If I am shooting people then portrait...ok...I couldn't resist. I mostly use landscape, but I will use portrait mode if the subject warrants it. But, I know that you are correct in relation to me. I should consider portrait mode more when shooting landscapes or when shooting anything in general. Very good video as usual and some food for thought. Thanks for sharing with us.
I only recently started experimenting with portrait orientation for landscapes. Inspired a lot by the youtube binging I've been doing and seeing great shots in portrait. I've sort of just tried to do each location in both orientations to see which I liked better. This breakdown of context and story is a big help for deciding which may be better in each scenario, vs just doing both and seeing what turns out better. Great video.
A great explanation of how the choice of orientation is not just about the way to fit different elements of the scene into a composition, but also the way that the image interprets the scene.
I tend to do both based on what the scene dictates and the look I'm going for. I'm visiting Iceland in September so I'm definitely going to follow your advice and photograph almost every scene in both just to have the option in post later. Thanks again Mark.
depends entirely on the items you want in the scene. there shouldn't be a preference either way. one thing I noticed in my first year was the effort to be too wide and include everything, when usually a more focused composition would have been much better
Hi Mark, another interesting and informative video, thanks for sharing. I find landscape mode is great for getting the context of a scene, but portrait is so much better for pulling out the detail . You might say the landscape photo from Norway is the vast lake and mountains with a town nestled within it, whereas the portrait version is a beautiful town nestled by a lake and mountains. Both work for me, each image says something significantly different.
It's such a pleasure to listen and learn from you! So good explanations along with examples - along with your thought processes, it is like a mini master class in composition regarding portrait vs landscape. Even as a complete beginner everything made sense and was so easy to follow. :)
Funny but years ago pro’s shot a lot of vertical / portrait orientation for use as magazine covers which were the big ticket sale. Boy those days are gone!
It all comes down to the scene, as you say in the video, some scenes lend themselves to landscape orientation while others are more of an intimate kind and I go with portrait, if I'm really on the fence about something i go for a two shot pano, set the camera to portrait and shoot the pano horizontaly or vice versa, and check out later which really goes with it. Sometimes I find it works better in a square format.
Good addition to the question if you should shoot in landscape or portrait orientation is the aspect ratio. If one generally stick to 3:2 aspect ratio one is more challenged in opting for the portrait orientation as in many situations the 3:2 limits you. But first asking your self if you're gonna shoot in 4x5/3:4 (the typical large format/medium format aspect ratio), 3:2, 1:2 (6x12 panorama) or 1:3 (6x17 panorama) or 16:9 makes chosing the orientation an easier question. Personally I find 3:2 aspect ratio a limp ratio that generally favours the landscape orientation as it is in a way a limp panorama format. I found that when I chose to employ 4x5 as my default aspect ratio the question about what orientation to shoot became easier. This is mainly because of the more harmonious proportions the 4x5/3:4 aspect ratio present when approaching any scenes. What I also have noticed is that with shooting with a 4x5 aspect ration it's easier to see if a scene would benefit by shooting it as a panorama. The sad part is that too many of the cameras we use don't give you the option to shoot in 4x5 or 3:4. And cropping it later in the digital darkroom robs you of pre-visualizing the scene when shooting it, as Ansel Adams often spoke of. Also cropping later in post is the landscape version of the sloppy comment that you'll remove something in the frame later in post when shooting portraits. You won't be able to check your framing propper in 3:2 when you know that your image is intended to be 4x5. It's a lot harder to see what elements creeps into the frame, and if you need to move to make your composition work better. I've not only shot landscapes as my primary output. For years I also shot concerts, and I must say that the 3:2 aspect ratio lends it self more to shooting photo journalisim compared to landscapes. In that context a 4x5 aspect ratio makes it harder to compose as you often want to compose with more tension as it brings more dynamic into the composition. A dynamic that in many situations is not what you want for a landscape (something more suited if you shoot dangerous weather). So to sum things up here, I would say that you first need to ask you self what aspect ratio serves this scene best, and then the orientation more easier reveal it self.
Since the start of the year I've had a pretty even mix probably leaning a little more to vertical, but for two years previous 95% of my work was portrait orientation. I really like portrait for the reason you mention; depth. Great video, Mark!
Absolutely the best explanation of landscape vs portrait that I have ever seen. Makes me keen to go out and experiment but also to think about what I want to convey in an image.
Very useful insights, thank you Mark. I shoot in both formats but I’ve tended to be guided mostly by the elements in the composition. (I.e a lot of vertical elements would lead me to shoot portrait). What you’ve done with this vid is to introduce the story-telling aspect. My takeaway is; if you want to capture a “portrait” of a feature in the landscape, where the feature is dominant, consider shooting…Portrait! Whereas if you want to capture the full extent of the landscape scene, then shoot… Landscape! Edit to add; I think recessive layers captured with a long lens can work very well in portrait.
I agree with you that portrait is a bit underrated. There are so much opportunities there. And if both don't work then try the square crop. Excellent video again!
I shoot GFX, just the 50mpx version, but I vertical cropped within a landscape image of my daughter the other day and ran the lightroom enhance function over it. I was shocked at how good the result was. Worth looking at for those looking at post cropping within the original file.
Mark Don't forget the square! 🙂 Not for every subject, but it is great for strong & focussed compositions. Just always try to shoot with the crop intended (or at least close to the crop intended).
