Allow for Cropping to 8x10

I had the opportunity to do my very first Portrait Photography session - you see, I want to be a professional photographer. My friends daughter was going to have her First Communion, so I volunteered to do some photos for her.

The first challenge was choosing a background. With the dress being white, I couldn't use a white background so I choose black to really make it pop.

Gabriella was excellent. She was not only beautiful but had a talent for hitting a pose and connecting with the camera. After the shoot, I loaded the photos to the computer. The photos were beautiful and  I wanted to be sure her mom could just print the photos.

Uncropped (I specifically framed it off-center)

That's when I realized that these photos (taken on my cropped frame Canon T2i) will not print out to be 8x10 without losing some of the photo. Notice the same photo cropped to fit an 8x10 frame.

 

Cropped to 8" x 10"

If you intend to print 8 x 10 that will fit into standard photo frame, it might be a good idea to allow a little extra room for cropping so no detail is lost.

We also experimented with some shots at the kitchen window. The background was gorgeous with lots of beautiful bokeh (using a shallow depth of field of f/2.8). It is amazing how the different background gives a totally different feeling to the photo. The cross in the window was quite by accident...looks good.

Lesson 1 -  Shoot a little wide so there is room to crop if it will be printed to 8x10.

Lesson 2 - Try out different backgrounds.

See an album of the photos taken...
http://bonniemccaffery.com/Gabriella/

 - 1 Photo a Day....makes me happy (and a better photographer) Bonnie McCaffery (always a student)