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Room for cropping
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Jan 31, 2018 09:20:19   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
I see this all the time, leave some room for cropping. Is there a guide that any of you use? Thanks.

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Jan 31, 2018 09:35:18   #
dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho
 
I don't think I have ever taken a picture, thinking about cropping later. I take the photo of what I like. If there is no room for cropping then I don't crop. But I still have the photo I wanted to end up with.

Dennis

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Jan 31, 2018 09:37:30   #
cyclespeed Loc: Calgary, Alberta Canada
 
One thought is that many lenses are not not sharp near the edges so leaving room to crop will allow for removal of the portion of the image that is not as good as the rest. Fringes are sometimes a little purplish or warped.

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Jan 31, 2018 09:46:49   #
Delderby Loc: Derby UK
 
gvarner wrote:
I see this all the time, leave some room for cropping. Is there a guide that any of you use? Thanks.


It may just be that "leave some room for cropping" is advice given with printing in mind - especially when printing to the oft used dimensions of 10x8", 7x5", 6x4" - rather than cut off the cat's ears.

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Jan 31, 2018 09:54:40   #
GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan
 
Delderby wrote:
It may just be that "leave some room for cropping" is advice given with printing in mind - especially when printing to the oft used dimensions of 10x8", 7x5", 6x4" - rather than cut off the cat's ears.



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Jan 31, 2018 09:58:49   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
Having spent a lot of years with 35mm film, it's still hard for me to reconcile the idea of leaving room when it was pounded into my head to "watch the edges of the frame" and to carefully compose for the result I want.

Having said that, there are times I know I'll be cropping just because the camera's aspect isn't what I envisioned for the scene, or something is in the way that I can't avoid by my framing.

I also learned, from UHH, how to add white space to the edges of the image if I find myself in a jam with wanting to crop for a certain picture frame or matte that doesn't support the aspect - this allows printing at automated places like Costco.

Pro's talk about leaving space so that both a 5x7 and an 8x10 can be achieved from a sensor size intended to produce 4x6 and 8x12. Aspect ratio can be a fuzzy concept

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Jan 31, 2018 10:06:10   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
In the 3 photography classes I took in college cropping was not allowed. And sometimes we were limited to something around a 50mm lens. Great learning tools. Mostly we learned to compose before pressing the shutter.

I still try to do that when practical. But, as often as not I can't get close enough to my subjects. In those instances I still try to compose in the camera knowing I will have to crop.

I don't typically pre-visualize the crop. I do my own printing and make my own frames. The frames go to the glazier who cuts the glass to fit.

----

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Jan 31, 2018 10:08:17   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Having spent a lot of years with 35mm film, it's still hard for me to reconcile the idea of leaving room when it was pounded into my head to "watch the edges of the frame" and to carefully compose for the result I want.

Having said that, there are times I know I'll be cropping just because the camera's aspect isn't what I envisioned for the scene, or something is in the way that I can't avoid by my framing.

I also learned, from UHH, how to add white space to the edges of the image if I find myself in a jam with wanting to crop for a certain picture frame or matte that doesn't support the aspect - this allows printing at automated places like Costco.

Pro's talk about leaving space so that both a 5x7 and an 8x10 can be achieved from a sensor size intended to produce 4x6 and 8x12. Aspect ratio can be a fuzzy concept
Having spent a lot of years with 35mm film, it's s... (show quote)



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Jan 31, 2018 10:50:43   #
Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida
 
I compose in the viewfinder when I take the shot.
That doesn't preclude from cropping when I post-process.
There are pictures within pictures.

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Jan 31, 2018 10:57:28   #
DaveO Loc: Northeast CT
 
Very good thread with food for thought!

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Jan 31, 2018 12:13:40   #
ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile
 
I make a lot of exhibition prints and my preferred aspect ratio
is 1:1 or 1:1.12 so I am always aware of cropping in the view finder.

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Jan 31, 2018 12:31:28   #
MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama
 
gvarner wrote:
I see this all the time, leave some room for cropping. Is there a guide that any of you use? Thanks.


How many times have you shot " Tight " and later wished you had allowed a little space; a tip in outdoor photography many years ago advised shooting a tad big which will give you a little margin at the edges. GOOD ADVICE that has really panned out. Thats why a carpenter measures twice before he cuts. You can't recall the press of the shutter button.

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Jan 31, 2018 13:42:41   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
I used mostly Kodachrome when I used film. Early on my wife learned that a "five minute" photo stop could take half an hour, because film was not cheap and with slide film I got what I got, so I worked to make it right the first time. Those habits have persisted to this day.

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Jan 31, 2018 13:52:33   #
BebuLamar
 
I use a 3:2 camera and I would generally compose tight. Sometimes as after thought I crop but many times I compose with the crop in mind to fit other aspect ratio like 5:4 or 16:9. I took a good number of pictures which I intended to display on the TV thus I would compose them with the 16:9 crop in mind. Also I would take horizontal shots even though when the subject lend itself better to vertical because I intended to display them on TV.

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Jan 31, 2018 16:31:42   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
There was a picture I took in 1974 as 3:2 scene, but when I scanned it in 2016, my view changed, and I cropped it to make a 2:3 scene
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-449362-1.html

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