Square Scotland
Historically many landscape photographers have used large format cameras. The large negatives or slides deliver beautifully detailed images with a very nice tonality. Most of the time the subject doesn't move, so the slow way of working is no problem. An added bonus is the possibility of using tilt, rise, shift and the like - those movements enable exact placing of focus and perspective. These cameras have disadvantages as well: heavy carrying is involved, the materials used are rather expensive and slides can hardly be projected. On the other end of the camera spectrum there is the 35mm camera (film or digital) with its many lenses, its low weight and relatively low costs. One clear disadvantage they have: the small film area. No surprise many photographers choose the golden mean: the medium format!
Problem or challenge? At first sight it isn't the most intuitive for landscape, but it has several important advantages. This format is very flexible for composition - but there is more. In this article the most important points.
Composition
The square frame has no tension as such. It gives the subject lots of space and therefore breaths rest. It is up to the photographer to give the image tension and excitement by means of subject choice and composition. In other words: lots of space for the photographer as well! Nice is, of course, when all these different image elements come together and support each other.
A good exercise to learn how to compose is this: take a photograph that has some value for you, on a piece of paper make an outline of the most important parts of the photo. Then take a pencil and put a circle or circles about the point(s) your eye keeps returning to. Then place some arrows to point out the route your eyes take from point to point. This analysis of images is a good way as well to judge your own images critically. Have you framed well or are some parts meaningless? Are some elements disturbing because they draw too much attention? Is the photo a unity, or did you just draw all independent arrows?
During the process of making photographs try to see what the most important points of the subject will be, in other words: where the circle(s) will be put. Then frame around those points in such a way that all of the images will be filled with arrows - parts without interest should be left out.
Square
The square has some interesting possibilities. First of all, one never has to choose between horizontal or vertical position. Doing landscapes this means the width and space of a scene can be shown without leaving out the foreground. Something 35mm can not always do! And this way the eyes are drawn from the foreground into the landscape.
Of course all of this can be done with the rectangular format as well, but the square has more to offer here.
For symmetry there is enough space, even if the axis of the reflection is not exactly in the middle. Within the square one can very well put that axis higher or lower, without hitting the head or bottom of the frame.
Learning How To Visualize
Most images we look at are rectangular - like television and computer screens. By the square one is forced to see the subject and the world of forms in another way.
A great help for composing is the waist level finder most 6x6 cameras have. Taking your ease you can look at the image - no peering and peeping through a tiny little finder - and examine the slide on the light table so to speak. Especially combined with a tripod, this is a great way of working.
And you will need a tripod soon anyway if you use medium format gear - especially so with landscape. It can be a bit of an enemy on a photo trip, but once returned home it is found to have been a great friend!
Projection and Presentation
It is not only the making of a photograph that counts. Presentation is an important part of the work as well. After all: what is an image nobody wants to look at? For projection the square is a very pleasant format. The entire screen is filled. The image is as it were without edges, without an imperative frame. And you never have to look at an awkward change of horizontal and vertical slides.
Most albums and books are upright and rectangular. No good for broad panoramas. Square photos cause less problems and leave some space for captions - nevertheless at the same time filling the page nicely.
Commercial Use
For an editor of a magazine, books or ads, the square is nice as well. It leaves lots of space to put text in or to crop the image. Of course this doesn't apply to each image!
And it draws more attention than all those rectangular images. A square photo has more stopping power and can therefore be sold more often.
One never has to choose between horizontal or vertical position. Doing landscapes this way means the width and space of a scene can be shown without leaving out the foreground. And this way the eyes are drawn from the foreground into the landscape. This format allows you to take advantage of the high resolution that professional cameras offer, while still giving you the option to print them out in a smaller size. Something 35mm can not always do!