Image Size and Format in Digital Imaging and Film Photography 19
DECIDING ON THE IMAGE SHAPE IN DIGITAL AND FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
When photographic images are used in advertising, on magazine covers, in brochures and
catalogs, or for many editorial purposes, the fi nal image shape is determined by the use of
the image. In most other cases, the photographers determine whether the image should be
square, rectangular, or panoramic and make their decision based on personal preference for a
specifi c shape or based on what format seems to be most effective for the photographed sub-
ject or scene. I have seldom found a problem composing subjects or scenes in the square or
the rectangular format, even though I originally worked with motion picture cameras where
you had no format choice and every scene had to be composed in the horizontal format.
While I personally like the equal dimensions in width and height that give the square
a pleasing and harmonious quality and also allow me to change the square into a rectangle
Figure 2-6 Composition in different formats. Scene in a Western ghost town composed in
the square format with the brightly colored gas pump to the right and the old car fi lling the
area all the way to the left border. This same composition could have been created in the
horizontal format from a camera position somewhat more toward the left. (Photo by Ernst
Wildi.)
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