Square is Cool . . . again.

Throughout the history of phtography, certain print formats have been standard (i.e. 11x14, 16x20, 24x 30, etc.)  For nearly 30 years, I have offered the standard sizes like everyone else.  I have, however, always offered some additional unique, and instantly recognizable sizes.  Our RAGE poster is a very eye-catching horizontal panoramic style, measuring 10 inches high by 30 inches wide.  Our Spotlight poster takes on the proportions of today's camera sensors at two units wide by three units high.  The standard Spotlight poster is 12 inches wide by 18 inches tall.

There are times, however, when the standard image sizes simply don't make sense.  Many live-action gymnastics images, when printed in standard sizes, have an excess of either blue floor in the foreground, or the high walls of the gym in the background.  Today, SPUSA is introducing SQUARE to our lineup of canvas formats.  Our digital paintings are typically painted in standard portrait sizes.  When the image cries out to be cropped tighter to get rid of wide expanses of blue carpet or gym walls, I am painting in a square format.  The square canvases will be available in three sizes:  12x12, 16x16, and 20x20.  

The square format harkens back to the early days of medium format wedding photography.  Many twin-lens reflex cameras in the first half of the 20th century used film that yielded a square negative.  In order to use the whole image, the prints came as 5x5 or 10x10 prints.  One of my first cameras was a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera that used 120 or 220 film.  Each image was square.  

Today, almost all digital sensors replicate the days of 35mm film cameras when the negative was 24mm x 36mm.  What is important, though, is not the dimension of the sensor.  We must look at the proportions of the image subject to decide what the appropriate canvas size should be.  Take a look at the image attached to this post.  The canvas is square and the image looks awesome without any wasted space.  If, on the other hand, the canvas was 3 units high by 2 units wide, there would be lots of space with just the empty floor at the bottom of the image or the back wall at the top.  

When you have decided to spend your money on a digital painting of your gymnast, you don't want me wasting time painting floors and walls that don't add anything to the painting itself.  The important part of the image is your gymnast.  The SQUARE format can make your painting so much more dynamic, and at the same time, save you money (by saving me time in the painting process).

If you are interested in a digital painting of your gymnast, simply click the "Contact Us" link and send me a message.  I'll get back to you as soon as possible.