Cropping in Camera is Bad for Business

Randy McKown

Oct 20 |12:05
Last Updated on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:37

There are two ways to crop a photograph. You can do it in the camera when you are composing the shot or you can crop in photoshop later. Sometimes, cropping in the camera is a good idea. When I say good idea what I’m really saying is, it will save you the time of cropping it later. That is honestly the only reason. However, cropping in the camera can actually cause you to lose money in print sales and/or cause you to get bad word of mouth from your clients. Why? Because of aspect ratios.

Every print size has an aspect ratio of width to height. The aspect ratio of a 4×6 and 8×10 are completely different. When you look through your viewfinder you are normally seeing a 4×6 ratio or something close to it. If you crop in the camera, you get an image that looks great as a 4×6 but it loses most of its WOW as an 8×10. What do your clients pay you more for, a 4×6 or an 8×10? Ahhhh, now you see where I’m going. Let’s take a look at an example. I’m going to shoot a portrait and crop it in the camera.

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Now if we crop this image for a 8×10 aspect ratio, it looks like this.

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Hmm, not as impressive. I could either cut into her head or chop off her hands. I have no other option whatsoever because I cropped it in the camera. It’s too late now. Instead of simply cropping a frame to make a 8×10, I’m trying to figure out how to crop the frame to make a 8×10 that looks “good enough”. Do you want your clients to think your images are just .. good enough? Will you sell more 8×10’s if they are all simply .. good enough?

Now for the solution. It’s pretty easy. Keep your aspect ratios in mind while your shooting. Would this shot I’m about to take make an awesome 8×10 that the client would feel the had to purchase? If so, you better pull back a little. Know your camera and know how to compose a shot that can later be cropped to an 8×10 without losing the subjects detail and composition. If you want to increase your profits and sell bigger prints then you better start planning for it the moment you pick up your camera.

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