Author: David Huffman
All images copyright David Huffman.
Now, c’mon…admit it… you hardly ever even think about shooting in a square format. Maybe if you use “Instagram” but that’s not really photography (in my book.)
Years ago, in the land of film and processing, I used Hasselblad cameras and twin-lens reflex Mamiyas and the much revered Rollieflex. They were all square format. I loved it.
Why? The square format focuses your attention the subject, not the photograph. The square format does not emphasize a sweeping horizontal vista or a stretched vertical shape. It just IS. It stretches your own mind, to think about the image in a square format, especially because your camera probably does not offer that format in its native settings. So you have to be a little more creative, inventive, and visionary when you compose an image for the square format. It’s actually one additional way that you can stretch your own creativity. The following images were all produced in studio and designed specifically for the square format. Shooting a set of images in square enables you to display them more conveniently as a grouping, and even encourages sales, if you do that sort of thing.
I hope you enjoy the following images and start to think square next time you pick up your camera. It’s HIP to be SQUARE!
David Huffman is a Volunteer Trip Leader, Author and Educator for Arizona Highways Photo Workshops. Visit David at: www.HuffmanPhotoArt.com