What aspect ratio do you prefer and why?

Whether you print a photo or upload to an online gallery, what is your preferred aspect ratio? For discussion purposes, if you prefer something other than 2x3, do you take that into consideration when you take the photo? Or, alternatively, do you just decide on a photo-by-photo basis based on some trial and error to see what looks best during postprocessing?

Poll results are public and multiple selection enabled.

I almost always visualize and compose in 2x3. I try to shoot loose so I can crop for 8x10 if necessary, but I don't always remember.

A small percentage of the time, I'll compose for a square/1x1 format or a 1x2 format.

My prints are almost always 2x3 also, or collages of 2x3 images.
My mom got me a big collage-frame that takes 5x7, so I had to buy a stack of 5x7 paper :P

I've shot with 35mm gear for so long that I just see images in the 2x3 format. I try to be aware of the need for 8x10's for client work, but its pretty easily done.

Photo by photo. I use 2x3 mostly, but I'll crop to whatever looks best.

I didn't get the poll up in time before people responded. Please vote if you haven't done so.

I keep most of my photos 2:3, but occasionally I really do like the look of 5:4. On occasion, a square crop looks nice. These are my 3 preferred (in that order).

Q-Man wrote in post #16498865
Photo by photo. I use 2x3 mostly, but I'll crop to whatever looks best.

What do you mean "whatever looks best". Do you use one of the standard ratios or really "whatever looks best" to you?

I keep most of my stuff 3:2 since that's what the sensor is. Also, Costco's standard prints are 4x6 so no additional cropping is required.

I prefer portraits at 8x10 since 3:2 portraits usually look too tall and skinny to me.

99% of my photos are 3:2 but I have no idea why.

I can't put a finger on why, but I usually crop to 4:3. Just looks better to me.

Like the others, having shot 35 mm. since I was knee-high to a very small grasshopper, I live in a 2:3 universe. But I print on A3 paper. When I first got my printer I printed on 13x19, but I wanted to keep the prints in portfolios with transparent sleeves and I discovered that all the portfolios are A3. All the A series papers are 1:√2 (1:1.414) and A3 is 21x29.7 cm. But I like to leave a 1 cm margin which makes it 19x27.7 which is 1:1.46, so I don't deviate much from 1:1.5.

To me, it's all subject/composition related. You can choose in framing the shot, or also in cropping/composing the image for print or "sharing".

There is no "ideal" aspect ratio for presenting an image. We've had numerous aspect ratios for cameras over the years. Even though our modern DSLRs use the 3:2 a.r. of the traditional 35mm cameras, that aspect ratio had a "practical" reason (derived from film use) rather than an aesthetic origin, so to me you can just make a decision based on the image.

I voted for 3:2 and any that fits the picture. I firmly believe in the latter, but most of mine are 3:2 landscape orientation. I don't usually like portrait, especially for landscapes, and if I go that way 5:4 usually looks better.

I think it is more the way I see subjects and shoot than anything else though. I see others photos cropped at 1:1 and the ratio might be just perfect for that shot. I just don't shoot much (or compose in a way) that looks good at 1:1.

Of course having said all that I'm sitting in my living room under a 1:1 print I made years ago.

After decades of shooting transparencies, I tend to try to fill the frame. But if I expect to make prints I try to leave a little room at the edges. Then crop to the important elements of the image, not to some "Standard" frame or paper size.
A dark mat & frame will help isolate the image from the usual white walls that they're hung on, & can make a big difference in how it looks.

My favorite format to shoot is 6x6, but favorite aspect ratio is 3:2.

When I shot 35mm film and sent film to a lab for printing, a "standard" print size was 11x14, or 11x17, neither the 2:3 aspect ratio, so...