Ever wonder why your head got cut off on that 8x10 you just ordered from the lab? Well the answer is in your aspect ratio. Yep you have one; everyone that has a camera has one. The problem is that not all camera's have the same aspect ratio.
So what is aspect ratio? In a nut shell it is the size of your recording media, width vs. height. Let's say for instance that the aspect ratio of your camera is square. This is the case with many high end professional cameras. Hasselblad, Bronica etc. They produce an image that is 60mm x 60 mm in size. Now this is great until you want to make an 8x10 from the image you just produced. If you can imagine placing a rectangle inside of your square image, you have just foreseen what will happen to your nice square picture. Hmmmm Ok it just got sticky, maybe you should just look at the illustration below.
When a pro sends their pictures from one of these cameras to their pro lab, they use a cropping mask to do it with that shows them where the image will be cut. They can then adjust the image within the cropping mask to get the image they want.
This illustration while not perfect is quite easy to understand, The image on the left shot square was then cropped to an 8x10 format and printed by the photographer. So you're asking why don’t they just print them square? I personally think square prints are cool however, finding a frame at your local x-mart might be a bit tough.
How does this affect the average Joe with a point and shoot camera? Well remember every camera has an aspect ratio, while yours isn't square it does have a crop factor. Say you decide you want to make an 8x10 inch print from your last vacation. You are worried because your auntie’s head is quite close to the top of the frame, can you make a nice 8x10 out of this image, and the answer is maybe.
Because cameras have different size recording devices and our print sizes are so varied, it stands to reason that something may have to give. Unfortunately, what generally gives is the part of the image that you might have wanted to keep. Do you have to put up with this chopping and cropping of your images though? Well no, you can have your cake and eat it too if you keep a few things in mind when you are shooting. First give yourself some extra space around the edges to allow for cropping, then in post production take your image into your favorite software and resize it yourself before you give it to the lab for printing. This will insure that you are getting exactly what you want to see in your image. Most of the favorite image programs out there like Photoshop or Photoshop elements have the ability to crop your pictures. So how much do you leave around the edges? How much can you expect to loose?
Well most consumer cameras have an aspect ratio of 4:3. This is kind of like the size of your old TV. You know the one you got before your new plasma? It was boxy and not at all like the widescreen experience you have at the movie theatres. Well your digital camera has the same aspect ratio. Kind of Squar-ish. The problem is that most folks are used to printing their images as either 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 prints. What this means is that you are going to cut something off when you do this.
I have taken a common 4:3 ratio example and done an overlay of what you might expect to see when you print in the various sizes listed above.
As you can see you on a 4x6 and 5x7 image you will loose some of the top and bottom of the image when you shoot horizontal and on an 8x10 you will loose part of the image right and left. Obviously when you turn your camera vertically you will switch the cropping of the image for the various sizes.
I know, I know as if you didn't have enough to think about when you take your photos. The practice of allowing for a little lossy though is an easy one. If you just get into the habit of shooting this way you will never cut off the head of your favorite auntie again. Happy shooting and go check your aspect ratio.
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