Do you want that wide-screen grand scale for you images? Consider using a cinematic aspect ratio when you crop.
For consistency, in each of the following photos, I have cropped the image with the lower left anchor of the image appearing in the same place. Thus, the only difference in the crops is how much is taken off the top and/or the right. The sun and horizon end up in a reasonable position in each image so I think it is a fair comparison.
Here is the same image as it appears or would appear if it were:
In the Original Camera Capture: 3:2
On Standard Television: 4:3
On HD TV: 1.77:1 (16×9 HD)
At a Movie Theater: 1.85:1 (Standard since 1953)
On an Anamorphic Screen
(Cinemascope, ~Cinema Displays) 2.39:1
When you envision your world, do you see it on TV or as an Epic Movie vision?
This Wiki Aspect Ratio article lists a host of additional aspect ratios in use at various times and purposes in the cinematic world. Some of them might be fun to try the next time you are deciding on a crop for a particular look and feel.
In case you are wondering, the 1.85:1 is my favorite rendering under the strict constraints under which I cropped these images. It is epic without being too wide.
Perhaps next week, we will look at this same image in the common print sizes…
Rikk Flohr © 2011
