Square Format Experiments and rant - advice welcome

Square Format Experiments and rant - advice welcome · 01:59 PM

So I find myself trying the square crop - initially just for fun. And then I find that I like it more and more. It brings to the images a "quietness" (for lack of a better term) that I enjoy immensely. Maybe, and I'm going on a limb here, because I don't have to "read" the image anymore, from left to right, or from up to down. With a square, I just look at it, and take it all in, every dimension at once. I guess the ancient Greeks' obsession with "the perfect forms" isn't that far fetched after all.

I'm attaching a few. To look at, and to comment if you feel like it. Do you feel the same? And if you know more, would you share?

spyglass · 01-22-2008, 04:16 PM

I like the square format (like Huey Lewis and the News said "hip t be square"). There are a lot of people that cling to the entrenched print sizes. The only problem I see with none conventional sizes is finding commercial frames. If you find frames a problem, mount them on Foam Core board (Staples carries one 24x36 that has an adhesive on one side). The square crop really plays well with your first shot (similar shapes square & rectangles)

khardur · 01-22-2008, 04:34 PM

The first and last are the best two by far (in my opinion)

The tilted ocean makes me feel weird. I do like the square format for certain things though, had a picture from inside a tunnel that turned out very nicely in a square format.

**Heinrich Lohmann** · 01-22-2008, 05:01 PM

I still like the square format, for many years thats all I shot. (Rollei TLR) I'll agree with Dan, the first and last one are my favourites as well. The tilted oceon is not my cup of tea.

Take care, Heinrich

weatherwise2 · 01-22-2008, 05:23 PM

I like them a lot. 1st is my favorite esp for the square; the other could have gone in a rectangle and still be okay.

Timbuctoo · 01-22-2008, 05:36 PM

I like square format a lot. If you do a series of 6 related theme shots and mount them all on a frame together it looks even better.

m8o · 01-22-2008, 07:47 PM

Ya, I'm not a crop snob either, but I'm new to all this so I don't have much skin in the game. I crop whatever does it for the particular photograph. A square crop won me a weekly challenge too once; I was worried about how it would go over, but it was accepted well.

**xs400** · 01-22-2008, 07:58 PM

Those shots are all very nice. I really like #'s 1, 4, and 5.

Reminds of when I used to shoot square pictures as a child with an old Kodak. Those were the days, no meters, no zooms, real point and shoot cameras. Man, I am old!!

Bramela · 01-23-2008, 12:20 PM

Nice shots! Very well done. The sea running up hill, does nothing for me, sorry too say.

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01-22-2008, 04:16 PM	#2
spyglass Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 747	I am with you Countzero I like the square format (like Huey Lewis and the News said "hip t be square"). There are a lot of people that cling to the entrenched print sizes. The only problem I see with none conventional sizes is finding commercial frames. If you find frames a problem, mount them on Foam Core board (Staples carries one 24x36 that has an adhesive on one side). The square crop really plays well with your first shot (similar shapes square & rectangles)

01-22-2008, 07:58 PM	#8
xs400 Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,929	Those shots are all very nice. I really like #'s 1, 4, and 5. Reminds of when I used to shoot square pictures as a child with an old Kodak. Those were the days, no meters, no zooms, real point and shoot cameras. Man, I am old!! Last edited by xs400; 01-23-2008 at 12:22 PM.

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01-22-2008, 04:34 PM	#3
khardur Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: NW Massachusetts Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,560	The first and last are the best two by far (in my opinion) The tilted ocean makes me feel weird. I do like the square format for certain things though, had a picture from inside a tunnel that turned out very nicely in a square format.

01-22-2008, 05:01 PM	#4
Heinrich Lohmann Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Airdrie, Alberta Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,097	I still like the square format, for many years thats all I shot. (Rollei TLR) I'll agree with Dan, the first and last one are my favourites as well. The tilted oceon is not my cup of tea. Take care, Heinrich

01-22-2008, 05:23 PM	#5
weatherwise2 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Warwick, RI Photos: Gallery Posts: 740	I like them a lot. 1st is my favorite esp for the square; the other could have gone in a rectangle and still be okay.

01-22-2008, 05:36 PM	#6
Timbuctoo Inactive Account Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Darwin, Australia Posts: 203	I like square format a lot. If you do a series of 6 related theme shots and mount them all on a frame together it looks even better.

01-22-2008, 07:47 PM	#7
m8o Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: 40°-55'-44" N / 73°-24'-07" W [on LI] Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,092	Ya, I'm not a crop snob either, but I'm new to all this so I don't have much skin in the game. I crop whatever does it for the particular photograph. A square crop won me a weekly challenge too once; I was worried about how it would go over, but it was accepted well.

01-23-2008, 12:20 PM	#9
Bramela Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newcastle Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,284	Nice shots! Very well done. The sea running up hill, does nothing for me, sorry too say.