Cropping & Capitalist Hot Dog Buns

Why do packs of Hot Dogs come in 12's, and the buns in 8's? Why do photo frames come in 'standard' sizes: 5x7, or 8x10, but I am forced to crop the image from the camera to fit it in the frame? While I am still not sure about the hot dog & bun situation (although I like to lament that it is a capitalist tactic)... I will endeavor to shed some light on the cropping (or not cropping) of your photos when you're ready to print & display! Back when I was shooting 35mm film, I encountered the same 'problem' - I'd go shoot a roll of film, then be standing in the darkroom with a pack of 8x10 (4:5 ratio) paper, and negatives with a 2:3 ratio.. and wonder.. why?  Why, oh why, must I be forced to crop?  Digital cameras soon followed suit... 'popular' film (35mm) was 2:3 ratio, let's make digitals the same!  That's why when you pick up your proofs from your family vacation, they're typically 4x6 (2:3 ratio!) The 'ratio' works like this:  The camera shoots 2:3, so you if you can divide 2 into the 'short' side, and 3 into the 'long' side of the size you want, you have no need to crop.  Take a 4x6 for example, a very common print size, 2 goes into 4 2 times, 2 goes into 6 3 times... and there's your 2:3 ratio..  no need to crop! One of the easiest ways to describe how a crop works is with a visual example, which, conveniently, I've put together below! Of course, I'd move those crops around to be aesthetically pleasing, but you can see how the crops could be limiting depending on the image.  In instances where you would like to keep the entire image, you should look for a custom frame where you can still keep the original 2:3 ratio, like an 8x12, 12x18, or 16x24. OR - there is this option... 'floating' the image on a standard size, like this ~6x9 print on an 8x10 paper: Any way you slice it (see what I did there?), cropping is an important decision in your final image! We'll finish this lesson with a quick 'cropping cheat sheet':

Print Size	Cropped?
4x6	No
5x7	Yes
6x9	No
8x10	Yes
8x12	No
10x15	No
11x14	Yes
11x17	Yes
12x18	No
16x24	No
18x24	Yes