I Struggled Shooting Square

A few weeks ago I experimented with the 65:24 aspect ratio inside my LUMIX camera. Although initially I was sceptical, I ended up really enjoying shooting with it and so I wanted to test one of the other aspect ratios that my LUMIX camera offers, but which one? This time I went square with 1:1…

The Dream

In the back of my mind I’ve always dreamt of being one of those edgy photographers that only shoots square images. I’ve even toyed with the idea of buying one of those 1:1 medium-format cameras (like maybe a Bronica SQ). Surprise surprise, I never did it. Maybe setting the Aspect Ratio in my LUMIX camera to 1:1 would be the first step on the road to becoming that edgy photographer who lives in the back of my head…

What Lens/camera?

With my previous aspect ratio experiment, I knew exactly what lens I was going to use, but this time around I had no idea. Should I choose a wide angle like before or maybe a tight, or something in between. I had no clue, so I decided to play it safe and choose my LUMIX L10 which has a built in zoom lens (24-75mm full-frame equivalent) to cover all bases.

Just like last time, I loaded in my LUMIX 'look' Neocross R100 which is my favourite black and white 'look' for LUMIX cameras. I chose black and white because I knew I didn’t want the distraction of colour and wanted to be able to focus on framing with this new aspect ratio.

The initial Tests

Once I had everything set up, I was really to head off and shoot and I have to admit… my initial experience was a struggle. I found it so hard to get used to not having the width in the frame. I guess I’ve trained my eye on 3:2 (which is my usual ratio of choice) and having one side of the frame longer than the other is so drilled into my brain. Shooting 1:1 felt like I was boxed in, like there was no room for context.

A New Mindset

I ignored my camera for a few days thinking I would scrap this experiment, but then I remembered… framing isn't always about what's included in the frame - sometimes it can be about what's left out of the frame. So with this at the front of my mind, I decided to leave context out of the picture and use my 1:1 frames like stamp, a single square window, a frame to place around one single object or scene and not worry about the loss of context from the scene.

Alongside my new mindset, I also remembered one of my favourite things about shooting with the LUMIX L10 is the fact you can shoot with a flash… and not only that, you can sync the flash to any available mechanical shutter speed due to it’ leaf shutter. The little flash I use on my L10 is the Godox iT30 Pro and so combining this with my L10, the black and white ‘look’, and the square JPEGs I was set to head off and shoot some more.

This time it was a different experience all together and by the end, I was really really enjoying shooting square. Check out some of the images I captured below…