Composing with square format

Photographers who have used 35mm will have some problems composing with a 6X6 camera. However, square format users see nothing strange about this format. Composing within a square format can be done several ways. You can crop the image to fit the frame. The problem with this type of composing is that you will loose part of the image when printing. A 6X6 negative must be cropped to fit popular paper sizes such as 8X10 or 16X20. The advantage of the larger format is lost to some degree. When compared to 35mm, 6X6 gives 3X the image area. This is only true if you use the whole format. When you crop a 6X6 negative, you end up with a 6X4.5 format. You will still get better prints with a 6X6 than a 6X4.5, since the original was taken on a larger format, but the difference is not much. Another way to compose with a 6X6 format is to imagine a line within the frame and compose inside it. Decide if you want your shot to be horizontal or vertical, and then compose your shot but leave room for cropping. Do not crop too tightly or you could loose some important part of the subject. Pay close attention when photographing buildings or interiors. Visualize the final print and make sure to leave enough room for cropping.


upside down view as it appears in the waist level viewfinder 

When photographing wild life, you can easily compose within square format. You don't have to get too close to your subject or use very long telephotos as you would with a 35mm camera. Many photographers use 350mm to 500mm lenses (equivalent to 200mm to 300mm in 35mm) and enlarge a portion of the image. With 35mm format for example, you might need a 600mm lens to fill the frame. With square format, you can use a shorter lens and blow up any part of the image with fine, sharp detail, and with much more framing option. Some square format users don't make any cropping decision when composing. They simply take their shots and decide later which part of the image they want cropped. I do not recommend this method unless you are an experienced 6X6 user. Pros and long time users have enough experience with square format to know exactly how they want their final images.

It takes some time to get used to the square format. Once you have mastered it, you will enjoy its framing option, and you can use what you learn from your 6X6 images when using your 35mm camera.
 

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