The Vertical Landscape
There are two possible orientations for a rectangular photograph: portrait or landscape, where “portrait” stands for a vertical, and “landscape” for a horizontal orientation. These labels are not exactly neutral, however, because they also indicate two different genres of photography. Therefore, they inevitably suggest that portraits are typically shot vertically and landscapes are typically shot horizontally. In other words, these labels also reflect the power of habit in photography.
The labels portrait and landscape, signifying the orientation of a rectangular photograph, also reflect the power of habit in photography.
For landscape photography, this means that we see many more horizontally than vertically oriented photographs. Perhaps this is because we typically observe a landscape by looking around, which is a horizontal movement. What may also play a role is that the horizontal orientation has been dictated for a long time by traditional media, such as cinema and television. Whatever the reason, we have become accustomed to horizontal as our go-to orientation for landscape photography. The thing with habits like this is that they can make landscape photography, which tends to be tied to conventions anyway, quite predictable — not to say boring. It is kind of ironic, therefore, that portrait orientation can be a welcome compositional variation in this genre of photography.
Talking about habits: I regularly post so-called “Stories” on my Instagram, which are vertically oriented by virtue of the shape and use of our smartphones. Because I very much like the tall and full-bleed format of these Stories, I have become accustomed to shooting many of my landscape photos in portrait orientation. So much that I may very well shoot more vertical than horizontal landscapes currently.
Below are some examples of landscape images that work really well in portrait orientation. I like the layering of the foreground, middle ground, and background, which gives an interesting visual tension, especially if the photo is on the tall side, as is the case with the 2:3 aspect ratio of these shots. I have noticed that landscape photographers tend to feel quite uncomfortable with tall aspect ratios. If they shoot vertical at all, they prefer a 4:5 or perhaps a 3:4 aspect ratio, possibly because they need the necessary horizontal room for their visual journey through the photograph. This is exactly what I like about a tall aspect ratio, however: It makes you scan the image in a vertical, rather than a horizontal, direction. For that reason, I especially like the super tall 9:16 aspect ratio of Instagram Stories.
I now tend to frame the landscape almost exclusively in a vertical orientation when I’m in the field. It’s a mindset thing, I suppose, and I enjoy this way of working very much. Every now and then, I just need to remind myself to also shoot some proper horizontal frames, if only to balance my visual stories.
Some recent 2:3 vertical landscapes, which I have all posted before as 9:16 Stories on my Instagram. I think that both aspect ratios work great for these scenes.
