This is Your Print with Bad Cropping. This is Your Print Without Cropping. Any Questions?

I am so happy to be able to share this AWESOME article from my friend and guest blogger Kelly Broyles.  You can visit Kelly’s website here and her facebook page here.  Go check out her work.. it is incredible! 

This is Your Print with (Crappy) Cropping. This is Your Print Without Cropping. Any Questions?

Hammer (aka parachute) pants, the Macarena, pagers and 8×10″ prints all have one thing in common… they should have all cease to exist after the year 1999.  Luckily all of those died out over the years except for the 8×10″ print.  Somehow 8×10′s managed to stay popular even as technology evolved, and today they are still one of the most popular print sizes and a photographer’s worst print nightmare.

“Wait, Did she say a nightmare?”  

Yes!  Yes, I did.  The majority of photographers hate 8×10″ prints and you will too once you understand that there is a BETTER option for you.  An option that is a larger print and won’t chop off a significant portion of your print.

The problem with 8×10″ prints is rather easy to understand once explained.  SLR cameras -the fancy camera your photographer is using – shoot on a 3:2 aspect ratio while 8×10″ prints have a 5:4 ratio.  To put it into extremely basic terms 8×10″ prints are fatter and shorter than the native aspect of a SLR meaning you lose part of your image on the top and bottom when ordering an 8×10″.

“What do you mean?  Nothing you’ve said makes any sense…”

Allow me to show you…

Does it make sense now that you’ve seen the comparison?  I hope so!

The argument is often made that 8×10′s are what people expect you to buy but I can promise you that grandma & grandpa will be overjoyed with a slightly larger 8×12″ print.  Another argument is that 8×12″ frames are hard to find.  Granted an 8×12″ frame is harder to find but many retailers carry them including Amazon & Michael’s… and if more consumers start purchasing 8×12″ prints there will be more frames made, I promise!

So, the next time you’re ordering prints from your favorite photographer ask them about an 8×12″ prints instead of an 8×10″.  You will NOT be disappointed!!

~Kelly Broyles is a wedding & portrait photographer including seniors, engagements & general portraiture located just outside of Charleston, WV. She’s also a “unicorn” who shoots Sony instead of Canon or Nikon. Kelly lives with her husband, Jax the cat and is expecting a baby girl in October 2013.