Interesting video, Mark. Regarding the bridge image, I find me eye going straight to the brighter sides and not really looking at the bridge. On the other hand, the cropped version leads my eye straight to the bridge making it an altogether better crop/composition - Minus the bright parts on each vertical side that is 😉
In situations where I find myself in a phenomenal location, I will generally shoot each composition in both Landscape and Portrait. I do this because a composition may work well as a magazine cover (portrait) [remember to leave headspace for magazine covers] ... or the composition may work well as a center-spread in a magazine (landscape)!!
I find myself looking at a scene and thinking of compositions that would look great on my HD 16x9 monitor where I usually have a wallpaper or screen saver showing my best images for the year. Like some other commenters, I want to fill the screen. But when I see a scene that cries out for a portrait orientation, I usually try to get 2 -4 portrait shots that tell a different story of the scene and then I pick two images, do 8x9 vertical crops and then put them in a 2 image collage to show on my 16x9 monitor. Also if I am showing the portrait images on Instagram the 8x9 crop isn’t too bad for viewing on a phone or tablet. LR Classic is a good tool for these types of collages using the Print module. Great video. Thanks!
I’d say I only consciously shoot about 10% in portrait and the remainder is landscape because I agree that landscape orientation tells more story. However, when post processing I’d say my final total goes to more like 25% portrait / 75% landscape. I guess I include too much extraneous “story” when taking the shots…thanks for reminding me to make more purposeful choices when composing.
If I am not sure which orientation I prefer when doing landscape, I will now do both. Guaranteed, every time when I view them on the computer, I will have a strong preference than I did while in the field. Many times when I take photos in landscape, and later try to crop vertically, there is not enough room to do it successfully….I am too close on the sides. Sometime, a square format will work, but I am finally learning it is much better to shoot both vertically and horizontally in the field if there is any doubt as to which I will like best.
As a starting baseline consider how we view scenics versus people and animals. With people and animals, regardless of crop, composition and lighting a Western viewer will gravitate towards the front of the face, eyes and mouth. Curiously studies by psychologists have shown that Japanese and other asian viewers will instead focus on the nose because of a cultural norm of avoiding direct eye contact when meeting strangers. For photographs without faces the eye will be pulled the area of the photo which contrasts the most with the overall tonal context - lightest area on a dark field, darkest on a light field. Composing the photo so the main center of interest contrasts the most can be used to either draw the eye of the viewer across the context needed to understand the contrasting focal point, or pull the eye there first and only have the viewer wander off to explore the context in the other parts of the photo after dwelling on the focal point. It is just a matter of controlling how much the focal point contrasts in tone, color, sharpness and detail with what surrounds it. The choice if vertical or horizontal crop is just another way of controlling viewer eye movement in the frame after it finds the focal point and gets tired of dwelling on it. The convention of composing portraits vertically with the eye line around the upper 1/3 regardless of crop tends increase the dwell time on the face, especially on a plain or focus blurred background by limiting the space available to explore above and to the sides of the face. Unless there are some other objects like the hands illuminated so the contrast as much more more than the face a viewer is likely to just dwell on the face and not even bother to explore the other parts of the photo. Telling a story with a photo has a lot in common with telling a joke or doing a magic trick. All three, done well, start with an understanding of what the audience expects, then using that understanding to “line up the ducks” how they expect to see them, or change things up by diverting attention off the main focal point by making something less important contrast more, causing them to find it later in the viewing experience.
I using portrait orientation 95% off the time, an also stitch horizontally! Even with my 100mpx X2D.. Then I can crop like I want after, and for different uses. And will always have mpx enough for different uses. It looks like you like Norway 😊 I’m from Norway 👍
I think another important factor is, which orientation have the leading lines in your picture or to your subject. I think the picture of Golden gate bridge or the river work perfect in vertical orientation. You can choose a wider field of view when you are on scene even in portait orientation
The main takeaway is something I'm always trying to get casual photographers to do - to take a moment to really think about what their subject is before taking a photo. Once you've decided what you're really going for, decisions about orientation become more obvious. I work in a retail photo lab, and to give a common example of not thinking of subject first, I use the idea of someone taking a picture of their friend while on vacation in front of the White House in Washington D.C. They end up with a poor photo of both the friend and the White House, so I recommend they take two photos: One nicely composed of the White House without their friend in the frame (probably landscape), and another close-up portrait of their friend, angled so you can set them at the scene with the White House visible behind, preferably over their shoulder, preferably with a depth of field good enough to establish the background without leaving it so in focus it takes away from their portrait subject. The number one mistake casual photographers make - not thinking about what their subject actually is before pressing the shutter button.
I like your suggestion to shoot scenes in both portrait and landscape. That is better than just landscape and then looking at portrait in post processing. Often you can discover good compositions when you see what the camera saw, rather than what you think you saw. I like to do this and if possible go back and shoot it again, if needed. Always enjoy your presentations, thanks.
Better to have the shot that may not work, then wishing you had taken the shot that would have worked. For a wee bit of space on a memory card, it only costs a bit of your time
@@davidnoseworthy4540 never hurts to take a few extra shots. I, however, have had a hobby of photography for many decades, having shot film until the early 2000's. Because of this, I am reluctant to take a shot if I have any doubt it may work. I once saw online a comment from a wedding photographer that routinely shoots 5000 or more digital images per wedding. I would not be willing to shoot that many hoping for some good ones. I would not enjoy the hobby if I did not enjoy the process. I have a lot of negatives from my film days that are awful. Over the years I have become more selective before I press the shutter, and it has carried over into digital. But, I do agree it never hurts to take some extras, especially in the digital age. We can all do what we want, hopefully getting something satisfactory in the end. David, thanks for your comment.
