For those that routinely print

[chauncey]

When you plan a shoot, whatever genre, do you have a minimum print size in mind?

[DanK]

generally not

[Manfred M]

Nope - I tend to print larger sizes most of the time. Most of my prints are in the 17" x 22" size.

[Shadowman]

A few years ago, 8" x10" max, now wide format provided I have the right accessories to achieve my end goal.

[JR1]

Yes, I tend always to shoot expecting to print A3+, sometimes poster A0

If you learn to shoot knowing the end result you are half way there. For example I will shoot these and get it as near as possible without the need to crop therefore retaining as much detail as possible

So yes, I always know what I want the outcome to be

[IzzieK]

Nope. I shoot at the highest resolution thinking that if it is worth printing I won't be sorry that I took the shot at a lower resolution.

[Geoff F]

When shooting I often have a crop ratio in mind and will compose the scene to allow for this.

But I also sometimes shoot a bit wider and crop to a ratio which will allow a bit of tighter cropping to another ratio at another time. Or make two different ratio crops from the same original.

For example, at the time of shooting I might think that a 5 x 4 ratio crop (from my 3 x 2 original shot) might work best; but know that another size ratio may be needed, such as use on a calendar which will need 3 x 2 ratio to fit in with other sizes. Or other publications which I may do in the future.

So yes, I do consider final image size ratios when shooting, but not actual sizes because, like many others, I am simply shooting as large as possible; because downward resizing is simple to achieve.

[kintatsu]

When shooting digital I generally print at 20x30cm for most things. I also do a 20x25 for certain subject matter. I plan things out when shooting for 50x75cm.

For film, I usually go for 8x10in. The prints I make are limited to 5x7i due to limitations in my equipment. When I send out, I like to get bigger prints.

I generally decide based on the subject and method of presentation. If I want to shoot for print, then I know what size before I go usually.

[DanK]

So yes, I do consider final image size ratios when shooting, but not actual sizes because, like many others, I am simply shooting as large as possible;

+1. I often have an aspect ratio in mind, and I often have to shoot with margins in one dimension to accommodate this. And I always shoot raw, with the largest size the camera will give me. (One of my bodies has smaller raw sizes as an option.) However, I don't shoot with a size in mind. I sometimes print the same image in different sizes for different context. E.g., my office is tiny and does not accommodate many photos bigger than 8 x 10, but in general, I prefer to print larger.

[pnodrog]

My initial reaction was to say no I always shoot RAW at maximum resolution. However about 6 months ago I upgraded my camera to a D800. So since then for work and some casual social/sport events (O.K. I'll confess -mainly at my golf club) where I know the photographs will almost always be for the web or small prints I switch to a shooting bank that has been set to JPEG, lower resolution and auto ISO. My bigest problem is to remember to switch back to the bank with my prefered settings after years of always leaving cameras set to the max.

I suspect as the pixel count increases there will be more photographers shooting at lower than max on occasions.

[chauncey]

I've gotten in the habit of using only long prime lenses and getting close to the subject for the purpose of blending them in PS thereby coughing out a larger than normal image. The dove I blended recently...Dove...macro?? is 9000 pixel long.

My reasoning is, that if I want to use one of my images as a gift/donation, better to have the option of going large rather than be limited to a small image.

[Colin Southern]

When you plan a shoot, whatever genre, do you have a minimum print size in mind?

What difference does it make?

- if you need more pixels than you can capture then there's not a lot you can do about it at the time.

- if you have too many pixels then it's not a problem anyway.