Take 20 photographs using a vertical format. Then take another 20 photographs shooting a horizontal version of each of the vertical photographs just taken.
The purpose of this exercise is to show that choice of format tends to be a matter of habit; whilst most photographers starting out take pictures using a horizontal format, most scenes can be made to work vertically.
Planning:
Hands up on this occasion – there wasn’t really any planning done here. As I am already comfortable using either a horizontal or vertical format when shooting, I decided to wander around the City of London during a couple of my lunch hours and take pictures of whatever I saw that looked interesting.
What happened:
I shot handheld in RAW using my 18-200mm lens and a mixture of aperture-priority and manual modes. I processed the images in Lightroom. I wanted to take the full benefit of this exercise by not cropping the horizontal images so have resisted this; certainly some of the images would be improved by a judicious crop.
I deviated from the brief in that I didn’t take all 20 images first of all in vertical format and then return to re-shoot them in horizontal format. This wasn’t really practicable so I shot each subject in both formats as a pair as I went along.
Against each pair of images I have noted the one that I prefer and tried to explain the reasons for my choice.
1 a) Drapers Gardens
1 b) Drapers Gardens
Pair 1: I surprised myself by preferring the horizontal version here as it gives a greater idea of the size of the building. The diagonal lines on the right make it into the stronger image of the two.
2 a) Copthall Avenue
2 b) Copthall Avenue
Pair 2: The vertical format provides far more depth to the scene; the second street lamp takes the eye further into the picture as do the buildings on each side of the street. The vertical shot also works better with this subject as it provides more context as well as allowing the street lamp more space to point upwards. It is a shame though that I did not manage to place the lamp in the centre of the vertical frame (I was successful with this for the horizontal frame).
3 a) 7 Lothbury
3 b) 7 Lothbury
Pair 3: I much prefer this image in vertical format as it allows the viewer to see more of the intricate detailing on the columns on the left and also more of the ornate stonework on the top right. In the horizontal format I find that there is too much dead space to the right of the carved wording.
4 a) Entrance to the church of St. Stephen Walbrook
4 b) Entrance to the church of St. Stephen Walbrook
Pair 4: Again I prefer this in vertical format. There are too many distractions in the horizontal image making it untidy. Including more of the steps in the vertical image leads the eye upwards to the bay tree at the top of the steps. The mosaic also has a more pleasing placement in the vertical image.
5 a) St. Stephen Walbrook
5 b) St. Stephen Walbrook
Pair 5: I do not have a preference here; both formats work equally well for me, although each gives a different perspective to the interior of this beautiful church.
6 a) The other side of the entrance to St. Stephen Walbrook
6 b) The other side of the entrance to St. Stephen Walbrook
Pair 6: Interestingly my initial preference was for the vertical format as I considered that the vertical view gave more gravitas to the inscription. However, I then switched preference to the horizontal view as I felt that the studded door and the surrounding masonry added context and interest, as does the masonry forming the arch to the left. Normally I would have cloned out the top of the gate in the bottom left hand corner but for the purpose of this exercise I left this image as taken.
7 a) Sculpture in Fenchurch Street
7 b) Sculpture in Fenchurch Street
Pair 7: The vertical format wins hands downs here; it gives a striking clean composition and the tall sculpture lends itself to vertical framing which enhances the sense of height. I also like the way the base of the sculpture fills the frame. The ugly yellow stonework on the right spoils the horizontal image for me. I did try moving to the left and re-composing, but this left too much dead space on the left of the frame.
8 a) Leadenhall Street
8 b) Leadenhall Street
Pair 8: I pondered over these two images for a while; there was no immediate outright winner. I eventually chose the vertical format due to its cleaner lines and simpler composition. Whilst I like the distortion created by the horizontal view and the ‘old and new’ look created by the inclusion of the building on the left, I decided in the end that the four buildings simply made the image too busy.
9 a) Lloyd’s building
9 b) Lloyd’s building
Pair 9: Definitely the vertical format for me here. The subject is suited to a vertical format by the direction of the steel pipes running down the picture. I also like the tight framing achieved by the vertical framing, although it must be said that the horizontal image could be improved in this regard by judicious cropping to remove the dead space on the left hand side.
10 a) Leadenhall Street
10 b) Leadenhall Street
Pair 10: Vertical format wins again here as it gives the necessary height to the image that is required by the strong vertical lines.
11 a) Boris Bikes
11 b) Boris Bikes
Pair 11: The vertical format image wins by a mile here. It creates a much more interesting picture by allowing the viewer to see the details of the the bicycle wheels. The upright frame creates a tunnel which allows the wheels to flow to the back of the image, reinforcing the impression of depth. There is dead space on the right hand side of the horizontal image, although this could be eliminated by cropping.
12 a) Foster Lane
12 b) Foster Lane
Pair 12: These two abstract images work equally well in either format. Any choice would be down to the viewer’s personal preference.
13 a) St. Vedast-alias-Foster
13 b) St. Vedast-alias-Foster
Pair 13: I much prefer the horizontal format as the broader view brings shades of light into the picture and also opens the image up providing more context to the setting.
14 a) Outside St. Paul’s Cathedral
14 b) Outside St. Paul’s cathedral
Pair 14: Not an easy choice here, but I decided that I prefer the vertical format with its tighter composition and the stronger lead-in line of the box hedge at the bottom right. In the horizontal image I found that my eye got blocked by the top of the frame from moving further up the tree.
15 a) One London Wall
15 b) One London Wall
Pair 15: I have no preference from this pair. Both images work in their own way as an abstract; the vertical format gives a tighter view whilst the horizontal view accentuates the sweeping diagonal curves.
