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Photography Question 

Desiree C. Preckwinkle
 

Help! Lost image due to cropping.


I shot a family photo and they want and 8 x 10 of it, now my problem is that too much of the image is cropped. I just need to save a bit off each side (left and right, not tope and bottom) Any ideas that I can try perhaps adding a frame, resizing any way. I appreciate your help in advance.
Thanks,
Desiree


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December 03, 2006

 

John P. Sandstedt
  You haven't given us a lot to work with.

Do you have the original file. If so, you can start over. If not, shame, shame. Every book I have read says the same thing - don't edit an original file. But, we all have to learn. I know I did.

If you only have the edited file, hopefully there's something around the edges to work with. In Pop Photo, a couple of months back, Debbie Grossman had an article on adding to an image to change its dimensions. She change the pallette dimensions and added to the image using the rectangular Marquis tool.

You can probably find the article in a copy of the magazine in the library or on the Pop Phot website.


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December 04, 2006

 

Christopher A. Vedros
  John,
I thought the same thing you did at first - just start over with the original.

But I think the problem may be that she cropped too closely to the subject in the camera. Now she needs to crop the 2:3 aspect ratio image to an 8x10 and is having to cut off either heads or feet to fit the ratio.

Desiree - you may be able to make this work by adding a border around the image. (The dimensions I give here assume that your picture is 8" tall and 10" wide)

If you size the picture to 5"x7.5", then you will need a 1.5" border on the top & bottom, and a 1.25" border on the sides.

If you size the picture to 6"x9", then you will need a 1" border on the top & bottom, and a .5" border on the sides.

If they are planning to use this image as a Christmas card, you could make the top & side borders equal, and the bottom border larger to make room for a message.

Good luck,
Chris A. Vedros
www.cavphotos.com


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December 04, 2006

 

Desiree C. Preckwinkle
 
 
 
Thanks to both of you. I have attached the image. I thought for sure I left enough space on the sides. I do have the original, and will work around with a border to see how that works. Do I make this border with Photoshop?
Thanks


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December 04, 2006

 

Bob Chance
  Desiree:

The frame style may work, providing it enlarges the canvas first, then applies the fame without cropping into the pictue.

Another method you may try, especially if you need an uneven frame to make this work. Just adding a frame will probably add and even frame on all four sides.

What you could try is enlarging the canvas. If you're using PSE, click on "Image">"Resize">"Canvas".

Using the controls you can now make the frame thicker on the sides than at the top/bottom, or visa versa. You can also select the extra canvas to be white or whatever foreground color you have previously selected.

Another possiblitly: Print the picture full sheet size 8 1/2 x 11". Fits perfectly in a document frame.

Bob


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December 06, 2006

 

John P. Sandstedt
  After looking at the image, I'd crop it atill further to eliminate as much of the bright background as possible. Then, I'd clone out the red flowers to the right of the center man's head. While I like spots of red in pictures, these are distracting.

Once I did, I'd adjust the lighting of the image [exposure and/or brightness, etc.] Then, I'd use the Magic Wand to highlight the wall to try to tone it down.

When you took this picture, the meter reacted to the brightness of the background, especially the gray wall. Don't know if your D70 has a spot meter; if so, you could have metered on any face to more effectively expose for the faces - after all it is a group portrait. By getting rid of as much of the bright background as possible you'll be able to focus on bright faces.

As to image dimensions, you need to ask "why" to an 8X10? If you do the copping I've suggested, you'll end up with a longer narrower print - but, so what.

The sister of my second son's wife did a charcoal painting from a picture of Grandpa, Father and two sons at older son's wedding. It's 12X21 and looks great. Think out of the box, something we all need to do as the result of the 1.6 factor [even though one ultimately starts with a 2X3 aspect ratio.


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December 07, 2006

 

John P. Sandstedt
  One other thing. When I'm judging [albeit not often this type of portrait,] I look to see whether too much has been cropped before the fact. Sometimes it's part of a head [so I look for whether it's done for impact or by error.]

In this case, all legs are missing. You might consider whether the image is strong as presented or might have been stronger if full legs had been included.

If the former, you might try cropping a little more off the bottom, taking care not to cut off the hands of the people on the left, to further exaggerate the aspect ration.

Just a thought.


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December 07, 2006

 

Desiree C. Preckwinkle
  All good thoughts. John, I am curious if I did set at spot metering on the faces, then with a longer exposure or more light entering the camera.... wouldn't the wall be even more exposed and washed out?


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December 07, 2006

 

John P. Sandstedt
  Absolutely. That's why I suggested using the Magic Wand to select the bright wall and do some adjustment or even a slight color change to darken it.


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December 07, 2006

 

George L. Stanley
  Hi Desiree, what I do is in photoshop I will create a new file at 8x10, res. at 300 or what ever size I needed, and with the rectangular marquee tool select the photo, copy and paste into the new file, with th crop tool I will fill in the top as needed to make the 8x10, this works really well if you have foliage at the top like you do. hope this helps.
George


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December 09, 2006

 
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