Project 14: Vertical & Horizontal Frames

For this project I was required to find a compact location whereby I could photograph the same scene twice. Given that it's winter (and therefore dark when I'm not at work) I decided on my house as the most accessible compact location to try out this project. However I underestimated how difficult it would be to find 20 subjects naturally of interest around the house without resorting to special effects. However I think I found enough material to learn the objective from the exercise. It was also useful as I took pictures of things I would not normally photograph, some worked and some didn't. I also did add occasional special effects such as the neon glow to the door, otherwise the shots were lacking in interest as subject matter. The pictures included in the blog are the pick of the bunch, as it was logistically difficult to include 40 images in the blog. I have also included a shot from a different location at the end which shows a more extreme format taken around the same time as most of the shots for this project.



My conclusions were that I naturally tended to look for tall subjects, which occasionally made taking horizontal compositions difficult. An example was the open door with the glowing light. Due to the small cramped size of my hallway, taking a horizontal equivalent meant that a wide angle lens had to be used which led to severe converging verticals so I don't think the horizontal equivalent really worked. Similarly, using the stairs as a lead in for a pet portrait was not possible in horizontal format. The bauble shot worked well in vertical but the horizontal version included more distractions and was less successful. Other shots such as the leaves and shoes worked well in both formats. Another factor I experienced was how much of a faff it was to use my tripod in vertical format, which is probably why none of my tripod shots have previously been in vertical format. I find I am also more inclined to use my compact for vertical composition because of its lightness. The DSLR, expecially with a flashgun on top, is quite uncomfortable to use vertically. I think I have quite an intuitive feel for taking vertical shots, and I have taken them in the past, although less so than horizontal, simply for the comfort factor. This is something I need to overcome as I was surprised at how well some of the shots worked, or at least had potential for a good shot, for example the stairs.