frame in camera, then figure out the best crop in PP.