Horizontal composition and vertical composition

Photography and painting are the same, composition is an important content, can be roughly divided into horizontal composition and vertical composition. Vertical frame composition and horizontal frame composition, are not used casually, there are its rules. First, decide what you want to show based on your theme. When broad, use horizontal composition; when tall, use vertical composition.

1. What is the difference between horizontal composition and vertical composition?

(1) Horizontal composition

The ratio of picture frame taken by horizontal composition is 4:3, which is very suitable for the visual habit of our human eyes. Because our eyes are horizontal, we view the picture from a cross-sectional perspective, rather than a vertical cross-sectional perspective. Horizontal composition is suitable for shooting large scenes with wide field of view.

(2) Vertical composition

The ratio of picture taken by vertical composition is 3:4, which is not consistent with the visual habits of our eyes. The vertical composition of the picture is more three-dimensional, more suitable for those who have a sense of tall, line, foreground and background contrast subjects.

Case in point: vertical composition is a good way to show the line and depth of the waterfall. The water in the foreground is in contrast to the waterfall in the background.

2. Horizontal/vertical composition is suitable for the subject

Above talked about the difference between horizontal composition and vertical composition, then I will tell you what kind of theme horizontal composition/vertical composition is suitable for, so that you can make a choice in the actual shooting.

I told you before that the advantage of the horizontal composition is that it can show the magnificence and width of the picture, so that the picture looks very magnificent. Therefore, when shooting large scene themes and magnificent outdoor scenery, horizontal composition can better show the picture and bring shocking visual impact.

Landscape, architecture, life, travel portrait, etc., are very suitable for us when shooting landscape, architecture, life, travel portrait, etc. In fact, we usually take a lot of subjects are suitable for the use of horizontal composition, because horizontal composition conforms to the visual habits of the human eye.

Use horizontal composition to show landscape

Use horizontal composition to show a beautiful sunrise

The spectacular outdoor scenery is more suitable for horizontal composition

Horizontal composition can better reflect the overall appearance of urban buildings

Horizontal composition highlights lines and depth

It can be seen from the case list above that shooting with vertical composition is very particular about the contrast between foreground and background, lines, depth and so on. If you want to shoot a picture with these elements, then you can try to shoot with vertical composition.

Conclusion: no matter black cat or white cat, it is good to catch mice. The same principle applies to photography. Whether you're using vertical or horizontal, as long as you get good shots, ignore the rest. When you're shooting, you don't know whether it's better to use a portrait or a landscape, so you can take one of both and see how it works, and you'll know what to use.