Digital BW, The Print

I have to say "it depends."

You cannot always shoot to the exact image you want.  Sometimes I see it 
a square or a long horizontal or vertical.  I always shoot wider then 
crop a little.  It make look different later and I change my mind.

I usually do not print to a given stock size, so it's hard to print to 
the mat.  Some things lend themselves to 8x10, 11x14, etc.

The other issue is leaving enough around the print to have sufficient 
overlap with the mat.  Then the printer size is a factor also.

Other factors are cropping loose (a little) then cropping to final with 
the mat.  On others I crop exactly and leave a white border (with or 
without a 2-point line) that exists inside the border of the mat board. 
For instance, a white 1/2" border within wine-colored black core mat board.

I don't think there is a single answer.  You have to adjust to both the 
subject AND how you saw it AND how you see it now.

Seth

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Posted by: "Michael"  michael3442@...
Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:00 am (PDT)
Now the second part of my query was whether you "print to the matt"
or "matt to the print." This is a larger question about how you view
your art and how you view photography itself. Remember all the
concerns and opinions so hotly debated about whether it's proper to
crop a negative image? And the sanctity of using the full frame (to
the point of including the film base surrounding the image as part of
the finished image)? Similar issues include the use of only lenses
that offer a perspective that is most similar to the human eye.