Lovely photographs. I think it is also a very good idea to think of cropping a photograph as a square, and better still to think of photographing landscape with a thought of later cropping to a square. Of course some cameras have a crop mode on them with a penalty of losing some pixels when cropping. Topaz Gigapixel AI can up resolution your photo . A wonderful tutorial. Vertical compositions often have a feeling of stability or strength too.
I mostly shoot in landscape but often crop to portrait just like you show. But I need to start thinking more about backing up and compressing using zoom.
In that intial scene from Norway with the red buildings, I preferred the portrait mode, with perhaps a slightly different crop, before you ever went there.
Mark, you are becoming one of the best photography vlogger. Great work, thanks for all these tutorials. I shoot more landscape orientations, about 2/3.
Specifically the Fuji GFX 65 * 24 aspect ratio - super wide… is amazing for landscapes! This format is also known as Hasselblad X-pan, and is actually created by Hasselblad originally
Great video, Mark, with a lot of good points! One other consideration, I think, in making the choice of format, is to consider the orientation in which it is likely going to be viewed. The majority of screens are viewed in the landscape position and I prefer taking landscape shots so that I fill the presentation screen instead of presenting a vertical strip up the middle of a beautiful, big landscape screen. It is a pet peeve of mine to see someone holding their cellphone screen in portrait mode when they are taking what would be a great landscape shot. I see this all the time on TV, presented with a smudged in version of the portrait picture, on either side, trying to fill in the rest of everyones landscape tv screen. Same for people viewing a landscape picture stripe across their cellphone held in a portrait orientation. Also, if you are lucky enough to be shooting for a magazine, or some other customer, they may be looking for a portrait shot for a front cover or a landscape mode for a 2-page spread. If you give them the wrong format, you are out of luck.
First, I am not sure most of us have high resolution cameras. As to orientation. I have found I use portrait orientation when I plan on cropping square. This is usually with a DOMINANT subject. This allows reducing the foreground and/or sky which for me is harder to visualize in the field.
I probably use portrait more for landscapes, usually 2x3, because I like how it puts the viewer in there, but I think it needs to have a strong foreground element.
I am usually in Landscape. This is because most of my pictures land in a slideshow on a 16:9 TV screen. Then I zoom in slowly from my native 3:2 with black bars left and right to no black bars and cropping top and bottom a little. Some motives and compositions demand Portrait. Accommodating them into a horizontal slide- cum video-show is more challenging. Now and again I also shoot in Square.
I've been shooting a lot more like this …..than I had traditionally, however when selling prints not many people want the portrait print. Maybe this is the way houses are now ..but when I go into homes I don't see many portraits on the wall so this does Factor into the type of photos that I will be doing that said I've been doing a lot more than I used to
Hello ! It strikes me everyone is missing an elephant in the room ... the format of the viewing screen. Phone business lets aside, 99% of the pictures viewed on screens are viewed on a landscape oriented one. Because of that portrait pictures are smaller and less pleasing to watch. Printed pictures is of course another matter. I remember my first lesson in the old times of film slides by a photographer regularly working for National Geographic in a course called in french "Diaporama" wich translate to "Slideshow". "Shoot always in Landscape mode" as portrait slides will be projected to the ceiling or the floor of the room. It took me a long time to break that rule. @Mark. Thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge.
I've often heard the advice that if you have nice foreground, then portrait should work best because you want to emphasize it. Over all its more like, whatever works, right? Try it both ways and see which is best. As far as depth goes, you mean 2 dimensional vs 3d? Like a boulder looking flat vs it having roundness...
For whatever reason, I’m fine with a 3:2 landscape aspect ratio, but a 2:3 portrait shot seems way too tall and narrow to me. I’ll typically crop my portraits to something like a 4:5. I guess this is less of an issue for you with your 4:3 Fuji sensor. Mostly I’m just happy that people seem to be getting away from forcing weird portrait shots cause of Instagram.
Probably landscape, but am looking to shoot more portrait. I recently bought a house with many built in spots for large portrait images ( 30" wide by 60" tall). It will be fun having my own images there, or even enough to switch them out. Your 2 shots of the bay with the mountain and village, the landscape is interesting, but the portrait has enough detail in it to invite a longer view. I have recently seen many wider angle (20-30mm) shots in portrait and really like the effect. Thanks for your time to put this together.
My thought.....It would depend a bit on what one intends to do with the photo. If it is for a magazine then portrait is probably a better choice. Having said that, one then needs to think about your comments and choose the best portrait based on the scene and what is to be captured. Good thoughts Mark!
Just because you're shooting landscapes doesn't mean you have to shoot in landscape. Or portrait for portraits. Misleading naming convention. Just like how there's techniques in shooting, lighting, or retouching portraits that aren't commonly talked about in landscape photography but are perfectly applicable/translatable too.
