Composition: framing image in full frame camera

[NicolaB]

Hi

I have just changed from a crop to a full frame camera.

Traditionally I snap as I want the picture to appear, so the full frame is perplexing me. I am having to crop the images to get them to the traditional print out sizes.

What do you guys do?

Photograph as you want it printed? If so do you use a spe******t printing service?
Photograph leaving space and crop to size?

I am sure there is a simple answer to this and I am just being blonde!

Nic

[RichardTaylor]

The aspect ratio is 3:2 for both your Rebel and 5DII

As for framing nothing changes.
The only thing that may change is your POV, perspective, and DOF (when filling the frame) when shooting.

I do a final crop when PPing and I mostly do my own printing.

[NicolaB]

Ummm I have never printed images off before so I assumed the full frame was different - derrrr!

So do you print off as you shoot? Or is the final crop to take them to 5x7, 8x10 etc?

As a rule, do you leave space around your frame to allow a crop?

[RichardTaylor]

I try, not always sucessfully, to leave space around the pic when shooting, as it does give you a bit of leeway when cropping for compositional purposes also.
Most of my shooting is done in where I may have very little control over the subject, lighting, or shooting position.

As I almost always shoot for myself the final crop is determined by what looks good compositionally. However If I am requested for a print I will try to make it fill a 10x8 (a4) or 6x4 if possible.

[NicolaB]

Thanks again Richard.

I see what you mean re having little control over your subjects! Superb images. I am going to have a browse through your capture the moment posts when the little one goes down for a sleep.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason for your preference for 10x8 or 6x4?

[RichardTaylor]

Thanks for the nice words re the pics.

I've got a Canon Celphy 6x4 printer from a few years ago.
Sometimes a race car driver will want a large prints + a couple of small ones. Otherwise it is mostly used for family & friends pics

My other printer is a Canon Pixma inkjet (A4) slightly larger than 10x8. I always use Canon paper and I don't see any 5x7 paper in our local shops.

We have a couple of photo printing outlets opening up here and they appear to be a lot cheaper than doing prints yourself so I may need to rethink things.

[LeeR]

I come from an art background so I tend to ignore aspect ratios when it comes to printing, preferring instead to go with whatever works best for my composition. Of course, this means most everything I do needs custom framing. If you are trying to produce a lot of printed art work that will fit nicely into frames then I can see the logic working to crop as little as possible.
One of the reasons the 35mm (full frame) format was chosen was because it was very close to the aspect ratio for both 8X10 and 4X6 prints, though not exactly so. Back in my medium format days we used to get screens for our cameras that indicated the aspect ratio for 8X10s right in the viewfinder. Don't know if that's available for your camera, but with a bit of practice you should be able to visualize it yourself. Typically when printing an 8X10 you have to cut a bit off the top and/or bottom of the frame. Therefore, you want to make sure there is nothing important in those little slivers of the frame.