On Cropping and Ratios.

I'll likely post this on my Facebook business page, but not everyone is on FB and I'd like to be able to forward clients to this explanation so I'll also post it here.

I make photographs with professional Digital SLR cameras.
Currently these cameras make images in 6000X4000 pixels (24MP) but even when I was using smaller 6MP cameras the images were 3000X2000 pixels out of camera.

This means that my images are a 3:2 ratio and if I made a 4X6 print EVERYTHING in the photo that the camera saw would show up on a print.

Many consumer digital cameras produce images that don't make 4X6" shaped photos (3:2 ratio) but rather 4X5.5" shaped photos (4:3 ratio). Though most cameras today let you choose the 3:2 ratio as well.)

Some websites (like the MLS system that Realtors use to post their listings) have space in their upload pages for only that 4:3 ratio images that the consumer cameras use to make by default.
They display photos in 1024X768 pixels size.

When the photos that I provide my clients are uploaded to MLS, the MLS system sizes them down to 768 pixels tall and places the photos into a white 'letterbox' like you see sometimes on your TV when watching a BluRay disc. (example #1 in the image below.)

While not ideal, this allows for the entire photo that I've made of any given room to be seen by anyone browsing the listing online and until MLS sets itself up to also display more professional 3:2 ratio images, it is the best option to use.

IF I or the client choses to have me CROP the images down to 1024X768 pixels before uploading to MLS, you get an image that doesn't show all of the room that we were able to capture with the camera. (example #2 in the image below...not recommended.)

The only other way to fit all of the image information from a 3:2 ratio image into a 4:3 ratio space is to have me SQUISH it in, but that makes everything in the image look distortedly taller than the room actually is and makes my photos look odd.

My clients pay me specifically because my images make their listings look the best that the do in reality. Squishing a photo to fit is NOT a realistic image. (example #3 in the image below...not recommended.)