When taking a picture package that will include; 8x10, 5x7, & 4x6 photos, what type of head room should I leave at the top of the photo when taking the pic that will ensure me that I will get all of the picture when I crop to the above sizes in photoshop? What I am having troubles with is that my picture will come in from my camera into photoshop at 12x9, or 9x12 (something or another)...and when I crop the photo to the size I want, I loose some or a lot of the image because of cropping...what am I doing wrong?

By the way, I know about the image resize in photoshop,...most of the time that just makes the image look "squeeeeeezed into the picture or deformed. I am aslo aware of photoshops automated piccture packinging...the problem is that they don't offer the sizes I may need at times.

Thanks.

When taking a picture package that will include; 8x10, 5x7, & 4x6 photos, what type of head room should I leave at the top of the photo when taking the pic that will ensure me that I will get all of the picture when I crop to the above sizes in photoshop? When I crop the photo to the size I want, I loose some or a lot of the image because of cropping...what am I doing wrong?
I haven’t used the picture package option that much, but your issue is aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is the relationship of an image's width to height, or its proportions. For example, a 4 x 6 print has an aspect ratio of 3:2; and an 8 x 10 has an aspect ratio of 5:4. As a result, you will lose some information when cropping to these different ratios.

The below link may help you better understand this.
Working with aspect ratios (http://www.steves-digicams.com/techcorner/September_2006.html)

I know about the image resize in photoshop,...most of the time that just makes the image look "squeeeeeezed into the picture or deformed.
Image resize should not make you images look “squeezed” unless you are not constraining the proportions. There should be a little chain linking both the vertical and horizontal dimensions. If you don’t see this or if you don’t have constrain proportions checked then you would end up only resizing in one direction at a time resulting in “squeezed” images.

I am aware of Photoshop’s automated picture packaging...the problem is that they don't offer the sizes I may need.
Customizing Photoshop’s picture package layouts is fairly easy depending on what version of Photoshop you are using.

Customize Picture Package Layouts in Photoshop CS (http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/qt/cseditpicpack.htm)

Customize Picture Package Layouts in Photoshop 6 & 7 (http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/ht/apscustompp.htm)

Thank s to all who replied. It was very helpful.