Crop Aspect Ratio
Have you shot an event, and sent it to the lab for proofs? When you get your 4x6 proofs back, everything looks great, so you continue to order. In your order, you want an 8x10 group shot. You send it off to the lab, and when you get your prints, you notice that the people on both ends of the group are cut in half!
The reason for this problem is aspect ratio.
Aspect Ratio is the width to height relationship of an image. 35mm and Digital SLRs have a 3:2 aspect ratio, which gives approximately an 8x12 image.
4x6 images give you approximately your full frame, but when ordering an 8x10, you lose about 1 inch on both sides of your image.
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This is an example of shooting to fill the frame on a 35mm or a digital SLR.
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This is the result when ordering an 8x10 of the images
in the previous slide.
The red indicates the area that you lose on an 8x10.
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This is how an image needs to be shot on a 35mm or a digital SLR to produce 8x10s.
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This is the result when ordering an 8x10 of the images
in the previous slide.
The red indicates the area that you lose on an 8x10.
Here are some helpful ways to resolve your aspect ratio problems.
- Shoot for an 8x10 crop. Adapt your habits to leave room on both sides of your frame for cropping.
- You can purchase focusing screens that have 8x10 crop lines on it. These are available for 35mm cameras as well as digital SLRs. You can find them at www.brightscreen.com.