How often do you crop?

We shot a lot of amateur and professional work in chrome film because it was often better than negative film. We liked what we got. Also, nobody could mess with the color density. Many non-pros and everyday photographers shot chrome (slide film) because it was cheap and easy. They had their Kodak Carousel projector and bored their neighbors and family with vacation and holiday snaps. So be it. They didn't crop, of course.

Now, how about the professionals? The chrome shots you saw in Life magazine or National Geographic? How did those Kodachome shots get from slide film to the magazine pages? I'll tell you. It was the same way we got negative film there. We didn't cut and make slides from the positive film. We made a 6x7 or 4x5 internegative from that chrome film. We then cropped if needed and applied color correction in the same way we created any print in the darkroom.

Of course we cropped and it was thought of all the time. You had to think about it because there was going to be a crop to the internegative aspect ratio if not more. Sure the home user didn't maybe but that doesn't have much to do with what might be good creative photography. What the home user did with his Kodak projector doesn't have anything to do with whether or not one should crop an image for display purposes.

Furthermore, even the home user could crop slide film. Many of us invested in Cibachrome or reversal paper and printed directly from the chrome film. The only difference between slide film and print film is one is positive and one is negative. As far as what you did with it, there was no difference. You could apply the same creative treatment to one as to the other, cropping included.

Take care.

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Cheers, Craig
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