Practicing The Square...

[JTC]

In anticipation of the TLR arriving this week* I went out with the XH2, 56/1.2, set to 1:1 crop, B&W mode, and tried to dust down my Hasselblad aesthetics... I've barely taken any photos since March due to work, house clearance, sorting out my ill father's care and so forth, but today I managed to find just 30 minutes for a mini shoot.

I confess to loving square images, but in recent times I've shot 3:2 and cropped for square; this is the first time I've composed purely in the square since I had my last TLR around 25 years ago... man, it was a blast! The only thing I notice is how much better they look before export, I assume it's crushing the gradations somewhat, but I'll figure that one out later...













* I've no film for it so it's a theoretical thing until I get some in...

 

[JTC]

Ah, got it, ImgBB thumbs are medium quality, so quite soft. Click on the images to see better quality versions if you like. That 56/1.2 on the XH2 is sweeeeeet!!!

 

[dan m]

Well done for getting out there and trying something different. Were these cropped or as taken? I ask because on some I think there’s things that draw your eye that could do with more space around them near the edges (church bell tower, bookended benches, bent rail, skylight in roof).

 

[JTC]

These are as taken. 56/1.2 lens set to 1:1 crop in-camera, equivalent to ~90mm focal length in square (man maths). Found that a bit too tight in places, and these were all fairly quickly composed shots.

 

[Tony L]

I really like square format. I leave my iPhone set that way much of the time. I think I’m so conditioned by staring at record covers it seems very ‘right’ to me. If I had to choose a single format these days I’d go with square. ‘Rule of thirds’ etc still apply, but in a different and more equal space.

PS I like the pictures above, you’ve certainly seen the compositional opportunities.

 

[dan m]

These are as taken. 56/1.2 lens set to 1:1 crop in-camera, equivalent to ~90mm focal length in square (man maths). Found that a bit too tight in places, and these were all fairly quickly composed shots.

Makes sense. Good set of photos nevertheless.

 

[JTC]

I think if I were to repeat a few of these shots I might use the 35/1.4 instead and have more room around the subjects. The camera crop doesn't affect the RAW files so there is scope there, but these were all the in-camera b&w jpg film simulation, with only minor editing in post (mainly to add the borders).