Submitted by Don Doman
I don’t know why people persist in recording vertical images with their cell phone cameras and expect to play them and view them in a horizontal format.
A horizontal shot gives you a panoramic view.A nice horizontal shot gives you a panoramic view, while a vertical shot gives you a narrow field.
I’ve worked with attorneys and police departments. Crime scenes videotaped with a cell phone in the vertical (up and down) position means changing the image with different formats to result in a horizontal image that attorneys, clients, juries, and judges can view on a television screen. The vertical image in centered with black bands on either side of the recorded footage.
A vertical shot is the wrong aspect for a horizontal format.Shooting a school concert, a child’s birthday party, a retirement party or anything else in the vertical position severely limits what can be done with the image. This goes for both photographs and video.
I’ve tried explaining the need for shooting in the horizontal format . . . and so has an AV professional I know. In addition, here’s an email from an irritated grandfather, “It is like banging your head to get that message across. All the videos my daughter-in-law takes on her IPhone show up sideways on my PC.”
A comparison of a horizontal shot as opposed to a vertical one.Photographs shot in the horizontal aspect can be cropped to show height if that’s a concern, but a vertical aspect shot can’t be cropped to show more.
The latest cell phones have some fantastic features, but people need to use them in the correct way. It really is a shame that people ruin images of one of a kind opportunities (retirement parties, graduations, wedding receptions, and more) just by holding their phone at the wrong angle. Forget up and up and (vertical) just go sideways (horizontal).
