HELP! cropping questions

[MidwestBeachBum]

I need some help regarding cropping photos for print. My problem is this...I shoot a lot of closeups on my subjects like flowers, baby faces, architecthre, etc....really close up and tight shots. In photo shop, my image size is always 3008 x 2000 which works out to be approx a 10 x 6.67 print. (that's according to Photoshops info, not my own knowledge by any means!!) When I crop to an 8 x 10, I loose so much of what is showing on the view finder when I compose my shot. Do I need to change a settig on my camera (Nikon D40) or just re-think my composing when I take the shot?? I am going to try to post a photo or two to show what I am talking about but I'm not sure I know how to do that either!

[Izzy]

I learned this one that hard way. You must shoot looser. I now shoot with enough edge material to allow me to mat the picture without too much loss. When printing at the standard sizes you will lose a few inches off the long edge. For instance in 11x14 you lose about 2 inches. The other option is to make a 8x10 doc in PS and then drop the picture in scaled back to say 9inx?? essentially making your own mat.

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Well I'm a beginner too so I'm not exactly certain but the first thing that comes to mind is to step back and not take such a close up.... then crop it in post to get the close up you want.

Your camera is a DX format so it's not full frame, meaning what you see in the view finder is not really accurate to what you get as a result. I have Nikon D90 and run into the same issue. On my camera there is a DOF preview and from what I've read it's suppose to give you a more accurate representation of what your shot will really look like.... however, with that being said, I haven't had much luck using the DOF preview with my kit lens because it doesn't have a big enough Aperture to really show the DOF in preview.

Composition wise you may want to avoid close-ups where you are looking up the nose

Again, beginner here so I could be way off base.... it's just the first thing that came to mind reading your post and looking at your examples.

[JeannieBug]

I may be mistaken, but it sounds to me like what you really want to do is resize, rather than crop your photos.

When you crop, you are cutting the edges off. When you resize, you maintain the same edges, just making the photo smaller.

If you really want to crop (rather than resize) then yes, you need to make sure that you leave enough room in your composition to have something to cut off.

HTH!

[autofocus]

This is an ongoing issue, and I often find myself explaining the following to our customers. Your camera, and most DSLRs, produce images with a 2x3 aspect ratio. What that means is that you can print any image without losing data that is a multiple of 2x3, which includes 4x6, 8x12, 16x24, etc. Being that 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 (albeit standard print sizes) are NOT multiples of 2x3, you will always lose some part of the image when you try to crop to those sizes. The simple solution is to shoot with some "headroom" as mentioned above by Izzy. Another solution that'll save some of your current shots is to have them printed as 8x12's..most labs and print houses offer that size (including Costco) Hope this helps

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by JeannieBug

I may be mistaken, but it sounds to me like what you really want to do is resize, rather than crop your photos.

When you crop, you are cutting the edges off. When you resize, you maintain the same edges, just making the photo smaller.

If you really want to crop (rather than resize) then yes, you need to make sure that you leave enough room in your composition to have something to cut off.

HTH!

Jeannie, resize will not solve the problem. The native state of the camera is 2x3 aspect ratio, and any cropping or resizing of the image that is not a multiple of 2x3 will create the problems encountered by the OP.

[MidwestBeachBum]

Excellent advice from everybody...thanks very much for the input...I understand it, now i just have to remember to do it in the "heat of the shoot"!! and JeannieBug, I am going to try the resize theory to see what happens but I really think my success is going to be in my photo composure! thanks again everyone!

[autofocus]

I am going to try the resize theory to see what happens

Won't solve your problem..just have them printed as 8x12's

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by autofocus

Jeannie, resize will not solve the problem. The native state of the camera is 2x3 aspect ratio, and any cropping or resizing of the image that is not a multiple of 2x3 will create the problems encountered by the OP.

unless of course you shoot 4:3 format, like a Panasonic Lumix G3 which is an SLR 4:3 camera. then you can do 5x7 without losing as much and 8x11 and so on...

[JeannieBug]

Originally Posted by autofocus

Jeannie, resize will not solve the problem. The native state of the camera is 2x3 aspect ratio, and any cropping or resizing of the image that is not a multiple of 2x3 will create the problems encountered by the OP.

I always lock my aspect ratio and resize my photos to be 7-inches long (on their widest side) for posting on the internet. I've never (not once!) had it cut my photo off.