Interesting subject matter Mark and agree in part with you, but not in all respects Portrait formats for me *always* tell a stronger story & present the stronger intent the photographer had. It reflects a more personalised conscious choice by the photographer of what the actual subject matter is. It requires more "skill" as well as you must ensure the foreground links into the background. You cannot afford a misplaced element. Portrait format has the added benefit of making the eye of the viewer wander through your image, from front to back & hence is more interactive and thus I think is more interesting. My view is vista shots (landscape format) are less to tell a story and more a record shot of that.moment in time awe inspiring scene given by mother nature (e.g. the size of the Grand Canyon, the power of the sea storm). Landscape format images are more about the overall emotion of a scene as a one hit "shot", as if you the viewer were standing there, as it mirrors the eyes field of view A portrait format requires more craft to successfully pull off and is harder work to do. This may explain its lower prevalence in landscape images.
I Love your videos Mark. Great explanations of your thinking and choices. I was wondering what dimensions you shoot in. 3:4, 16:9 etc. and do you shoot a tad wider and adjust in post production?
In the Instagram era, where portrait oriented photos get favoured by the algorithm, it's very tempting to always try and shoot vertical shots. As an amateur photographer, sharing through this platform, I was doing this "mistake" too, loosing, in my opinion, many great shots. I changed after some time my mindset, and tried to come up with some rule about orientation, so when shooting great vistas I always go horizontal and for more small and intimate scenes I go vertical, generally speaking. There is a way to share landscape oriented shots on Instagram though, without loosing too much reach, making swipe panoramas, cutting your picture in two 4x5s followed by a third one with the whole shot pasted on a 4x5 document in Photoshop. Anyways, thanks for another great video Mark, always a pleasure seeing and hearing from you!
One thing about this, You are just cropping your landscape images into portrait mode. That’s not necessarily the way the would have been shot at the time though. The golden gate shot would have been take from farther back giving more height to the trees and reducing the bridge. That would have made a nice gate way shot.
Found myself using portrait orientation a lot on recent trip. What I have trouble understanding is aspect ratio for printing. Any chance you may discuss this in the future?
Great tutorial, how exactly are you able to toggle between landscape and portrait with Lightroom, you mentioned it very quickly a few times but i could not understand what you said, thank you.
I mostly shoot landscape but I do try portrait often. I usually end up not using the portrait. Would shooting a pano portrait help to keep that mountain as grand as it should be in the lofoten shot while mostly keeping the grand scene? I need to go experiment with this. I was out shooting some smokies waterfalls this past weekend and while I though I nailed the shot I was looking for.....got home and....fail
Why aren't sensors square? The image circle for the lenses will cover the diagonal of the frame the manufacturer chose. The sensor is no longer the most expensive part of the camera. Couple this with good viewfinder masking for various aspect ratios . OK and now they you're all sitting down - square monitors. I have a funny story about this but someone will have to ask for me to post about it.
I think what you discuss in this video is confusing at best. You are only talking about how orientation changes a scene, but then what you do is change the orientation AND the cropping, but that is a very different thing than turning your camera orientation without changing your field of view, and thus you are a bit mixing up two very different actions' effects (changing orientation and cropping tighter) A video of showing landscape and portrait oriented shots of the same location AND same angle of view would have been much more informative on the topic you set in the title in my opinion :)
💥QUICK QUESTION: Do you mostly use Landscape or Portrait Mode?
I use Landscape probably 99% of the time, but on rare occasion i do use Portrait.
For some reason, I tend to use a lot of portrait mode with my landscapes but I want to try to use landscape mode more.
If I am shooting people then portrait...ok...I couldn't resist. I mostly use landscape, but I will use portrait mode if the subject warrants it. But, I know that you are correct in relation to me. I should consider portrait mode more when shooting landscapes or when shooting anything in general. Very good video as usual and some food for thought. Thanks for sharing with us.
@@bkc1965 Awesome to hear you enjoyed the video Bryan!
I only recently started experimenting with portrait orientation for landscapes. Inspired a lot by the youtube binging I've been doing and seeing great shots in portrait. I've sort of just tried to do each location in both orientations to see which I liked better. This breakdown of context and story is a big help for deciding which may be better in each scenario, vs just doing both and seeing what turns out better. Great video.
A great explanation of how the choice of orientation is not just about the way to fit different elements of the scene into a composition, but also the way that the image interprets the scene.
Great to hear you enjoyed it Michael!
I tend to do both based on what the scene dictates and the look I'm going for. I'm visiting Iceland in September so I'm definitely going to follow your advice and photograph almost every scene in both just to have the option in post later. Thanks again Mark.
depends entirely on the items you want in the scene. there shouldn't be a preference either way. one thing I noticed in my first year was the effort to be too wide and include everything, when usually a more focused composition would have been much better
Hi Mark, another interesting and informative video, thanks for sharing. I find landscape mode is great for getting the context of a scene, but portrait is so much better for pulling out the detail . You might say the landscape photo from Norway is the vast lake and mountains with a town nestled within it, whereas the portrait version is a beautiful town nestled by a lake and mountains. Both work for me, each image says something significantly different.
It's such a pleasure to listen and learn from you! So good explanations along with examples - along with your thought processes, it is like a mini master class in composition regarding portrait vs landscape. Even as a complete beginner everything made sense and was so easy to follow. :)
Awesome to hear this - thank you!
Funny but years ago pro’s shot a lot of vertical / portrait orientation for use as magazine covers which were the big ticket sale.
Boy those days are gone!
It all comes down to the scene, as you say in the video, some scenes lend themselves to landscape orientation while others are more of an intimate kind and I go with portrait, if I'm really on the fence about something i go for a two shot pano, set the camera to portrait and shoot the pano horizontaly or vice versa, and check out later which really goes with it. Sometimes I find it works better in a square format.
