Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> If you think horizontal is difficult to imagine try shooting square. > Seriously, some of my most interesting portraits are done horizontally > with a loose upper-body framing to allow for environment. Generally, > I'll compose the subjects face on one of the "thirds" so that the > brighter skin areas act as compositional anchors. I've also enjoyed > framing horizontals so tight that the subject's face "bleeds" off the > frame. Thus, you might not even include the top of their head or one > side of their face. By positioning them off-center you can use the > negative space in the frame as a balance to the dominant amount of space > the face is utilizing. Hope this helps. Experiment. Incidentally, I am quite fond of the square format. My introduction to the peculiar format was an old Yashica 635, bought for $70 Canadian when I was in high school. Since then, it has collected dust much of the time, and I did not start shooting with a square format camera until a couple of years ago, when I was introduced to the venerable Pentacon Six TL system with fabulous lenses. The flaky body and having finally bought and started using Leica rangefinders, I sold the Pentacon system, and bought a Mamiya 6 with 75mm and 50mm lenses. The square format allows me to capture the image first, with an intention to frame it exactly in the darkroom. I found this consistent with the spirit of rangefinder cameras. However, I have often found the square image quite pleasing, and have made square prints, as well. I also like portraits in square format, too.