Recommended portrait aspect ratio

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Sijmen

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Hi,

I'm new to portrait photography, and having done a bit lately, I'd like to know what people on this form consider to be the recommended aspect ratio for portraits.

Any recommendations? What's the most popular aspect ratio?

Regards,
Sijmen.
 
I don't do a whole lot of portraits but I prefer A format paper which is 2.8:1 ratio or, near as dammit, 3:2.
 
I would imagine the most popular is whatever the aspect ratio of an iPhone is, followed by the square of Instagram.

As for recommended... I don't think it matters as long as it's composed well and suits the subject. I'm sure others will give their opinions.

Welcome to the forum!
 
As long as it suits the image it does not matter. But its size will rather depend on your printer or paper. No point in shooting fora size or format that you can not output. The same applies to frames and mounts. You need to be practical.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
As long as it suits the image it does not matter. But its size will rather depend on your printer or paper. No point in shooting fora size or format that you can not output. The same applies to frames and mounts. You need to be practical.
Click to expand...

I agree. I guess the real question I'm asking is what is the common aspect ratio of frames and mounts for portrait photography.

In the end, I've figured I'll stick with the camera default which is 3:2. I was just curious if people had other opinions.
 
redsnappa said:
The classic 1:1 format is hard to beat.
Click to expand...

1-1 is very rare in classic portraiture by both painters and photographers. And although many were shot on 6x6 cameras, very few were printed that way. There were no stock square large format films. Nor canvass for artists.
 
5:4 for me. Fits the papers I use perfectly and it's also the biggest image you can get on Instagram. Very close to the 4:3 ratio you get out of most phones as well (4:3 is actually pretty good too).

3:2 is nice horizontally, but too skinny vertically.

Framing/mounting is a whole different headache though, for example, IKEA has a mix of 3:2 frames with 4:3 (window) mats, or even 5:4 ones with 4:3 mounts.
 
1.618:1 is known as the Golden ratio and really does work surprisingly well. But off the shelf frames and mounts don't come in that size, so more cost framing.
 
5x4 for me. No need to complicate it by overthinking - it's a good size for printing/framing but also generally gives you the "right" amount of negative space.
 
There's a good variety of portrait cropping in the book of Jane Bown's work called 'Exposures'. They all work, the implication being that there are no rules and navigation of the options is best done by feel. In other words, experiment, and trust your gut!

Unless, of course, you're trying to rationalise your output for economic purposes.
 
I find 3:2 a bit thin for portrait orientation, I prefer 4:3.
 
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