Picture Perfect

I recently picked out some of my favorite photos of the ones Chris and I have taken to frame and hang on the wall.  When I framed them, I noticed that they were all pictures that hang vertically instead of horizontally.  It got me thinking and I looked at more pictures that we've taken.  It seems to me that nearly all our best pictures were taken with the camera turned.  Chris suggests that the world is generally taller than it is wide, i.e. people are certainly more vertical than horizontal, as are many buildings, statues, and quite a few plants.  It's an interesting point. 

Are most asthetically pleasing pictures taken vertically?

Comments

[Matt Singer]

The photos that I've enlarged and framed are half portrait and half landscape, with a mix of buildings, flowers and plants, waterfalls, and wide landscapes.

It all depends on the subject, how it fits with the landscape around it, and how you want to portray the image.

Most of my mountainscape shots are horizontal, but a few work with a vertical setup as well.

Waterfalls... depends on the shape of the falls and how much surrounding land I wish to include.

So... I don't know.
But check them out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mineral2

[George]

Thanks for asking Ek,

Yes portrait is generally best. Its a semi-secret in the art community that us is the way to go. There maybe a scientific reason for this but no self respecting artist cares.If you really look at the topic on the wall I guess I'd have to say that I don't really feel it necessary to know exactly what I mean.

[CHris]

I just wanted to clarify: my suggestion that people are taller than they are wide does not apply in the U.S. But many of our pictures were taken overseas.

[Matt Singer]

Something interesting I thought of. We see horizontally. That is, our eyesight has greater periphery on the sides than on the top and bottom, plus our eyes are side by side, so our vision by nature is panoramic.

Perhaps we are infatuated with vertical images because its not how we normally see.

[Jess]

Interesting. Thanks for the perspectives! I'll be keeping an eye out on photo compositions in general and see if this theory holds up.