Project 52, Week 25, Landscape vs Portrait

This week's project has us looking at the orientation of our compositions.  Does the scene look better with a vertical format or with a horizontal format?

Horizontal = Landscape orientation = a scene that is more wide than tall
Vertical= Portrait orientation = a scene that is more tall than wide

Things to consider:

• Although a horizontal orientation is called "landscape format", it does not mean that a landscape scene can not be composed with a vertical format.  Nor does a portrait have to be in "portrait format".
• Group portraits are usually better in a horizontal format.
• Generally speaking, formal portraits of individuals are composed in a vertical/portrait orientation, while horizontally formatted portraits are considered more informal. 
• Landscapes in a horizontal format look more natural to the viewer as that is the way the human eye normally views the world.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best way to compose your photograph.
• Sometimes you can improve a horizontal composition with cropping to create a vertically formatted scene.
• The best time to shoot horizontally is right after you shoot vertically.  (Bryan  F Peterson)
• Remember the Rule of Thirds (and other Golden Rules) can apply to either format.

Suggested Readings and Photographic Examples:

1. Shoot portrait or landscape format by Phil McDermott; short article illustrated with the same scene formatted three ways.  
2. Vertical and Horizontal at Naturography; one scene shot both vertically and horizontally with a very short article on why to shoot both
3. Is Portrait Formatting Always Best for Portraits  by Darren Rouse at Digital Photography School; a short article
4. How to properly hold a DSLR camera at Improve Photography; a short article on the proper way to hold your camera for vertical and horizontal shots. 
5. The Art of Using Aspect Ratios in Digital Photography by Andrew Gibson at Photo tuts+