Good addition to the question if you should shoot in landscape or portrait orientation is the aspect ratio. If one generally stick to 3:2 aspect ratio one is more challenged in opting for the portrait orientation as in many situations the 3:2 limits you. But first asking your self if you're gonna shoot in 4x5/3:4 (the typical large format/medium format aspect ratio), 3:2, 1:2 (6x12 panorama) or 1:3 (6x17 panorama) or 16:9 makes chosing the orientation an easier question.
Personally I find 3:2 aspect ratio a limp ratio that generally favours the landscape orientation as it is in a way a limp panorama format. I found that when I chose to employ 4x5 as my default aspect ratio the question about what orientation to shoot became easier. This is mainly because of the more harmonious proportions the 4x5/3:4 aspect ratio present when approaching any scenes. What I also have noticed is that with shooting with a 4x5 aspect ration it's easier to see if a scene would benefit by shooting it as a panorama. The sad part is that too many of the cameras we use don't give you the option to shoot in 4x5 or 3:4. And cropping it later in the digital darkroom robs you of pre-visualizing the scene when shooting it, as Ansel Adams often spoke of. Also cropping later in post is the landscape version of the sloppy comment that you'll remove something in the frame later in post when shooting portraits. You won't be able to check your framing propper in 3:2 when you know that your image is intended to be 4x5. It's a lot harder to see what elements creeps into the frame, and if you need to move to make your composition work better.
I've not only shot landscapes as my primary output. For years I also shot concerts, and I must say that the 3:2 aspect ratio lends it self more to shooting photo journalisim compared to landscapes. In that context a 4x5 aspect ratio makes it harder to compose as you often want to compose with more tension as it brings more dynamic into the composition. A dynamic that in many situations is not what you want for a landscape (something more suited if you shoot dangerous weather).
So to sum things up here, I would say that you first need to ask you self what aspect ratio serves this scene best, and then the orientation more easier reveal it self.
Since the start of the year I've had a pretty even mix probably leaning a little more to vertical, but for two years previous 95% of my work was portrait orientation. I really like portrait for the reason you mention; depth.
Great video, Mark!
Absolutely the best explanation of landscape vs portrait that I have ever seen. Makes me keen to go out and experiment but also to think about what I want to convey in an image.
Wow! Thanks so much Greg!
Very useful insights, thank you Mark. I shoot in both formats but I’ve tended to be guided mostly by the elements in the composition. (I.e a lot of vertical elements would lead me to shoot portrait). What you’ve done with this vid is to introduce the story-telling aspect. My takeaway is; if you want to capture a “portrait” of a feature in the landscape, where the feature is dominant, consider shooting…Portrait! Whereas if you want to capture the full extent of the landscape scene, then shoot… Landscape!
Edit to add; I think recessive layers captured with a long lens can work very well in portrait.
I agree with you that portrait is a bit underrated. There are so much opportunities there. And if both don't work then try the square crop. Excellent video again!
Thanks so much!
Thanks Mark. I stray from taking images in both orientations and this is a great reminder to take them in the field. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for checking out the video Tom! Hope you're doing well!
A nice set of examples of the predominant characteristics of the two basic framing orientations, with some alternative choices.
I shoot GFX, just the 50mpx version, but I vertical cropped within a landscape image of my daughter the other day and ran the lightroom enhance function over it. I was shocked at how good the result was. Worth looking at for those looking at post cropping within the original file.
Mark
Don't forget the square! 🙂
Not for every subject, but it is great for strong & focussed compositions.
Just always try to shoot with the crop intended (or at least close to the crop intended).
Interesting video, Mark. Regarding the bridge image, I find me eye going straight to the brighter sides and not really looking at the bridge. On the other hand, the cropped version leads my eye straight to the bridge making it an altogether better crop/composition - Minus the bright parts on each vertical side that is 😉
Once again, good and thoughtful perspective, especially differentiation between portrait and landscape "feel".
In situations where I find myself in a phenomenal location, I will generally shoot each composition in both Landscape and Portrait. I do this because a composition may work well as a magazine cover (portrait) [remember to leave headspace for magazine covers] ... or the composition may work well as a center-spread in a magazine (landscape)!!
I find myself looking at a scene and thinking of compositions that would look great on my HD 16x9 monitor where I usually have a wallpaper or screen saver showing my best images for the year. Like some other commenters, I want to fill the screen. But when I see a scene that cries out for a portrait orientation, I usually try to get 2 -4 portrait shots that tell a different story of the scene and then I pick two images, do 8x9 vertical crops and then put them in a 2 image collage to show on my 16x9 monitor. Also if I am showing the portrait images on Instagram the 8x9 crop isn’t too bad for viewing on a phone or tablet. LR Classic is a good tool for these types of collages using the Print module. Great video. Thanks!
Thanks a million Chris!
I’d say I only consciously shoot about 10% in portrait and the remainder is landscape because I agree that landscape orientation tells more story. However, when post processing I’d say my final total goes to more like 25% portrait / 75% landscape. I guess I include too much extraneous “story” when taking the shots…thanks for reminding me to make more purposeful choices when composing.
If I am not sure which orientation I prefer when doing landscape, I will now do both. Guaranteed, every time when I view them on the computer, I will have a strong preference than I did while in the field. Many times when I take photos in landscape, and later try to crop vertically, there is not enough room to do it successfully….I am too close on the sides. Sometime, a square format will work, but I am finally learning it is much better to shoot both vertically and horizontally in the field if there is any doubt as to which I will like best.
