Photography Article Composition: Orientation|Photography Artist Statement

The concept of "Orientation" is the fourth composition topic this month for the Boost Your Photography: 52 Weeks Challenge. (Join the Google+ Community to share your weekly photographs and receive feedback.) The previous topics this month were the Rule of Thirds,Leading Lines, and Fill the Frame.

Composition and Orientation

In photography, orientation refers to the way you take and display your photographs. The vast majority of photographs from DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras are taken with a 'landscape' or horizontal orientation, where the photograph is longer than it is tall, while the advent of cell phone cameras and sites like Pinterest have helped bring attention to the less common 'portrait' or vertical orientation, where a photograph is taller than it is wide. Even the terms that we use to refer to this orientations - landscape and portrait - imply that some subjects are better suited to one orientation than another.

The point of spending a week that specialize in orientation is that will help you to do not forget which you have a choice. Many folks are so "programmed" to apply our digicam in its default orientation that we hardly ever think to turn it sideways and discover every other view. Even mobile cellphone digital camera users are seen to turn their telephones sideways to snap horizontal photographs nearly by means of default, despite the fact that their actual default orientation is vertical.

Before you even take a photograph this week, stop and ask your self why you're using the orientation you're in that moment. Is there a compositional or photographic cause for it or is it simply the orientation your digital camera had while you picked it up to begin capturing? If you don't have a purpose for it, do not start taking pictures. Take that greater moment to do not forget the question of orientation and what might pleasant suit the photo and composition which you want to capture.

Orientation in Action: go vertical!

I will readily admit that my photographs are more commonly taken using a horizontal or landscape orientation. But the more time I spend reading about, learning about, and exploring my photographic journey, the more I try to push myself to consider orientation when composing my shots. The following series of photographs are some comparison images of times when orientation made a measurable impact.

Want to capture this fashion of photograph? Read Long Exposure Photography on the Fair(e).

I were out taking pictures at a carnival with the neighborhood pictures institution. The picture above represents my initial composition for this scene, as I like the aggregate of the two rides: the YoYo flying swings and the Ferris Wheel in the history. A horizontal orientation worked nicely right here to seize much of the volume of the YoYo trip and its spinning swirl of lighting fixtures. I realized, however, that I could tell a exceptional story if I tried a vertical orientation.

Recomposing the shot (still from the equal place) allowed me to consist of the carnival-goers within the scene. The lengthy exposure (5 seconds) led most of the human beings to be blurry, however I specifically favored the comparison among their movement and motion with the inventory-still status of the man in yellow. While the vertical orientation cut off more of the lighting from the experience, it allowed me to inform a fuller story in a single photograph.

The horizontal orientation is colloquially known as "landscape" for a reason. Many, many panorama and nature pics are shot in panorama, as this orientation allows you to characteristic a extensive view of a scene. In this picture, the prairie flora are featured inside the vanguard, with a little additional interest supplied by the timber and water tower in the background.

Using the vertical (portrait) orientation completely transforms the feeling of the identical scene. Now the prairie plants are nearer, larger, and draw extra attention. The vertical orientation additionally elongates the sensation of intensity inside the photograph and gives a miles greater wide angle feel to the view (even though both pictures have been excited by the same factor-and-shoot digital camera and focal period). A splendid example of how "panorama" orientation isn't always constantly the first-rate choice on your "panorama" photo!

While you should always consider your orientation when shooting, you can also play around with changing the orientation afterwards in post-processing. While out shooting this sunrise over the Madison capitol and skyline, I experimented with a number of different orientations, focal lengths, and compositions through the progress of the sunrise.

In this unique photo (SOOC on top), I realized that every one of the clean gray-blue of the clouds turned into now not definitely including to the picture and that I genuinely desired to function the reflections of the solar in the water.

My final, vertical crop is shown, both as it regarded at the authentic image, and the final, cropped photograph. The vertical orientation functions the long, vertical dawn mirrored image (and light in the sky), while the closer crop permits you to better see and recognize the Capitol silhouette and the 2 small birds within the sky.

Orientation: Summary

Do not let your photographs be defined by the default way that you hold your camera or camera-phone. Make orientation a conscious part of your photo-making process. Before you press the shutter, think about whether the orientation you are using is the best to for the subject you have chosen.

Do no longer fall into the entice of thinking all landscape shots should be horizontal or that each one portrait shots need to be vertical. The greater idea you deliver in your photo beforehand, the higher your very last photo can be!

(Looking to grow more in your photography? Consider joining the BYP 52 Weeks Google+ Community to share your weekly photograph and see what others are capturing.)