Bicyclist going uphill — Granada, Spain (2016)
Most casual photographers don’t know or don’t care about the aspect ratio of their photographs. But for advance amateur and professional photographers, the aspect ratio of a photograph is extremely important to their creative expression.
In simple terms, the aspect ratio of a photograph is its geometric shape. The most common are: 16×9, which is the ratio used by HTDV and many Android-based phones; 3×2, the ratio of 35mm film and many advanced digital SLR cameras; 4×3, the ratio of some inexpensive digital SLR cameras and the iPhone; and 4×5, the aspect ratio favored by many professional portrait photographers.
The 1×1, or square, aspect ratio is a traditional art photography ratio you see used in many old photographs hanging in museums. Recently, the 1×1 ratio has become very popular because of its widespread use by Instagram, the Lomography movement and the brilliant landscape photographer, Michael Kenna.
I usually shoot in the 3×2, traditional 35mm aspect ratio. The majority of the time, I keep it in that ratio because it’s how I saw and composed the image in the camera. But there are times when I feel another aspect ratio works better for a particular image.
The picture above is one example. When we were visiting Granada, Spain we took a shortcut to walk from our hotel in the Gypsy or Roma district of Granada to the Alhambra. The path was a fairly steep, rough, narrow cobblestone road used by tourists and the occasional bicycler.
I saw a racing bicyclist coming up behind us so I got my camera ready and was able to make 3 or 4 pictures as he sped by. The first of those pictures, the gut reaction shot, had the bicyclist in the perfect position with his upper body silhouette against the starkly white wall.
The picture was taken in the 3×2, 35mm film aspect ratio, but when I looked at it at home, the balance was completely wrong from what I visualized in my mind. I then converted it to the 4×5 aspect ratio which is used by portrait photographers and again, the balance was still off. I ended posting the 4×5 version on Instagram, even though the picture just didn’t look right to me.
A month later I decided to convert the picture to the 1×1 or square aspect ratio and suddenly the picture appeared as I had visualized it in my mind (above).
Take a look below at the 3×2 (35mm) version and the 4×5 (portrait) version of the picture. Maybe you like one of the other versions better than the 1×1 (square) version that I like best.
Keep in mind that there is no perfect aspect ratio for a photograph. A photograph is the creative expression of the photographer and it’s up to the photographer to decide what aspect ratio best expresses their creative vision.
Bicyclist going uphill (3:2 aspect ratio) — Granada, Spain (2016)
Bicyclist going uphill (4×5 aspect ratio) — Granada, Spain (2016)