Definitely resonated with me. I seem to be stuck in landscape mode all the time. I must experiment more.
Great to hear it was helpful Paula!
As a starting baseline consider how we view scenics versus people and animals.
With people and animals, regardless of crop, composition and lighting a Western viewer will gravitate towards the front of the face, eyes and mouth. Curiously studies by psychologists have shown that Japanese and other asian viewers will instead focus on the nose because of a cultural norm of avoiding direct eye contact when meeting strangers.
For photographs without faces the eye will be pulled the area of the photo which contrasts the most with the overall tonal context - lightest area on a dark field, darkest on a light field. Composing the photo so the main center of interest contrasts the most can be used to either draw the eye of the viewer across the context needed to understand the contrasting focal point, or pull the eye there first and only have the viewer wander off to explore the context in the other parts of the photo after dwelling on the focal point. It is just a matter of controlling how much the focal point contrasts in tone, color, sharpness and detail with what surrounds it.
The choice if vertical or horizontal crop is just another way of controlling viewer eye movement in the frame after it finds the focal point and gets tired of dwelling on it. The convention of composing portraits vertically with the eye line around the upper 1/3 regardless of crop tends increase the dwell time on the face, especially on a plain or focus blurred background by limiting the space available to explore above and to the sides of the face. Unless there are some other objects like the hands illuminated so the contrast as much more more than the face a viewer is likely to just dwell on the face and not even bother to explore the other parts of the photo.
Telling a story with a photo has a lot in common with telling a joke or doing a magic trick. All three, done well, start with an understanding of what the audience expects, then using that understanding to “line up the ducks” how they expect to see them, or change things up by diverting attention off the main focal point by making something less important contrast more, causing them to find it later in the viewing experience.
I using portrait orientation 95% off the time, an also stitch horizontally!
Even with my 100mpx X2D..
Then I can crop like I want after, and for different uses.
And will always have mpx enough for different uses.
It looks like you like Norway 😊
I’m from Norway 👍
Great examples of portrait orientation crops! I struggle with this aspect ratio myself, so rarely choose it
Sage advice and examples buddy
Thanks a million my friend!
I think another important factor is, which orientation have the leading lines in your picture or to your subject. I think the picture of Golden gate bridge or the river work perfect in vertical orientation. You can choose a wider field of view when you are on scene even in portait orientation
The main takeaway is something I'm always trying to get casual photographers to do - to take a moment to really think about what their subject is before taking a photo. Once you've decided what you're really going for, decisions about orientation become more obvious.
I work in a retail photo lab, and to give a common example of not thinking of subject first, I use the idea of someone taking a picture of their friend while on vacation in front of the White House in Washington D.C. They end up with a poor photo of both the friend and the White House, so I recommend they take two photos: One nicely composed of the White House without their friend in the frame (probably landscape), and another close-up portrait of their friend, angled so you can set them at the scene with the White House visible behind, preferably over their shoulder, preferably with a depth of field good enough to establish the background without leaving it so in focus it takes away from their portrait subject.
The number one mistake casual photographers make - not thinking about what their subject actually is before pressing the shutter button.
I like your suggestion to shoot scenes in both portrait and landscape. That is better than just landscape and then looking at portrait in post processing. Often you can discover good compositions when you see what the camera saw, rather than what you think you saw. I like to do this and if possible go back and shoot it again, if needed. Always enjoy your presentations, thanks.
Thanks so much!
Better to have the shot that may not work, then wishing you had taken the shot that would have worked.
For a wee bit of space on a memory card, it only costs a bit of your time
@@davidnoseworthy4540 never hurts to take a few extra shots. I, however, have had a hobby of photography for many decades, having shot film until the early 2000's. Because of this, I am reluctant to take a shot if I have any doubt it may work. I once saw online a comment from a wedding photographer that routinely shoots 5000 or more digital images per wedding. I would not be willing to shoot that many hoping for some good ones. I would not enjoy the hobby if I did not enjoy the process. I have a lot of negatives from my film days that are awful. Over the years I have become more selective before I press the shutter, and it has carried over into digital. But, I do agree it never hurts to take some extras, especially in the digital age. We can all do what we want, hopefully getting something satisfactory in the end. David, thanks for your comment.
Lovely photographs. I think it is also a very good idea to think of cropping a photograph as a square, and better still to think of photographing landscape with a thought of later cropping to a square. Of course some cameras have a crop mode on them with a penalty of losing some pixels when cropping. Topaz Gigapixel AI can up resolution your photo . A wonderful tutorial. Vertical compositions often have a feeling of stability or strength too.
Thanks Chris!
I love the mountains! 💜!
And very well said. I do alot of both, vertical and horizontal. Depending on what I'm capturing.
For wildlife photography mostly landscape! Thanks for the great vidéo!
Thanks Tommy!
I mostly shoot in landscape but often crop to portrait just like you show. But I need to start thinking more about backing up and compressing using zoom.
Thank you and Mabuhay! ❤🇵🇭
In that intial scene from Norway with the red buildings, I preferred the portrait mode, with perhaps a slightly different crop, before you ever went there.
Mark, you are becoming one of the best photography vlogger. Great work, thanks for all these tutorials. I shoot more landscape orientations, about 2/3.
