Learning Opportunity » Crop Factor Explained

In an effort to make the printing process less challenging, and much more rewarding, I thought you would appreciate a little insight into photo dimensions. For example, why is there a difference between a 4×6 print and an 8×10 print? If an 8×10 is larger than a 4×6, why is some of the image cut off?

As a client, you love to view your images on screen in your web gallery, and share them with all your friends on your favorite social networks. But like all art, the goal of your portrait session is to show them proudly, printed large, hanging in your home.

This is where the challenge begins: What size do you print?

The graphic below will help show you the different aspect ratios of today’s standard print sizes. The image on the left (which is configured to the 4×6, 16×24, and 20×30 aspect ratio) is the full image my camera captures. When I look through my viewfinder to compose my shot, this is what I see, and how I originally intended the finished photograph to look. I often include background elements to help create the atmosphere, and carefully place the focal points in certain parts of the frame. Needless to say, that makes it my favorite!

Of course, I understand not all of you will agree with that, and may want different printed sizes. Maybe you already have the perfect frame you want to use, or something that predetermines what size you’ll need. So I do always try to keep the ‘crop factor’ in mind during a shoot. However, because I may not know what final print size you’ll be interested in, I’m hoping this helps clear things up for you.

I’ll end with one more graphic to show the difference:

Hope to hear from you soon, to help walk you through the process of printing large, beautiful prints for your home ♥

Learning Opportunity » Crop Factor Explained

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