Exploring the square 

using a symmetrical and well balanced frame

Shooting in square format can be fun and challenging.

The square is a relatively simple format with a clear center. It tends to lead the eye of the viewer in a circular instead of a straight horizontal, vertical or diagonal motion. The frame can be divided symmetrical into several smaller squares, which can be use to create a well balanced composition.

In order to get a feel for the square format it can be useful to shoot standard rectangular images and crop them into squares afterwards, taking the time to decide which parts to crop away to get the most compelling image.

Here's what i managed to do with four shots of a bunch of flowers at my dad's house, trying to emphasize the color of the flowers and leaves, cropping out the distracting elements like the chair in the background.

Tracey gave me some creative coaching and encouraged me to be more bold in my cropping, so below is how i applied her comment to the first of the images. I think it really improves the impact of the image.

I spent the rest of the week capturing different subjects in my squares

Here are some squares within a square......

Some squares with circles.......

Three squares with different subjects but lots of negative space.........

Loads of long straight lines in these squares........

Squares capturing shadows.......

A collage of brightly colored squares.........

Squares are an ideal format to tell a photo-story.

Here is a sequence about my breakfast, how I made it and where it ended up :-()

The square-collage can also be used to display different views on a singular subject.

Here i have captured parts of me in a square portrait collage.