Thanks so much - I'm given it my all:)
Great video Mark. Clear elucidation of uses of the two.
I'm a big fan of shooting both. Sometimes the crop method just doesn't capture it the way the scene needs to be!
Definitely more Portrait Shots. But as you suggested, try both modes on most scenes.
Specifically the Fuji GFX 65 * 24 aspect ratio - super wide… is amazing for landscapes! This format is also known as Hasselblad X-pan, and is actually created by Hasselblad originally
Great video, Mark, with a lot of good points! One other consideration, I think, in making the choice of format, is to consider the orientation in which it is likely going to be viewed. The majority of screens are viewed in the landscape position and I prefer taking landscape shots so that I fill the presentation screen instead of presenting a vertical strip up the middle of a beautiful, big landscape screen. It is a pet peeve of mine to see someone holding their cellphone screen in portrait mode when they are taking what would be a great landscape shot. I see this all the time on TV, presented with a smudged in version of the portrait picture, on either side, trying to fill in the rest of everyones landscape tv screen. Same for people viewing a landscape picture stripe across their cellphone held in a portrait orientation. Also, if you are lucky enough to be shooting for a magazine, or some other customer, they may be looking for a portrait shot for a front cover or a landscape mode for a 2-page spread. If you give them the wrong format, you are out of luck.
Thanks Philip!
First, I am not sure most of us have high resolution cameras. As to orientation. I have found I use portrait orientation when I plan on cropping square. This is usually with a DOMINANT subject. This allows reducing the foreground and/or sky which for me is harder to visualize in the field.
Very good examples in video. I usually shoot both orientations just in case. I have learned my lesson 😎
I probably use portrait more for landscapes, usually 2x3, because I like how it puts the viewer in there, but I think it needs to have a strong foreground element.
I am usually in Landscape. This is because most of my pictures land in a slideshow on a 16:9 TV screen. Then I zoom in slowly from my native 3:2 with black bars left and right to no black bars and cropping top and bottom a little. Some motives and compositions demand Portrait. Accommodating them into a horizontal slide- cum video-show is more challenging. Now and again I also shoot in Square.
Answer to question is landscape but I follow my mantra: “Stand tall” or “Lay it on me!” If it fits either criteria then so be it.
Great tutorial! A lot of good points to consider when choosing orientation.
Thanks Michael!
Great information! I generally shoot landscape mode more often.
Thank you Steve!
Great tips, Mode depends on what I am looking at
Great insight again… I definitely found that watching this one in Landscape was better than Portrait 😉
I've been shooting a lot more like this …..than I had traditionally, however when selling prints not many people want the portrait print. Maybe this is the way houses are now ..but when I go into homes I don't see many portraits on the wall so this does Factor into the type of photos that I will be doing that said I've been doing a lot more than I used to
70/30 ish. Thanks for the great info!
Thanks for watching Nancy!
Excellent video. Several ideas to think about. Many thanks!
Thanks George!
Hello ! It strikes me everyone is missing an elephant in the room ... the format of the viewing screen. Phone business lets aside, 99% of the pictures viewed on screens are viewed on a landscape oriented one. Because of that portrait pictures are smaller and less pleasing to watch.
Printed pictures is of course another matter.
I remember my first lesson in the old times of film slides by a photographer regularly working for National Geographic in a course called in french "Diaporama" wich translate to "Slideshow". "Shoot always in Landscape mode" as portrait slides will be projected to the ceiling or the floor of the room. It took me a long time to break that rule.
@Mark. Thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge.
The past couple of weeks I have been shooting wildflowers in landscape and then cropping all of them to 1x1. Occasionally I will shoot portrait.
great photos from Norway inspiring, I generally shoot landscape unless the scene absolutely calls for Portrait
Thank ya Jim!
I've often heard the advice that if you have nice foreground, then portrait should work best because you want to emphasize it. Over all its more like, whatever works, right? Try it both ways and see which is best.
As far as depth goes, you mean 2 dimensional vs 3d? Like a boulder looking flat vs it having roundness...
Great content Mark. A lot of food for thought in there. Thanks.
Thanks James!
I often shoot 1 x1 and I love the results more than landscape or portrait.
For whatever reason, I’m fine with a 3:2 landscape aspect ratio, but a 2:3 portrait shot seems way too tall and narrow to me. I’ll typically crop my portraits to something like a 4:5. I guess this is less of an issue for you with your 4:3 Fuji sensor. Mostly I’m just happy that people seem to be getting away from forcing weird portrait shots cause of Instagram.
Probably landscape, but am looking to shoot more portrait. I recently bought a house with many built in spots for large portrait images ( 30" wide by 60" tall). It will be fun having my own images there, or even enough to switch them out. Your 2 shots of the bay with the mountain and village, the landscape is interesting, but the portrait has enough detail in it to invite a longer view. I have recently seen many wider angle (20-30mm) shots in portrait and really like the effect. Thanks for your time to put this together.
Glad to do it Chuck and great to hear you enjoyed it!
My thought.....It would depend a bit on what one intends to do with the photo. If it is for a magazine then portrait is probably a better choice. Having said that, one then needs to think about your comments and choose the best portrait based on the scene and what is to be captured. Good thoughts Mark!
Thanks for checking out the video Guy!
Just because you're shooting landscapes doesn't mean you have to shoot in landscape. Or portrait for portraits. Misleading naming convention. Just like how there's techniques in shooting, lighting, or retouching portraits that aren't commonly talked about in landscape photography but are perfectly applicable/translatable too.