16 a) St. Anne and St. Agnes
16 b) St. Annes and St. Agnes
Pair 16: Here the horizontal frame provides the better image as it allows a wider and more complete view of the church whilst still capturing the height of the tower behind.
17 a) 25 Gresham Street
17 b) 25 Gresham Street
Pair 17: As an abstract I much prefer the vertical format. It is a much simpler and tighter composition and the viewer’s attention is focused on the two vertical lines of the window frame and the detail on the cladding above and below. The centre window has also made a second frame within the original. The image in horizontal format shows less of the interesting detail on the cladding and the extra windows included in the shot also cause the eye to wander from side to side.
18 a) Princes Street
18 b) Princes Street
Pair 18: Of the twenty pairs, this is the one that I find the most interesting from the point of view of the exercise. The horizontal format has changed the composition of the image significantly by including another subject of equal weight. The vertical image was the first one of the pair that I took; I only considered one window as the subject for the shot so it was a surprise to turn the camera to horizontal format and find that I could include two windows. Of the pair, I prefer the horizontal view as the two windows make for a more interesting and balanced composition.
19 a) Cheapside
19 b) Cheapside
Pair 19: I prefer the horizontal shot here. More background allows the lock to ‘breathe’ and the wooden strut on the right hand side prevents dead space here. The vertical image is too tightly framed for my liking.
20 a) St. Stephen Walbrook seen though Rothschild’s forecourt
20 b) St. Stephen Walbrook seen through Rothschild’s forecourt
Pair 20: I am torn between these two. On one hand the horizontal format provides a more open view of the back of the church and also captures the reflections in the window so is the more conventional image of the pair. On the other hand something keeps taking me back to the vertical view as I like the frame provided by the steps and the ceiling of the forecourt and also the fall of the lighting. So the jury is still out.
Reflection:
I felt that this exercise pre-supposed that most photographers (or at least those starting out) take their photographs in a horizontal format. Michael Freeman writes in ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ (2007) that there are three main reasons why most people shoot in a horizontal format. The first is camera design. Cameras are made in order to take pictures in a horizontal format and are more comfortable to hold this way (camera manufacturers would find it difficult to make a model where it is just as easy to use a vertical format as a horizontal one . The second is that seeing horizontally is natural to us due to our binocular vision which means that we see the world as a horizontal oval. Finally the 3:2 proportions found in most DSLR frames are often considered too elongated to work well for vertical composition. Whilst I agree with the logic of these statements, I find that I am comfortable shooting in either format; I switch from one to the other quite happily depending on the composition that I am shooting.
The coursework notes suggest that this exercise may encourage students to look for tall objects to suit a vertical frame. Was I guilty of choosing ‘tall’ subjects? Probably, as I was on my photographical ‘home patch’ and the modern architecture and cramped surroundings of the City do encourage me to shoot vertically although I did try to counteract this on the day with some abstracts and other obviously ‘not tall’ subjects.
In ‘The Photographer’s Eye ‘ (2007) Freeman also suggests that it is more natural to place the main part of the subject below the centre of the frame when shooting in vertical format. This is not something I consciously think about when shooting and whilst some of my images from the exercise follow this tendency, there are others (in particular pairs 2, 4, 5 and 20) where I have deliberately placed the subject high in the frame for maximum visual impact.
I’ve noticed that of my 20 pairs, I preferred the majority in vertical format. Some of these are for obvious compositional reasons, others are down to personal choice. Interestingly in a couple of pairs (pairs 1 and 6) where at first glance a vertical frame was the preferred option, on further consideration I felt that a horizontal frame worked better. This leads me on to a point made by Bryan Peterson in ‘Learning to See Creatively’ (2003) where he suggests that photographers should shoot a subject in both horizontal and vertical format where possible in order that they have the choice to select either later on without having to crop. Peterson also makes an interesting response to the question ‘why shoot in vertical?’ by replying that shooting vertically brings a sense of dignity to the subject; ‘such are the emotions evoked by the vertical line; it conveys strength and power’ (p110).
Two other things that I’ve noticed from this exercise are that using a horizontal format can accentuate distortion in tall buildings (pair 8) which is something that I can use to my advantage when appropriate as I find that distortion in images can add interest if it is obvious enough to appear that it is not a mistake. I’ve also noticed that most of the abstract images I took would work in either format; the choice here is down to the viewer’s personal preference.
Looking at my images critically, I am fairly pleased with them. Having now got to grips with the Golden Section I have it in the back of my mind when shooting and I have managed to use it in a few of the images above. I need to remember though not to solely concentrate on one element of an exercise at the expense of something else. A couple of my horizontal shots are a little sloppy at the edges. Of course they can be cropped in post-processing, however it would have been better if I had got them right in camera..
I thought that I would find this exercise easy particularly as it was well within my comfort zone and also gave me an excuse (not that I really need one) to go out and find things of interest in the City to photograph. However, after shooting the 15th pair I started to lose the will to live, and adjusting (from RAW), uploading, analysing and commenting on 40 images took a long time and did not fill my day with joy. 10 images in each format would have been ample in my view to demonstrate the learning points of the exercise and left me with some sanity. On a positive front, I did learn how to use the Copy Settings dialog in Lightroom.
I found this exercise more useful than I first thought; in particular I’ve learned that the most obvious orientation is not always the best choice upon later reflection. I have also learned that it is good practice to frame a shot in both horizontal and vertical formats and to photograph in both formats if possible and I will try and adopt this as routine practice in future.
The Art of Photography 