Horizontal vs Vertical (2)

Requirement

6 photographs

Purpose

To show the basic nature of the landscape is a horizontal orientation, even so photographers should still be alert to worthwhile opportunities for images with vertical framing

Technical learning

• How you define the landscape affects the ideal shape of the frame: horizontal or vertical?
• Nevertheless, photography (of any subject) contains bias towards the horizontal for 3 main reasons - (a) our eyes tend to scan sideways in an elongated oval to interpret what we see,  (b) the common 3:2 aspect ratio produces on average a more succesful image in a horizontal rather than vertical plane, (c) manufacturers therefore design cameras for easier handling in  'landscape' rather than 'portrait' format
• Moreover, landscapes reinforce this tendency to use the horizontal, because they usually have more horizontal elements than any other kind of image. Not only the horizon but also many features - rivers, roads, hedgerows - tend to appear as horizontal lines in the 2 dimensions of an image. 
• Even so, portrait orientation has a role. It tends to suit the naturally vertical subject. Successful use of the vertical image normally requires placing the subject lower in the frame (to add to stability) and finding a complementary element to fill the space above. 
• However, the vertical subject shot in 'landscape' often works when it is off-centre - to enocurage the eyes to move horizontally across the frame. 

Exercise instructions

For the next 6 times you compose a horizontal landscape with a wide-angle lens, try also to compose a successful vertical one with the same lens. To make the vertical image work, move the camera position to include a different part of the foreground.

Images and Review

Lake-side park in Zurich on a July morning

Vertical subject: vertical frame, 
where the horizontal just does not cut it....

This works. I even like it.
It's not a landscape, though...

..and this only works as a statement
of ugly concrete in landscape.
The absence of information about the
the statue leaves
the image with an unresolved
question: what is it and what 
is it doing there?

Boat on Zurich lake

Vertical subject: vertical frame, but
horizontal framing also works...

...by placing the boat off-centre

Strip of cloud at sunset, Kilchberg

Vertical frame emphasises the  line
of the cloud, yet this orientation feels unnatural,
almost claustrophic

Horizontal frame weakens the line of the cloud
and forces inclusion of the distracting large tree
on the right hand side. However, it better
conveys the relaxed mood of that
particular evening