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Project 52 Week 46: “Aspect Ratio”

I love change.  I thrive off of it.  I think this is the longest I’ve lived in one place since I was 18.  We’ve had our house for 6  years in December. I confess:  I’m ready to move!

Why am I telling you this?  This week’s assignment is allowing me to make changes!  To photographs I”ve already taken.  🙂  I’m excited about this!

This is week  45 and we are covering the topic of “Choose Your Aspect Ratio” from David Duchemin’s Book, “The Visual Toolbox”.  He talks about cropping photos in ratios such as 1:1, 3:2, 3:4, 4:5 and even 16:19.  By habit, I automatically for some unknown reason crop to a 4:3 ratio.  If my eye doesn’t love it,  a  lot of times I go right to that square crop of a 1:1 ratio.  I admit, I’ve NEVER cropped to 16:9.  I can’t wait to give this a go!

Duchemin states that “our aspect ratio is not set in stone.  If your frame orientation tells your readers to read the story one way or another, it’s the aspect ratio that exaggerates that sense of vertically or horizontally”.  In our assignment for this week we are asked to open up Lightroom and pull up 6 of our favorite photographs.  We are to crop each one as a 1:1, 3:2, 4:5, and 16:9 and then decide which images work the best with each of the crops and why some work betters with one and not the other.  Fun!  I get to “change” things up a bit… and who knows, maybe I will like the new aspect ratio even more!  Let’s see what I come up with…..

The first one is a  photo  from a photo shoot I did in September at Lake Quanapowitt in Wakefield, MA.  This is Gypsy and she’s a beautiful “Lurcher”.  We met up early evening.  The area was busy and Gypsy is a little bit “fearful” when it comes to other dogs, so we found some quiet nooks.  This photo was taken in a more open area, but down a ways from the sidewalk path.  I admit, I have a thing for “ears” which is why i love this photo so much!  Gypsy has amazing ears and even better, she looks so relaxed in the picture.  Yes, you can tell by those wayward ears!!!

Here are my crops.  Do you have a favorite?

Gypsy Lurcher Pet Photographer
1:1 Ratio

 

Gypsy Lurcher
3:2 Ratio

 

4:5 Ratio
4:5 Ratio

 

gypsy-16-9-1-of-1
16:9 Ratio

 

Thoughts on Gypsy?  I’m loving change in the last photo!  I think the 16:9 works!  It tells more of Gypsy’s story – how relaxed she is in the park …with no other people or dogs in the wider view of the picture.  (yes, you can’t tell what is behind her from the “blur”) Just pretty Autumn colors!

 

Next, I’d like to share a one of my favorite fall shots that I took “vertically” and the results of the different crop ratios.  This is Meera on our hike at Maudslay State Park.  Ask her mom… I LOVE photographing “pups on stumps”.  The colors in the background were perfect for this shot!

 

1:1 Ratio
1:1 Ratio

 

4:5 Ratio
4:5 Ratio

 

3:2 Ratio
3:2 Ratio

 

16:9 Ratio
16:9 Ratio

 

Love that dog, Meera!  Such a pretty girl and loves to pose!  My original of this photo was the 3:4 ratio and cropped a little bit tighter.  Again, even with a vertical photo, the 16:9 ratio just could work!  I might have to work with that aspect ratio a bit more now. My favorite it #3.  How about you?

I do confess:  I never change aspect ratio in camera!  That’s a setting I keep at 2×3.  This lesson gave me so much to think about and gives me more options to make changes!

Thanks for stopping by!  Continue on with our 52 Week Pet Photography Blog Circle and check out Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati and the San Francisco Bay Area ~  Enjoy!

 

 

8 thoughts on “Project 52 Week 46: “Aspect Ratio””

  1. Wow, I love both sets of these photos. The colors are amazing (and the dogs are both super cute too!) Those ears on Gypsy are perfection. 🙂 I like the 16:9 crop and I also really like the 1:1 crop particularly on Meera. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

    1. Thanks, Kim! I love the colors of fall. Yes, I’ve got a thing for ears! 🙂 Thanks for your input – that 16:9 crop is opening up a whole new world for me! Happy Thanksgiving

  2. This week is really showing me that I really need to try cropping more at the 16:9 aspect ratio. I’m really loving those looks. And these images are just gorgeous. I think Fall is the absolute best time to shoot. I also love photographing dogs on stumps…or logs. 🙂

    1. I agree! I’m loving the 16:9 crop. And thank you! Fall is my favorite time to shoot – the colors are just amazing! I almost did a “pups on stumps” calendar this year… I think I had enough variety to do one. It always seems to make a great photo!

  3. Sooooo well done Darlene. I have trouble with this sometimes because I’m a “crop in the frame” kind of girl. I try to remember to allow room these days, but sometimes I get caught. Wonderful examples!

    1. Thanks so much, Kelly! I was the same way but now I seem to be hooked on the 16×9 crop after this assignment – i’m loving it!

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