Thanks for sharing this great information
Thanks as always for checking out the video!
Another great video. Thanks for sharing
I appreciate that - thank you!
Context is the counterpoint of composition, just another chapter in the ongoing book of, "There is No Right Way to be a Photographer".
Interesting subject matter Mark and agree in part with you, but not in all respects
Portrait formats for me *always* tell a stronger story & present the stronger intent the photographer had. It reflects a more personalised conscious choice by the photographer of what the actual subject matter is. It requires more "skill" as well as you must ensure the foreground links into the background. You cannot afford a misplaced element.
Portrait format has the added benefit of making the eye of the viewer wander through your image, from front to back & hence is more interactive and thus I think is more interesting.
My view is vista shots (landscape format) are less to tell a story and more a record shot of that.moment in time awe inspiring scene given by mother nature (e.g. the size of the Grand Canyon, the power of the sea storm).
Landscape format images are more about the overall emotion of a scene as a one hit "shot", as if you the viewer were standing there, as it mirrors the eyes field of view
A portrait format requires more craft to successfully pull off and is harder work to do. This may explain its lower prevalence in landscape images.
I Love your videos Mark. Great explanations of your thinking and choices. I was wondering what dimensions you shoot in. 3:4, 16:9 etc. and do you shoot a tad wider and adjust in post production?
I always take landscape and vertical photos at the same time. About equal amounts.
I shoot about 70% Landscape and 30% portrait. I do a lot of my portrait shots when shooting Milkyway landscapes when the milky way is at a high angle.
In the Instagram era, where portrait oriented photos get favoured by the algorithm, it's very tempting to always try and shoot vertical shots. As an amateur photographer, sharing through this platform, I was doing this "mistake" too, loosing, in my opinion, many great shots. I changed after some time my mindset, and tried to come up with some rule about orientation, so when shooting great vistas I always go horizontal and for more small and intimate scenes I go vertical, generally speaking. There is a way to share landscape oriented shots on Instagram though, without loosing too much reach, making swipe panoramas, cutting your picture in two 4x5s followed by a third one with the whole shot pasted on a 4x5 document in Photoshop. Anyways, thanks for another great video Mark, always a pleasure seeing and hearing from you!
Thanks so much Jonas!
Very useful video, thank you.
Thank you!
Looking at my own images, I actually shoot quite a few in portrait orientation.
One thing about this, You are just cropping your landscape images into portrait mode. That’s not necessarily the way the would have been shot at the time though. The golden gate shot would have been take from farther back giving more height to the trees and reducing the bridge. That would have made a nice gate way shot.
Illustration purposes
The main reason I see using the portrait mode would be if I am doing a panoramic photo.
When do you shoot a composition in portrait mode? Right after you shoot it in landscape mode.
Potrait orientation can be teasers for landscape
Thanks Mark!
My pleasure!
Square Crop has a lot going for it. Why not try the same images with 1:1 - you may be surprised 😁
Found myself using portrait orientation a lot on recent trip. What I have trouble understanding is aspect ratio for printing. Any chance you may discuss this in the future?
I nearly always do both.
Watch your videos weekly.
Just wondering if you have ever done panorama photos?
Thanks so much Edward! Yes, I do them from time to time depending on the scene
Great tutorial, how exactly are you able to toggle between landscape and portrait with Lightroom, you mentioned it very quickly a few times but i could not understand what you said, thank you.
Thanks Roger!
I mostly shoot landscape but I do try portrait often. I usually end up not using the portrait.
Would shooting a pano portrait help to keep that mountain as grand as it should be in the lofoten shot while mostly keeping the grand scene? I need to go experiment with this. I was out shooting some smokies waterfalls this past weekend and while I though I nailed the shot I was looking for.....got home and....fail
Why aren't sensors square? The image circle for the lenses will cover the diagonal of the frame the manufacturer chose. The sensor is no longer the most expensive part of the camera. Couple this with good viewfinder masking for various aspect ratios . OK and now they you're all sitting down - square monitors. I have a funny story about this but someone will have to ask for me to post about it.
99% Landscape for me - One reason why Instagram bothers me a lot ... Our eyes are usually horizontal
My percentage of portrait orientation images greatly increased in Lofoten.
For sure - perfect place for it!
Portrait mostly but in a 4:3 or 5:4 aspect ratio , can’t stand 3:2 in landscape or portrait
I would guess if we are telling a story with several photos then both styles are important
What if I take images with a vertical pano? And stitch in Photoshop. Do images give better quality than a single-shot horizontal image?
Follow with Square Format?
Great Video Mark! Just out of curiosity what does your average landscape photography load weigh? I'm wondering if I'm carrying too much.
Thanks Marty!
It seems to me that many of the pictures you describe as in vertical mode are, in fact, square - i.e.neither vertical nor horizontal.
Landscape
I feel like it’s called landscape or portrait orientation and not a “mode”?
Square mode actually
I think what you discuss in this video is confusing at best. You are only talking about how orientation changes a scene, but then what you do is change the orientation AND the cropping, but that is a very different thing than turning your camera orientation without changing your field of view, and thus you are a bit mixing up two very different actions' effects (changing orientation and cropping tighter)
A video of showing landscape and portrait oriented shots of the same location AND same angle of view would have been much more informative on the topic you set in the title in my opinion :)
🔝