From the comments on a resent post I came to the conclusion that acceptable or "traditional" photo "sizes" seems to be a thing of the past with digital photography.
One comment specifically stated "the photo will have been much better if the sky was cropped out".
As the subjects which I wanted included would not have been "in" had I taken the particular photo without the sky, cropping was the only way to get rid of the sky. This altered the dimensions from an approximate 3" X 5" to 2" X 5". Now as far as I know there never was such an acceptable format as 2" X 5" in the days of film photography.
Now as far as I know there never was such an acceptable format as 2" X 5" in the days of film photography.
Does that mean that "any size" is now acceptable?
Can I ask whose acceptance you seek? As far as I know, photographers have "always" had the option to choose whatever aspect ratio best met their requirements.
Posted by Richard Ditch on August 28, 2011 at 6:29 PM
I've been a photographer for 40+ years now, so most of my experience is from the days of film. I never felt constrained by commercial print sizes and always let the image and composition dictate the aspect ratio. When making a print in my own darkroom I adjusted the borders on my printing easel so the resulting print was centered on the paper size I was using (8x10 or 11x14). If I purchased commercial prints from slides I'd cut a beveled matte in whatever dimensions I needed for my composition. If I wanted to alter the area of a slide for projection I would remount the film chip in a custom slide mount.
"Traditional" only exists at commercial drugstore-ish or online printers, who have only a few pre-sets in the "traditonal" sizes.
Yes, any size is acceptible - go for strong composition, good technicals, and great interest in your images, no matter what size they end up being. If you print odd sizes, then you'll need to be adjusting borders as Richard mentions and looking at custom matting and framing. THis can be expensive if you don't do it yourself..
Good photoshop skills are pretty important these days.
Sandy
Discussion
4 repliesOne comment specifically stated "the photo will have been much better if the sky was cropped out".
As the subjects which I wanted included would not have been "in" had I taken the particular photo without the sky, cropping was the only way to get rid of the sky. This altered the dimensions from an approximate 3" X 5" to 2" X 5". Now as far as I know there never was such an acceptable format as 2" X 5" in the days of film photography.
Does that mean that "any size" is now acceptable?
Can I ask whose acceptance you seek? As far as I know, photographers have "always" had the option to choose whatever aspect ratio best met their requirements.
Yes, any size is acceptible - go for strong composition, good technicals, and great interest in your images, no matter what size they end up being. If you print odd sizes, then you'll need to be adjusting borders as Richard mentions and looking at custom matting and framing. THis can be expensive if you don't do it yourself..
Good photoshop skills are pretty important these days.
Sandy