Interpretation of square frame structure

Lead: The application of medium format cameras, toy cameras such as Holga and Diana, and smart phones makes square composition more and more popular. In the digital age, the square composition still has vitality. Let's have a look!

Small history

Square cameras have existed for a long time. The first camera with a square frame was introduced by Luo Lai in 1929. The reason why square negatives are used is probably because of the design of double lenses. This camera takes pictures through the square magnifying glass at the top of the machine. Photographers Richard Avedon, irving penn and Robert Doisneau all use Lulai camera, while Diane Arbus uses mamia double-reflex camera. These photographers all use square negatives.

Karl's Rolleiflex prototype? Zeiss Jena Teszar F/3.8 75mm lens

Hasselblad introduced the square medium format camera 1600F in 1948, and used square negatives in his film camera until H- System digital camera was introduced in 2002. Ten years ago, Hasselblad camera was always famous for its excellent quality and was always the first choice of many professional photographers. Besides quality, one of Hasselblad's success factors lies in the convenience of square negatives. You can take a photo, such as a portrait, and leave some blanks for later cutting to meet various needs.

Make full use of the lens

The square frame has another advantage. The cross section of the light that the camera passes through is circular, which is called the imaging circle. Rectangular sensors or negatives can not make full use of the imaging ring, which will waste some space. In contrast, the square frame can make better use of the imaging circular area. Strangely, in theory, prototype sensors or negatives should best conform to the imaging circle, but as far as I know, no one has ever done so.

Use a square

There are four main ways to realize a square frame:

1. Use a medium format camera, such as Lulai, Mamiya or Hasselblad. You can also develop the negative or scan it into a digital file and then process it with Photoshop. Many photographers who can develop their own works use black and white film, because it is much easier to develop at home than color film.

2. Use a toy film camera, such as Holga or Diana. Similarly, you can develop or scan. There are also some less common old cameras, such as Robot Star, which can shoot 24? On 35 mm film. 24mm format photos.

3. Use camera phones and applications that can process pictures into squares, such as Hipstamatic or Instager.am.

4. Shoot with an ordinary digital camera, and then cut it into squares later.

If your camera can only take rectangular photos, you can cut them into squares in Photoshop. When shooting in the future, you can deliberately compose according to the square, or you can look for something suitable for cutting in the previous photos. Since I did this, many photos have become better. For a 35mm frame, cutting into squares will cut off 1/3 frames, which often makes the frame more impactful. The picture above is a good example.

composition

At present, the aspect ratio of digital photos is almost infinite and can be cut at will. So why choose a square frame?

One advantage of boxes is composition. The square itself is more beautiful than the rectangle in design. The viewer's eyes will scan the whole picture round and round, instead of sweeping from side to side. In addition, it won't waste too much space. You just need to keep the subject in the center of the picture, and there will be no mistakes.

When shooting portraits, human bodies, landscapes, still lives, buildings, close-ups and abstract subjects, squares are the best choice. These are all artistic themes, which may be the reason why most artistic photographers like to use square frames.

35mm problem

One problem with a 35mm frame with an aspect ratio of 3:2 is the long side of a rectangle. Turn the camera to one side and shoot vertically, and you will understand what I mean, especially when taking landscape photos. At this time, it is difficult to make the picture full and leave no blank at the top or bottom. This is one of the reasons why photographers use medium format or large format cameras, and it is also one of the reasons why M4/3 format is favored by some photographers.

The above picture is a good example, which shows that the square composition is more impactful. When I solve the composition problem of this photo, I consider how to deal with the blank area around the sculpture. At first I thought they were effective composition elements, but now I think it's best to cut them into squares. The sculpture in the picture becomes larger, and it is easier for the audience to see the details without being distracted.

I'm sure some people will like the original. This is also one of the pleasures of photography. There are no fixed rules here. There are many ways to do one thing, and we all have different views and ideas.

shape

How many shapes can you see in these photos? Whether it is a circle, a square or a triangle, the geometry in a square frame is more powerful. Square is more suitable for this composition than rectangular frame with any aspect ratio.

Design and balance

Unlike rectangles, squares are essentially balanced. A square is a very stable shape, especially compared with a rectangle placed vertically.

Maybe you will ask, can you still follow the three-point composition method in a square frame? My suggestion is, no, you can throw the three-point composition out of the window now. The three-point composition method is only a guiding principle, and it is not more magical than the golden section method (the golden section ratio 1. 18: 1 is very close to the aspect ratio of 35mm 3:2).

In other words, these are just rules for 35mm frames. Don't cover them on other frames. But pay attention to the balance of the picture. How all the elements are organically combined, and those blank areas. In the photos shown here, the central composition method is very good.