YenraPhotography

Field notes · Look · Try · Compare

Mixing horizontal and vertical photographs in a collection

Let different picture shapes contribute to a small collection while keeping every original frame intact.

The vertical close portrait brings the face, large bow and diagonal purple prop together. It can introduce colors and costume details that connect the next two photographs.
The vertical close portrait brings the face, large bow and diagonal purple prop together. It can introduce colors and costume details that connect the next two photographs.
Nui Harime Close-Up · Photograph: Yenra · Credit: Gillian Foxglove
Captured: 2016:10:21 16:08:43

A small collection can hold more than one picture shape. A tall frame may introduce a face and costume detail, while a wide frame opens room for a gesture. Returning to a vertical photograph can then show a different scale or part of the setting.

This editorial selection brings together three Anime USA 2016 Friday portraits of Nui Harime, credited to Gillian Foxglove. Each keeps its complete original frame. The pink costume and purple prop connect the pictures while their proportions, framing and surroundings offer useful differences.

Begin with a tall close portrait

The close vertical photograph brings the face, large pink bow and diagonal purple prop together. The prop crosses much of the image, and the hand connects it to the pose. Pale curtains and a strip of brick remain at the sides.

As an opening picture, it introduces details that can carry into the rest of a collection. Notice what you remember after looking away: perhaps the bow, the purple shape or the contrast between pale and bright pink.

When choosing your own opening, give it one useful contribution. It can introduce a person, a detail or a recurring color. You can let a later photograph supply information that the close view leaves outside its frame.

Open the sequence sideways

The horizontal picture gives the prop room across the shoulders, with both hands and more of the garden visible. Its wider shape changes the rhythm of the selection.
The horizontal picture gives the prop room across the shoulders, with both hands and more of the garden visible. Its wider shape changes the rhythm of the selection.
Nui Harime Peaceful · Photograph: Yenra · Credit: Gillian Foxglove
Captured: 2016:10:21 16:20:08

The horizontal photograph gives the purple prop room across the shoulders. Both hands are visible, and the garden occupies more space on either side. The same costume details now sit within a wider arrangement.

Let your eye travel across this frame before returning to the face. Its shape offers a change in the reading rhythm after the tall close portrait. The difference belongs to the existing photograph, so it can contribute without being cropped to match the first image.

In your own collection, ask what a horizontal picture adds. It might show an extended gesture, another person or more of the setting. Choose it for that contribution rather than simply to alternate shapes.

Return to a full-length vertical view

The full-length vertical portrait includes the boots, layered skirt and garden arch. It returns to a tall shape while contributing a different scale and setting detail.
The full-length vertical portrait includes the boots, layered skirt and garden arch. It returns to a tall shape while contributing a different scale and setting detail.
Nui Harime Under Archway · Photograph: Yenra · Credit: Gillian Foxglove
Captured: 2016:10:21 16:15:08

The full-length vertical portrait includes the boots, layered skirt and garden arch. The prop sits diagonally across the body, and flowers enter at the bottom. This tall picture contributes a different scale from the opening close view.

Compare the two vertical photographs directly. Their similar proportions do not make them interchangeable: one introduces close details, while the other shows the whole figure in the garden. That difference gives the final image something fresh to contribute.

The source records place 0917 at 16:08:43, 0979 at 16:15:08 and 1044 at 16:20:08 on October 21, 2016. The order on this page is an editorial arrangement, with the later horizontal photograph in the middle. Each image retains its own capture record and source link.

Give each shape a contribution

  1. Introduce a close detail: a tall portrait brings the face, bow and prop together.
  2. Open the view sideways: a wide picture makes room for both hands and the prop.
  3. Include the whole figure: a tall frame adds the outfit and garden setting.

Keep the frames and try another order

Move the horizontal photograph to the beginning or end of your own selection. Notice whether you introduce the wider gesture first or arrive at it after seeing closer details. A different order can be worth keeping as an alternative.

Give each original enough room to be seen at its own proportions. A simple vertical stack works well on a phone, while a page can use open space around a narrower picture. Review the complete frames and their captions together with the person pictured. Keep an arrangement that makes each photograph comfortable to explore.

Look back with curiosity.

  • What does each picture shape contribute?
  • How does the horizontal photograph change the rhythm?
  • Which order gives every frame room to be seen?

Keep exploring

Exploring vertical and horizontal compositions · Trying two orders for a photo sequence · Planning facing pages for a photo collection

Browse the complete Anime USA 2016 Friday gallery.