Portrait v. Landscape? You decide.
30th June 2021
An old friend of mine and a very experienced photographer was often asked, 'When should I shoot in portrait orientation?' (That is to say, holding the camera vertically instead of horizontally.)
'Simple, he replied, you should always shoot vertically straight after shooting horizontally.'
What he was saying was that you should always shoot both ways because that way you always have a choice when you get back home and open the photos on your computer
Good advice because if you later decide that you should have shot in portrait orientation, it is probably too late to go back and re-shoot.
When it comes to a headshot though, I think that horizontal is the way to go.
One reason I say this is that landscape orientation is better suited to social media and avoids unwanted cropping of your image.
Another reason is more for professional actors and performers who want to get noticed: if you provide your agent, promoter or casting director with a horizontal shot it will appear larger on a screen than a vertical one. Does this give you a better chance of being noticed? Maybe. It certainly won't hurt.
For me, a horizontal image is also more like the way the human eye sees the world and feels more natural.
Imagine if this shot of Aaron, a rugby player, was cropped vertically. He would look constricted by the edges of the photo with no room to move.
I prefer the horizontal or landscape version which you see here.
'Simple, he replied, you should always shoot vertically straight after shooting horizontally.'
What he was saying was that you should always shoot both ways because that way you always have a choice when you get back home and open the photos on your computer
Good advice because if you later decide that you should have shot in portrait orientation, it is probably too late to go back and re-shoot.
When it comes to a headshot though, I think that horizontal is the way to go.
One reason I say this is that landscape orientation is better suited to social media and avoids unwanted cropping of your image.
Another reason is more for professional actors and performers who want to get noticed: if you provide your agent, promoter or casting director with a horizontal shot it will appear larger on a screen than a vertical one. Does this give you a better chance of being noticed? Maybe. It certainly won't hurt.
For me, a horizontal image is also more like the way the human eye sees the world and feels more natural.
Imagine if this shot of Aaron, a rugby player, was cropped vertically. He would look constricted by the edges of the photo with no room to move.
I prefer the horizontal or landscape version which you see here.