Room to Breathe

If you ask a photographer to describe how they see the world, the answer depends on which camera is currently in hand.

When I got my start I used a 35mm SLR. The aspect ratio is 3:2. That makes one side 50% longer than the other.

That seemed perfectly fine until I got my hands on a Hasselblad, which is square. That rocked my world.

I used that camera daily for almost 15 years until digital photography entered my life. That brought me back to the 3:2 ratio again.

The transition was difficult because I tended to previsualize everything within the realm of a square frame.

Now that my pro digital cameras have resolving capabilities that exceed any film stock, I tend to frame things loosely and crop as needed.

When I created this portrait near Union Square in San Francisco, I wasn’t sure about the composition. Framing it with room to breathe was the obvious solution.

About the author: I am Stephen Kennedy, an experienced photographer with more than 2500 completed sessions in all 50 US states.