vertical vs horizontal

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vertical vs horizontal

ben egbert
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p.1 #1 · vertical vs horizontal

I generally don’t do verticals, the camera position is very awkward for me because it is hard to see the exposure settings in the viewfinder and the lcd display which is already too small is made smaller for verticals. I find it easier to shoot landscape and crop for vertical since most verticals are for web anyway.

But if I think I may print it, I want all my pixles, and waterfalls are one of the few vertical landscape subjects I encounter. So for this one I mounted the camera vertically and composed as best I could. It took a 35mm to get the full width so that dictated the focal length.

When I got home and processed it, I did not like the result. My screensaver action just crops all images 1800 pixels wide. So when I tried it as a screen saver, it got cropped automatically and all of a sudden the image was transformed and I liked the horizontal so much better. So I decided to show it here as a sort of object lesson. Now I wish I had taken a landscape view of this scene.

I cropped to 5x4, an aspect ratio that is ok for verticals, but not one I like for landscapes. Had I taken this on purpose I might have used a 50mm for the landscape shot.

original shot vertical uncropped
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 35 mm f/22.0 1/10 sec 50 ISO 0.0 EV

5x4 horizontal crop
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 35 mm f/22.0 1/10 sec 50 ISO 0.0 EV

Sep 02, 2012 at 03:51 PM

Travis Rhoads 5-time assignment winner

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p.1 #2 · vertical vs horizontal

ben, I think the vertical has a nice sense of scale in regards to height, you can compare the drop of the falls to the height of the trees. I see strong point in both images, and its hard for me to pick a favorite here. I think the portrait might be favored just a bit, since the water at the bottom feels as if it has somewhere to go, and is not as cropped as it is in the landscape format.

Sep 02, 2012 at 04:11 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #3 · vertical vs horizontal

Thanks Travis, I was expecting somebody to prefer the vertical. I wonder why I dislike them so much?

Computer screens are part of it. Notice how small a 600 high vertical looks versus a 600 high landscape?

Sep 02, 2012 at 04:44 PM

Travis Rhoads 5-time assignment winner

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p.1 #4 · vertical vs horizontal

I don't think you are alone Ben, I know why I struggled with them for a long time...they are hard to do IMO. I find it much harder to comp an image in portrait when it comes to landscapes. I can do it all day with people and architecture, but landscapes challenge me to shoot portrait. It is also not what is expected of the genre, so for me, when I see them done well I tend to like them a little more than a similar comp done in the traditional format.

Sep 02, 2012 at 04:47 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #5 · vertical vs horizontal

Maybe its just the size. I can view it landscape at greater resolution.

Sep 02, 2012 at 06:16 PM

sadja
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p.1 #6 · vertical vs horizontal

What's the magic in 600h? Here's Smug's XLg (768)

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Sep 02, 2012 at 10:11 PM

sadja
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p.1 #7 · vertical vs horizontal

2X (960h) (does require scrolling, but full image fits)

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Sep 02, 2012 at 10:16 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #8 · vertical vs horizontal

sadja wrote:
What's the magic in 600h? Here's Smug's XLg (768)

This image is copyrighted by the owner

All the detail here is close, its visible at this resolution, although I always prefer to see stuff at 100%.

Sep 02, 2012 at 11:24 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #9 · vertical vs horizontal

sadja wrote:
2X (960h) (does require scrolling, but full image fits)

This image is copyrighted by the owner

I would have done this vertical as well, its a vertical subject. Good detail on the tree and hill behind it. For my waterfall shot, the trees in particular come alive at large resolution. The rocks to some degree as well.

For my vertical waterfall, version, I would probably crop it down a bit. I would probably need to print it to appreciate it, but until I could see it fairly large, I never saw its possibilities.

Yes, I did view it 100% during processing, but then it swamps the display. Print size is a good way to view it. I still think I prefer the horizontal crop of the waterfall.

Sep 02, 2012 at 11:30 PM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #10 · vertical vs horizontal

I'm rather fond of portrait orientation. One third of my old framed landscape wall prints are portrait orientation images.

Sep 03, 2012 at 12:14 AM

ben egbert
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p.1 #11 · vertical vs horizontal

AuntiPode wrote:
I'm rather fond of portrait orientation. One third of my old framed landscape wall prints are portrait orientation images.

