It’s a very small action to shoot your phone horizontally or vertically, but it will make a “billion dollar” difference to your photos!
In everyday street photography, using a vertical composition has a very noticeable stretching effect on the foreground.
When you switch to a horizontal composition, the proportions of the picture look more natural.
We all know that there are 4:3, 16:9, full-screen and 1:1 camera settings on mobile phones, but what is the difference between shooting horizontally and vertically?
Today’s article will talk to you about horizontal and vertical composition in different ratios.
4:3 ratio
When setting the ratio of a photo, many people mistakenly think that “full screen” is the widest ratio for taking pictures.
In fact, “4:3” is the widest ratio, and all other ratios are simply cropped from the 4:3 ratio.
“The biggest advantage of ‘4:3’ is that it allows for more subjects, and the horizontal and vertical ratios are closer together, making the image look more compact, which can be useful for certain photographic subjects.
“4:3” is ideal for more serious photography, such as documentary photography, which is popular.
Documentary photography records the relationship between elements, and the horizontal composition of ‘4:3’ shows this spatial relationship more fully, allowing the elements to respond more closely to each other.
An example of this is the contrast between warm and cold people.
@Niyko Travelogue
For example, a lonely old man and a lively crowd.
@jiangxiaoping
“4:3” can bring out different elements in a more compact form.
While “4:3” is good for horizontal space, “3:4” vertical composition is good for “near to far” space.
For example, if you are photographing a city car track, a ‘3:4’ composition can better show the progression of the track from near to far and has a better sense of rhythm than a horizontal composition.
@night_trails
“3:4” is also the ratio closest to the size of the sensor, and theoretically the best.
Many classic portraits are also shot in ‘3:4’, so that the texture of the skin, the eyes, and the pendants on the figure are all clearly represented.
@rico.reinhold
■ 16:9 ratio
“16:9” is close to the viewing habits of the human eye, which is why many electronic screens are made in the 16:9 ratio.
In landscape photography ’16:9′ gives the impression of a wide field of view, for example when photographing the sea, ’16:9′ gives a better representation of the horizontal lines and the endless sea. The same image in ‘4:3’ is not as obvious.
The ‘9:16’ vertical composition is better for showing lines, such as tree trunks, body lines, tall buildings, bridges and so on.
@siberianvolk
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but many live streaming platforms have vertical screens. Whether it’s a close-up of a person or a full-body shot, a vertical screen makes people look thinner.
The narrower the frame, the more the lines stand out! If you want to make your girlfriend look thin, we recommend you use a ‘9:16’ vertical composition shot.
@pexels-wesley-carvalho
If you’re looking up at a low angle to show the height of a building, ‘9:16’ is definitely the way to go, and will get more likes when you post it to your friends.
For one thing, the screen is vertical, making it more comfortable to view. On the other hand, “9:16” makes the building look more compact and taller than “3:4”, which gives the viewer a stronger visual impact.
Full-screen ratio
The full-screen ratio varies slightly from phone to phone, but the presentation characteristics are the same.
The horizontal fullscreen ratio is visually close to a movie screen, and due to the cropping of the top and bottom, the screen gives a wide visual impression, so if you add a black border to a fullscreen photo, it has the feel of a movie screen.
In scenes like the sea, grassland and desert, the full-screen ratio is compressed up and down to give a wider view.
The horizontal full-screen ratio brings a very obvious sense of visual rhythm, for example from left to right or right to left, and you shouldn’t bother with the top and bottom elements.
So you can better express the relationship between people and figures in this small space.
If you’re shooting people interacting with each other, the full-screen ratio gives a better representation of the people’s demeanor.
For photographers, there is no need to think too much about the rules of composition, all you need to do is place the people at the left and right ends of the frame.
Viewers are used to viewing full-screen scale photographs from left to right or right to left, so a horizontal full-screen scale is a more intuitive way of showing the visual direction when some specific form is in the foreground. For example, the stone in the photo below draws the eye to the figure from right to left.
After talking about horizontal full-screen ratios, let’s talk about vertical full-screen ratios.
Compared to ‘9:16’, the full-screen ratio is further cropped and enlarged on top of it. The space between the left and right is more compact, the buildings look straighter and taller, and more details can be seen.
However, it is not recommended to use the full-screen ratio to look up at tall buildings from a low angle, as this will make the image look very depressing. It is usually possible to use a full-screen ratio to photograph buildings from a flat perspective.
1:1 ratio
A 1:1 composition is characterized by a balanced picture, without the visual fluidity of other ratios, and most photos look more restrained, serious and stable.
@anghan
The 1:1 composition is used more frequently when taking pictures of food subjects. The “1:1” composition draws the viewer’s attention to the details of the food at first.
@tankilevitch
And “1:1” composition also makes the photo more ritualistic.
@grabowska
If you’re stuck on what composition to use in flower photography? The best option is ‘1:1’, which brings the photo into focus and shows the petals in better detail, allowing the colours of the flowers to fill the frame.
@kholodova
Composition serves the image, and the right ratio for the right scene makes for a more visually pleasing photo.
Although it is possible to make a second crop in post, the experience of setting up a certain ratio in the early stages of creation is something that you can’t get with post-cropping. Full-screen, 1:1, in particular, allows you to immerse yourself in your photography, which inevitably leads to more inspiration and is a great spice to your photography.
