How should I crop wedding photos?

[JCAMER]

I'm new to wedding photography and I am trying to determine the best photo size to provide my clients with. My wedding photographer provided me with high resolution 4X6 digital images. The 4X6 prints turned out great, but when I tried to print 8X10 photos it would occasionally look weird. The 8X10 crop would cut out one side of the vignetting or it would cut off body parts?

Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions?

[Dave.H]

Don't give them the high resolution images - problem solved :D

That's the benefit of them ordering their prints through you, you have complete artistic control.

[JCAMER]

True, but it seems like all wedding photographers here in the KC area are providing clients with high res. images on a cd-rom.

[heathermarie]

Here's what I do...

the DVD is only available with a minimum print purchase from their wedding of oh let's say $500.

the images they receive on the DVD are proofs only!

the images they order are edited and printed to your highest standard. the customer's will notice the difference and they will appreciate all the images they have on their DVD, but they will be wow'd by the difference you can make!

[DunnoWhen]

The 8X10 crop would cut out one side of the vignetting or it would cut off body parts?

You don't say which software you are using to process your images.

If you are using something (fairly) advanced (eg lightroom), you may/should be able to do your crops first and then apply some post-crop vignette.

[JCAMER]

I'm using Photoshop, but I'm trying to decide on what size of prints to provide my customers with.

[zelseman]

The ones that they order?

[zagiace]

You cannot crop for 4x6 and 8x10 so I just leave them in the cameras format.
I tell my clients if they need prints I prefer they come to me, if they choose to go else where they are on their own. I gaurantee quality and satisfaction.

[Lyndon Chen]

You cannot crop for 4x6 and 8x10 so I just leave them in the cameras format.
I tell my clients if they need prints I prefer they come to me, if they choose to go else where they are on their own. I gaurantee quality and satisfaction.
Yup, don't crop. Leave them as is. When your clients come back for prints then crop for 8x10, 11x14, etc.

[TTk]

Yup, don't crop. Leave them as is. When your clients come back for prints then crop for 8x10, 11x14, etc.


I agree I always wait to see which size's are required.;)

[sevillafox]

If you are going to provide a CD you need to realize yourself that your camera shoots in a 2:3 ratio and an 8x10 is a 4:5 ratio. They are different shapes so you are going to have to leave room in the photo so that important things don't get cropped off.

[tim]

If you don't understand print/file aspect ratios you're not even vaguely qualified to be a wedding photographer. The answer is 3:2, the same aspect ratio as comes out of your camera. You get to decide resolution.

the images they receive on the DVD are proofs only!

the images they order are edited and printed to your highest standard. the customer's will notice the difference and they will appreciate all the images they have on their DVD, but they will be wow'd by the difference you can make!

You seriously sell a CD of untouched proofs for $500? You know they're going to print them and tell everyone they're your photos right?

All the images my customers receive on CD/DVD have color and brightness/exposure corrected. There's no detailed retouching, but I don't do much retouching at all - just fixing blinkers really.

[heathermarie]

oh, let me clarify... my idea of proofs comes with brightness/exposure/contrast etc corrected, the same thing they see online. the client never sees my straight out of camera images. i was just throwing $500 out there for an example.

[tim]

That's what my customers get as their high res disk - anything I do in ACR, plus eye swaps if necessary.

[Sglshotkw]

If your not cropping or resizing your images for proofs/website arent they huge files? How many photos are you getting on a CD?