Composition & Cropping

[GTAltman]

Okay ladies and gents...and yet another question.

I'm going to try and be concise here....usually that doesn't happen though. :-) For the record, I'm not looking for a critique as my question remains germane to the subject line, however, if you feel inclined I'll listen.

I often times try and fill the frame with what I feel is important, but by doing so, I think I'm losing the detail I'd want to include. I understand the cropping of a photo will remove unwanted pieces backgrounds/or distracting information.





I'm attaching 2 shots as an example. One is SOOC, the other was a reenacted crop at a 4x5 ratio in PS RAW, that was sent back to me by a lab. The Cropped version cut out the top of the fountain.
When taking the shot, I thought what I had in the view finder was exactly what I wanted, yet, because of the cropping concessions had to be made. I'm okay with the results, per se, but it's not what I was looking for. I'm using a Canon T1i (I believe a APS-C)

My question is this. When looking in the view finder, what should I be considering to be "In The Final Product" and what will be whacked out when taking the capture.

Thank you in advance for your input!

[01000111]

Originally Posted by GTAltman

My question is this. When looking in the view finder, what should I be considering to be "In The Final Product" and what will be whacked out when taking the capture.

I find that the optical viewfinder doesn't show exactly what will be captured, but the digital screen does. Try using the screen with the rule of thirds.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by 01000111

I find that the optical viewfinder doesn't show exactly what will be captured, but the digital screen does. Try using the screen with the rule of thirds.

Depends. Some do: Look for a "100% coverage" viewfinder. Some models like the D300s and 7D as well as top-of-the-line models like the 1-series and D3 series.

[Doug Sundseth]

To answer the original question, you need to consider the final crop when framing. If you'll be cropping to 5x7, 8x10, and 4x6, you need to consider all of those crops. And depending on your camera, you might need to add or subtract a bit depending on the correlation between viewfinder and captured frame.

I would strongly recommend, though, that you send your printer images that you cropped to the correct aspect ratio. Don't let the printer make that artistic decision for you.

[GTAltman]

Originally Posted by 01000111

I find that the optical viewfinder doesn't show exactly what will be captured, but the digital screen does. Try using the screen with the rule of thirds.

I went out a took a few shots today that the viewfinder is "more correct" than the rear display because I think I get more image after the shot. I'm thinking that what I originally see is it. More experimentation is necessary. I'm thinking that 1:1.6 ratio is at play here.

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Depends. Some do: Look for a "100% coverage" viewfinder. Some models like the D300s and 7D as well as top-of-the-line models like the 1-series and D3 series.

Osmosis, I have an entry level camera (at the moment - don't let the wife see this remark ) so it is what it is. I'm sure this answer is elsewhere in this forum, but does a full frame camera give you what you're looking for match up with the viewfinder/rear display?

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

To answer the original question, you need to consider the final crop when framing. If you'll be cropping to 5x7, 8x10, and 4x6, you need to consider all of those crops. And depending on your camera, you might need to add or subtract a bit depending on the correlation between viewfinder and captured frame.

I would strongly recommend, though, that you send your printer images that you cropped to the correct aspect ratio. Don't let the printer make that artistic decision for you.

Doug, The STRONG recommendation will definitely be adhered to from here on out. Thanks for the tips! I think a majority of the amatuers/hobbyists here do not realize to consider the crop when composing shots. I'm just starting out on the printing side of things.

Thanks everyone for your insight and assistance. Your experiences make a world of difference!

Gary