Tom Clark - Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

24mm, 1 sec, VIS, 50

Figure 11-4:Compositional frames are designed to keep your eyes in the image.

If you're using a camera with a square format (or you intend to create an image that will be presented in a circle format or any other shape than the typical rectangle that's created by most digital SLR cameras), you don't have to worry about whether your images should be composed vertically or horizontally. However, because most cameras do produce images that have one long side and one shorter side, this decision has to be made more times than not. Digital point-and-shoot and SLR cameras, for instance, use a rectangular sensor that, unless you turn the camera from its natural upright position, is wider than it is tall. Many people forget that they can turn the camera, so they end up with a lot of horizontal images.

Always consider which format is most appropriate compositionally for a particular scene; doing so can sometimes determine how successfully your message comes across in an image. Until you get comfortable with vertical and horizontal formats, shoot scenes in both so you can later compare the two. Note what you like and dislike about each, and then determine why one works better than another in a specific situation.

Three different elements — the message, the subject, and the environment — can affect which format you choose for your image. I discuss each in the following sections.

Your message relies on the format of your image in the same way that it relies on any of the other compositional techniques in this book. Visual changes occur when switching from a horizontal to a vertical format. Sometimes an image works much better as one or the other, and sometimes both formats seem to work equally well.

Here are some questions to ask that help determine which format best suits a scene you're photographing:

How is your subject going to fit into your frame? Ifyou have a vertical subject, a vertical frame maximizes how much space that subject can take up in the frame. The same goes for a horizontal subject and a horizontal frame. Because people are vertical when they're standing or sitting upright, a majority of portraits are taken with the vertical format.

How are the elements in the scene arranged?Your subject may be vertical but the supporting elements are spread out along a horizontal area. You need to determine what's important to your message and how you can best fit it into your frame.

In Figure 11-5, both formats work well to display the scene, but they both affect the image's message in different ways. The vertical format in this case allowed me to give more of the frame's space to the subject than the horizontal format did. That's because the subject is vertical. Having the woman appear larger in the vertical frame caused the image to convey details about her and the dress she's modeling, with a moderate emphasis on the environment that surrounds her. Vertical images almost always are used in fashion and portrait photography unless the scene includes multiple subjects. In that case, a horizontal image may be required to fit everyone in.

Notice how the horizontal image in Figure 11-5 has less emphasis on the person and the dress and includes more detail in the environment. The trees to the left of the frame, which don't show up in the vertical composition, make the image less about the woman and more about the environment. Each composition works well in a different way: The vertical image may work on a magazine cover, in a catalog, or in a look book; the horizontal image is appropriate for a fashion editorial across a two-page spread.

Figure 11-5:Vertical and horizontal image comparison with a human subject.

Figure 11-6 shows two examples of a Miami cityscape image. In most cases, you would shoot a skyline in the horizontal format because of the natural horizontal layout of the scene. In this case, however, the late-evening sun and the city lights illuminate a colorful and cloudy sky. The sky is more interesting than the skyline itself, so the vertical composition is more effective for this scene. The vertical image gives a more complete composition of the light in the sky while providing a good representation of the downtown buildings.

Figure 11-7 shows an example in which the message is completely lost when the format is off. In the vertical version you get a basic idea of the building's architecture, and you get a small glimpse of the theater-style letter board. However, these details provide an unclear representation of who the man is. The horizontal image, on the other hand, reveals that the man is sitting on a playhouse. You can use this information to assume that he's an entertainer. The idea behind this image was to use photo-editing software to enter the man's name into the marquee as if the playhouse were presenting him.

Figure 11-6:Vertical and horizontal image comparison for a cityscape.

I could have changed my perspective in Figure 11-7 in order to create a composition that fit both the subject and the marquee into a vertical frame; however, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the lighting effect that I got in this image from the new camera angle that would have been required. (For more on perspective, flip to Chapter 8.)

When the subject itself is the most important aspect of an image's message, you'll most likely format the image according to what works best for showing off the subject. As a general rule, a vertical subject works best in a vertical frame, and a horizontal subject works best in a horizontal frame. After all, distributing the space around the subject in a more balanced way is easier when the frame's orientation is similar to the subject's. The subject can take up more space in a frame that shares the same orientation.

Figure 11-7:Vertical and horizontal image comparison for an environmental portrait.

If your subject is a winding river, for example, you'll most likely choose a format based on which way the river runs through your scene. If you're looking up or down the river, you probably want to shoot vertically to capture the distance that the river stretches. If you're looking at the river from the side, shoot horizontally to fit as much of it as you can into your composition.

General rules are great to follow most of the time, but they don't work all the time. When photographing a person's portrait, you generally use a vertical format because people are taller than they are wide. Remember that, but also consider other variables that may affect the way you format a particular scene. If a person is sitting or lying down, a horizontal frame may be more suitable. And someone who's in motion may require some room in front of him in the frame to provide active space in the composition. (Chapter 16 tells you more about active space.) In this case, it may not be possible to provide enough space with a vertical frame.

In Figure 11-8,1 chose a vertical format because I was shooting a vertical subject. The background isn't important to the message, so I minimized it. The shapes and lines of the subject fit nicely into a vertical frame; a horizontal frame would have provided only more gray background.

50mm, 1/250 sec, f/3.2, WO

Figure 11-8:The subject dictates the format of this composition.

Sometimes the environment surrounding your subject is as important to telling the story as the subject itself. In that case, you include in your frame all the scene's elements that are relevant to your intended message. If, for