This is a simple post, but it’s an important one. Not all prints are created equally. Our cameras take photos at a 4×6 aspect ratio. That means that if you want to order a 4×6 of an image, it will come out looking exactly like you see it in the proof gallery (only prettier, because we will have retouched it). Same goes for an 8×12, 12×18, 16×24, and so on, because those are all multiples of the original 4×6 ratio (okay, technically it’s a 2×3 ratio, so 6×9, 10×15, 14×21, and so on would also work).
However.. Let’s say you want to purchase a 5×7, 8×10, 11×14, or 16×20. In that case, we would have to crop a significant portion of the photo to do this. Again, this is much easier to show than to explain…
Here is one photo shown at a 4×6, 5×7, and 8×10 aspect ratio.
As you can see, we lose a lot of the cool background as we have to crop in more and more, but each photo still looks okay. The real trouble comes when you have a photo that is tightly cropped to begin with. Such as this one…
The more we crop, the more of her head and her dress we lose.
The best way and the one we recommend most, is to order custom print sizes. This allows us to choose the best crop for that specific photo, and gives us more artistic freedom. There is no additional fee for this service, and typically we just charge you the cost of the closest “normal” print size. However, these images would need to be custom matted or custom framed, which is often a higher cost.
Also, unusually shaped images (such as collages, or long, skinny group formals) can ONLY be purchased with custom print sizes. Please contact us for more info about ordering a custom print.