"Um, shoot vertical next time."

My brain works overtime deciding the best composition.

I shouldn’t say “overtime”, because in actuality I just gravitate shooting in landscape format. There’s nothing about comfort while shooting horizontally, it’s just a reflex.

I remember when I was about 14, my mom (quite an epic photographer, IMO) showed me how she, and many of her photographer peers, handled the camera while shooting in portrait mode. It’s basically like this.

Something about being able to stabilize the camera on your leg, table, or one’s tub of a tummy, was her advice to me. Ever since then, I never shoot with my hand on top of my camera. I’ve even seen social posts and articles about how '“real photographers” handle the camera (like the right-hand-side image). Whatever. This is just a fun bit of history.

So, I recently decided to find scenes that made me think about shooting vertically. Enjoy!

Bust on over to the Substack app or website to see more. Email might not be allowing you to see all these beautiful images. 🤓

And there you have it. Thanks for scrolling through this partial roll of Kentmere Pan 200 pushed one stop. This film has become my go-to stock for most scenes. I like how it handles the midtones and shadows, which are the most important to me in a film stock; I prefer shooting on overcast days.

See you on the Tokyo streets! —JG