Teaching an old dog new tricks...

[rpcrowe]

I need my dog rescue portraits in a square 1:1 ratio because that is the best ratio to post on several dog rescue sites. I can shoot in a 1:1 ratio with my Sony APSC cameras but, I also often need the images in 3:2 ratio for other uses like calendars. I would need to choose between the 1:1 ratio and the 3:2 ratio - I can't have it both ways...

Therefore I shoot in the standard 3:2 ratio and crop in PP. Works great except that in the excitement of getting the dog to pose correctly, I sometimes frame my image so that it is difficult to crop into a 1:1 format without cutting off portions of the dog. In that case, I usually enlarge the background in PP to enable a correct crop; which works fine but takes additional time.

The simple solution on my Sony cameras is to go into the menu and select "square grid" which will show me gridlines for a square crop in either the viewfinder or the LCD. Naturally, I can also do this with my Canon 6D Mark 2.

A simple solution! But, after years of dog portraits, I just never thought of it. Talk about "TEACHING AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS"

[wilgk]

The joy of always finding something new to learn is one of life’s greatest gifts.

[rpcrowe]

You are so correct. It also keeps my mind active. I'll turn 79 in June.

I told the doctor that I thought my memory was going because I didn't remember the names of all my dogs. He asked how many dogs I had and I told him that right at that time I had about twenty And the ones I didn't remember had just arrived!

If you lose your car keys that isn't a sign of Alzheimer's. It's when you find them and wonder, "What the heck are these things?" Then, you had better start worrying