Cropping

This discusses the two types of cropping situations, Custom Cropping and Forced Cropping.

Custom Cropping is when we crop the image to make it more pleasing to the eye. This might happen for example, in order to bring the participant closer within the frame, or to move them closer or farther from the center. All images are custom cropped (if necessary) free of charge prior to printing. If you have a special request regarding how you would like a particular image cropped please let us know. If not, just leave it to us.

Here is an example of a before and after custom cropped image

This image was shot a little loose to allow for cropping later. In these cases we take it upon ourselves to crop the image to it's visual best prior to printing. If you have a special cropping request when ordering feel free to let us know.	The final image after custom cropping.

Forced Cropping occurs when printing to a paper size that is a different aspect ratio then the image itself. This happens on all 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20 sized prints. This is because the aspect ratio of the images coming from most cameras is different then the aspect ratio of 8x10 or 16x20 sized paper. The closest aspect ratio from our cameras to an 8x10 sized print is a 8x12 sized print. The closest to 16x20 is 16x24. So, by ordering an 8x10 or 16x20 some of the image will be cropped out (missing) from the proof image you viewed online. In some cases it's ok, as there may be a lot of room on the top or bottom that can afford to be lost, such as a lot of extra sky or grass, much like the example image above. Other times however (in the case when the image was shot close to begin with) we may have to end up loosing a critical part of the picture. For example, here's an image of a basketballl player that was shot vertically from head to toe with very little ground or space above. By ordering an 8x10 of that image the player's feet and/or ball will not appear in the final print. But, if an 8x12 is ordered, the entire image is printed.

4x6, 8x12, 16x24 Aspect Ratios Here is a scaled down version of a vertical shot that comes off the camera as an 8x12 aspect ratio.

5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20 Aspect Ratios This is the same photo, the white areas show where it would need to be cropped for an 8x10. You can see that in order to keep the ball completely in the picture, the players feet had to be cropped out. We could keep feet in this picture, but we would loose the ball. This is why we like to shoot a little loose if possible, like the first example above. In a case like this, selecting a print size from the other available aspect ratios would keep from loosing any of the image.

The reason someone would choose an 8x10 over an 8x12 size, or an 16x20 over a 16x24 size is because picture frames are more readily available in these sizes. We try to shoot to allow for either size, but there are times when the larger size is necessary to keep everything in frame. If you have a question about this prior to ordering, send us a quick email, be sure to include the photo_ID number of the photo in question. The photo_ID number can be found by placing your mouse over the large image in the photo gallery and looking up at the upper right hand corner or sometimes it’s above the large photo. . The photo_ID will be something like MHS_BVBB_091210_54.