Nowhere To Go But Up

Vertoramas are powerful alternatives that should be shot sparingly

Widescreen and panoramic formats are the most usual and natural compositions, deeply vertical shots on the other hand are rare, for two good reasons. One is we’ve evolved to look from side to side. Looking up and down – along a vertical axis – is a little unnatural. If you have any doubts about this, try consciously looking up and down a scene rather than horizontally. The second reason, a eminently practical one, is that there are few ways to display a deep vertical image. By deep vertical I mean much more extended than the usual DSLR 2:3 portrait format taken with the camera turned 90 degrees. Laptop screens are horizontal, printed pages tend to be just a little vertical, but then when a book or magazine is opened you have a horizontal double-page spread. Currently, smartphones are the most vertical display commonly available, currently with 9:18 the most popular (that is, 1:2).