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Should I Crop In Camera Or In Post Processing?

Crop In Camera

I received a question from a reader and thought it was an interesting one. So I decided to share the question and my answer in a video here on the blog.

I shoot with Canon 60D. The ratio is 2/3 which makes 8×12 the best size when I have my pictures printed at a lab. How do I get an 8×10 photo without cropping? Some venues want only 8×10 pictures and I lose so much of my photo. Are there camera settings to change the ratio when shooting? Is there software?

Basically, the photographer wants to not crop photographs, but knows that is has to be done for certain clients.

My suggestion is to visualize the scene as a 8×10. Practice that, rinse and repeat. One way to ensure that a photograph has enough room for cropping is to simply take one step back.

That means if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, take one step back to get more space surrounding the subject. If you are using a zoom lens, and already zoomed in, then wider up a bit to get more space surrounding the subject.

To visualize the difference between an 8×12 and an 8×10 photograph, open your photo editor and add the crop marks on various photographs, like I did in the video. Keep doing it over and over until you can visualize it in camera.

Some cameras have the ability to crop when capturing the photograph, however I do not recommend that because those same cameras could permanently crop the photograph. If that happens then you, the photographer, will not have the ability to use the 8×12 version of the photograph later on.

I hope that is help. Thanks for reading and happy shooting,
Scott

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