Portrait Crops & Shot Sizes

The four standard crops

Crop	What it does
Head shot	Identity and expression. Watch the neck and chin.
Head & shoulders (bust)	The workhorse portrait — expression plus a little posture.
Half body / three-quarter	Shows hands, clothing and gesture. Watch slumping shoulders.
Full body	Whole pose and environment. Watch tense hands and locked legs.

Never crop on a bend

Avoid cutting at joints — wrists, elbows, knees, ankles. Cropping where the body bends creates awkward proportions. Either leave the joint inside the frame or take it fully out.

Place the eyes

Put the eyes on a rule-of-thirds intersection. Don't clip the chin — if you must crop the face, crop the top of the head, not the jaw.

Crop in camera resolution

Cropping in post isn't cropping so much as enlarging — you lose resolution and magnify every flaw. Framing tight in camera also gives you less depth of field and more background blur, so the subject pops. Plan the capture, shoot with purpose.

Give yourself options

• Shoot the same set-up vertical and horizontal.
• Shoot wider and tighter versions of each pose.
• Move your own position rather than only zooming — angle changes the story.

Storytelling framing ladder

For a series or a documentary set, work the same three sizes deliberately:

• Wide — sets the scene: where the subject is, in space and time.
• Mid — where most of the narrative lives: connection, interaction, environment detail.
• Close / detail — intimacy, texture, intense emotion; lets the viewer slow down.

Consolidated from references: Photzy Portrait Crop Guide; Portraiture poses; Meredith Schofield, Authentic Storytelling (framing guide).