Before Instagram came into my life, I’d never really given much thought to shooting in squares. When I worked in advertising I certainly scanned a lot of square negatives for days on end, but as my photographic life was all about 35mm film in those days the beauty of shooting in squares had passed me by. Medium format? Nope, not yet. Polaroid? Not yet either. My main photo friends were disposable “snappys” and my trusty Canon Rebel. You know, the one that Andre Agassi used to pitch, remember?
But then came digital. And then came the iPod touch I won from Travellerspoint. And then came Instagram. And then came Polariod. Did something similar happen to you?
Shooting in square, previously a baffling series of cropping out this and cutting off that, and why would you want do to do that anyway, now happened for me in an instant. To say I was hooked would be an understatement. I took to shooting squares like my dog took to swimming: with great joy, excitement, curiosity and liberation. The challenge of tracking down compositions in square was a novelty at first, but has since become second nature. Perhaps it’s recognizing the composition on the spot, or the challenge of transforming my “go to” compositions from my DSLR that are in my DNA into instant magic (iPhonography or Polaroid as the case may be). Shooting in squares has only strengthened my photographic eye. Made me quicker on my feet.
How about you? How has shooting in square changed things for you? Does it have you floating in photographic bliss? or sinking into difficult corners? Let us know in comments what you think!
I started with squares on IG but gradually drifted into 4:3. I’ve started thinking recently that it might be time to embrace the square again 🙂
Awesome Leslie! So you’re like me too with Instagram. I’ve never drifted into 4:3 myself, so maybe that’s something that I’ll want to look at. Have fun re-embracing square!
So good to hear you’re enjoying it! I’m finding it a welcome challenge. Which is the way it should be.
Thanks Kirstin! Yes, I love the challenge too!
i find it so much more fun to compose in the square, often easier to envision but that could also be the viewfinders of square format cameras (ie. large viewfinder on the hasselblad and nice clear iPhone screen), right?
I think with less space to fill visually and more space to see what we’re working with the eye can compose more quickly. If that makes sense 🙂
I’ve been shooting square for a decade – I started out with 35mm, and still shoot it occasionally, but quickly drifted into toy cameras and Polaroid integral, so square has been on my brain for a long, long time. When I started using Instagram a few years ago, it made me so happy to see mostly everything in square format. I post 4:3 images once in a while, but I’ve been composing in squares for so long, it just comes naturally. However, I can’t crop a 35mm image square. It just seems wrong! For some reason, if it’s film and it starts out 4:3, it stays that way. 🙂
That’s so funny Steph, I have a tough time cropping my 35mm shots too…just seems wrong unless I’m intentionally shooting it with a square space in mind…like for a design layout. Love this comment!
What a wonderfully cute shot of major; he looks like a little bear with his head sticking up like that 🙂
I love composing in squares, and tend to do it when I shoot in digital as well as with film. It’s like a digital image doesn’t have fixed borders, and thus can be cropped to my heart’s content, if that makes sense? On the other hand, cropping a 35mm film image feels very wrong for me as well.
Ha! he does look like a little bear 🙂
Isn’t that funny, somehow 35mm is almost “sacred” like that!
As soon as I saw Maj, I had to see what you were going to be talking about! So funny you should mention this, now I will just have my iphone and shift it to square format much of the time so I wont have to crop out things, I can take it exactly as I want to post it. And Maj….in a glorious moment. Love the shot, it’s what got me here today!!
Thanks Tracie! Yes, I love that too…not worrying about cropping, shoot it and share it as I see it!