Framing properly for standard cropping??? PLEASE help

[tmjjk]

I am sorry if this is a completely stupid question. I am posting this in the beginners forum because I am sure this is a basic question that I should already know and understand. I am shooting with a crop sensor camera. When I was framing my subjects, I filled the frame with the group and shot away. Unfortunately this means when preparing to print standard sizes, I totally screwed up and important aspects of the image (LIKE PEOPLE) are being cropped out. SOOOO with a great deal of editing I had to fix them... what can I do to avoid this in the future?? Is this just a matter of being aware and reframing my image... should I just back up? Is there a setting in my camera? Is is a matter of what lens I use? I normally would research this on the internet, but I don't even know how to explain what I am asking. Any help would be appreciated. I am assuming my way to fix this is to be more diligent about framing when I am shooting... thank you

 

[Christie Photo]

Is this just a matter of being aware and reframing my image... should I just back up?

Yes, and yes. You'll get used to it quickly.

I think all us older folk learned to deal with this when printing 8x10 from 35mm negatives. It will soon be second nature for you.

Good luck!

-Pete

 

[amolitor]

Find something of the right ratio, say, 8x10. You can even use an 8x10 photograph.

Now take pictures of it until you get a good sense of how the rectangle needs to look in your viewfinder (which might not even be showing you the whole final picture, unless you have quite a high end camera) to fill the frame as much as possible without losing anything.

 

[MLeeK]

the long and short of it is this:
an 8x10 will result in losing 2 inches off the long side of a photograph made with an APS-C sensor. Leave enough room to lose 2 inches and you will always be safe.

If you want a "standard" for cropping in post the 11x14 size usually lends itself well for almost any crop. Just remember to keep it a little loose for control later.

 

[480sparky]

 

[skyy38]

Stupid question, asked once.

Were you shooting in a 4:3 Ratio?

 

[KmH]

Actually, cameras that have a 4:3 aspect ratio image sensor require the least cropping to make the popular aspect ratio frames like 5x7 and 8x10.

 

[nycphotography]

SOME cameras let you select the aspect ratio (2:3, 4:5, 16:9, 1:1) and will display wysiwyg on the viewfinder / lcd. (u43 and some bridge cameras do this)

If yours doesn't then you have to get in the habit of leaving room to crop to print size when shooting.

 

[bratkinson]

A good number of my pictures are displayed to an audience using Powerpoint. A significant number get printed at 4x6 or 5x7, and some 8x10. Generally not knowing how or when my pictures will be seen, I shoot 'wide'...leaving perhaps 4-6 feet of space between the subject(s) and the sides of the frame, and leaving 'about right' space in front of them when I shoot, and whatever is left at the top. That leaves a LOT of cropping room.

Once I've finished editing the picture in Photoshop Elements 10, THEN I do the cropping. First up, 'level' the picture. 30-40 years ago, my pictures came out quite level most of the time. Nowadays, I'm not so lucky. But I was doing mostly outdoor photography back then and now it's indoors, so there's vertical and horizontal lines that need to be leveled. Once levelled, I then use the predefined cropping sizes provided in PSE to make whatever crops I want...exactly as I want them cropped. I "fought" with Photoshop Album and the Epson printer software for YEARS to get right cropping until I bought PSE this past February.

Bottom line, shoot 'wide'. Your cropping problems will disappear.

 

[Vautrin]

It's possible to get "cropping guides" -- basically lines on your viewfinder or LCD screen to show you what a "standard" crop looks like, but how to do this varies by camera.

For instance, on my D700 I have a katseye focusing screen I bought as an add on, that can be engraved with popular ratios of crop guides

I believe it's also possible to turn on a grid for my live view -- but I never do that as I rarely use live view.

Your camera probably has a similar feature, or it may be possible to add on something similar.

 

[JAC526]

I would say if you don't know the ending crop size for print you should shoot wide and center your subject.

This gives you more room for error.

 

[xposurepro]

Check out the article Should I Crop In Camera?