 Lisa Lenderink |
Enlarging Portraits w/ 35mm I love to do tight crops when doing portraits of babies, kids, etc. I really love the tight crop of their faces, etc. My problem is that because I am so used to doing these types of shots that when I do families, seniors, etc. I forget how much space you really need to leave to make enlargements, 8x10 or bigger. I just had a great family shot and they wanted an 8x10 and unfortunately the son looks like he suffered a tragic accident and lost part of his feet! When I get the proofs back it just seems like the family seems sooo far away if I don't do a tighter shot. Any tips to keep me "focused" on framing families? I just hate it when they say, oh I loved that shot...I wish it had been closer up! ??
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Diane T. Phillips |
Hi Lisa, I'm no expert, but I share your frustration with framing and can tell you a couple of things we have done to compensate. One is to shoot horizontally of groups since it will crop from the left or right and you will not lose feet or heads. The other is have your lab zoom in a bit to your liking in the 4 x 6 that you will show your customer. Or, explain that the photo is framed that way purposely for enlargement purposes. I often tell customers that what they are seeing is just a "proof" and enlargements will be even more attractive. One other thing, check your negative and see if there are feet in the frame. It may have just been a cropping error with the photo you mentioned. Good Luck
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John P. Sandstedt |
A very simplistic approach is to avoid 8X10 enlargements. I assume you're shooting with a 35 mm camera. The dimensions of a negative are 24X36 mm, a ratio of 2/3. When 4X6 prints were introduced, they were billed as "bigger and better," and priced accordingly. But, actually, since the prints dimension ration is also 2/3, photofinishers could no longer be blamed for incorrect cropping. And, things moved towards computerized processing and the one-hour lab. Things also went to enlarging to 8X12 prints, again in the 2/3 ration. If you're using an SLR, you should be seeing the approximate image you'll get. You can always give yourself a little extra but, it you enlarge in the 2/3 ratio, you should lose part of you image.
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Lisa Lenderink |
Thanks for your comments! No way for me to avoid the 8 x 10's though...it's the most common print I sell next to 11 x 14....Yes I'm using 35mm and I do have 4 x 6's printed as proofs....I let my customers keep the proofs and since most frames that you buy retail are 4 x 6 that's what I have printed...even though I can only order a 4 x 5 when it comes time for reorders (which seems so odd to me) Thanks again! I'll keep working on it!
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