Sadja goaded me into buying a RT angle bracket for my camera. Now I take pains to use it. But unless its an obvious vertical subject, I never think of a vertical until I say, I need a vertical, now lets see where should I point?

I suppose I see something in my normal horizontal viewing stance and see something I like and want the image to look like what I see. A waterfall is interesting enough to make you tilt backwards to see it. Unless the scene causes that reaction, I usually never consider it without forcing myself too.

This waterfall did not need a backward tilt, as I recall I could see it from a level gaze. But it was narrow in width so I thought vertical because more stuff was in the vertical path than in the horizontal.

Sep 03, 2012 at 01:21 AM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #12 · vertical vs horizontal

Some scenes have compositions that work well with portrait mode orientation. I match the orientation to the scene to make the strongest composition. Sometimes the strongest is landscape. Sometimes it's portrait. sometimes it's pano landscpe. sometimes it's square, and very rarely, it's vertical pano. Shoot all the compos that work. Decide later which to print.

Sep 03, 2012 at 03:39 AM

ben egbert
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p.1 #13 · vertical vs horizontal

After a day of looking at the waterfall as a screensaver, I am pretty sure landscape is the best version for this image. I wish I had a bit more of the pool but do not long at all for any of the upper part. This crop puts the main upper drop just at eye level and makes me feel like I was there.

Sep 03, 2012 at 02:11 PM

Travis Rhoads 5-time assignment winner

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p.1 #14 · vertical vs horizontal

AuntiPode wrote:
Shoot all the compos that work. Decide later which to print.
Good advice right there, I have shot a scene only one way, only to get home and wish that I had done a couple versions of it.

Sep 03, 2012 at 07:27 PM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #15 · vertical vs horizontal

Indeed, that's how we learn that lesson.

Sep 03, 2012 at 08:11 PM

Travis Rhoads 5-time assignment winner

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p.1 #16 · vertical vs horizontal

yeah, the hard way...why do I always make myself learn the hardway!

Sep 03, 2012 at 08:14 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #17 · vertical vs horizontal

Here are two new crops. I far prefer landscape, but not 4x5. I also wanted some sky and pool. So I made two more by expanding the original.

The first is a crop that has all the vertical elements I wanted then I stretched the image to get a 3x2 aspect ratio. I would never use such an image, but it does give an idea what it could look like.

In the second version, I started with a cropped image with the vertical elements desired and expanded the canvas and used content aware fill, a trick I just learned from Aunti. It did not work so well here because the seam was unseamly:-)

I am inspired to return and attempt a composition that provides this view. I may run into obstacles on the scene, but I will have a better idea what I want when I return.

stretched width for 3x2 aspect
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 35 mm f/22.0 1/10 sec 50 ISO 0.0 EV

stretched width by content aware to 3x2
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 35 mm f/22.0 1/10 sec 50 ISO 0.0 EV

Sep 04, 2012 at 03:35 PM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #18 · vertical vs horizontal

I prefer the last crop with tree tops, but the light is rather flat. Short of re-doing it in better light, you might consider jumping the mid-tone contrast and a little dodging and burning.

2013 © AuntiPode

Sep 04, 2012 at 06:43 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #19 · vertical vs horizontal

Hi Aunti, I also prefer this version albeit less the seam. For one thing, the stretch version screws up the comp by making the falls too wide and centered.

As far as light, I would love to get better light. This might work as a sunrise shot which would probably make those rocks glow. The sun would at my back and somewhat to the right of this image.

I am thinking of another trip where I work on the comp ideas I have gotten here and on the mountain scene. Trouble is, the other place is a sunset place so a lot of time to kill mid day.

I have taken so much criticism in the last few years for presenting over processed stuff on the web that I tend to show minimal processing here. I generally go a lot further for a print or personal use.

Sep 04, 2012 at 07:08 PM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #20 · vertical vs horizontal

Three tips.

One: Don't take criticism too much to heart. It should goad, not shackle.

Two: Most folks are criticized for over-processing when the real issue is unskilled processing - too much over-all sharpening, or over-all layer effects when selective sharpening and selective layer effects are required. Careful dodging and burning isn't obvious the way blunt force dodging and burning usually is. As you develop better skills you can do far more whilst seeming to change much less in much better ways.

Three: Some photographers are so experienced with film, they think reality looks like and ought to look like a film rendition. It doesn't and it need not.

Sep 04, 2012 at 07:46 PM

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