This, and several others in this "favorites" gallery illustrate something that I consciously do when I photograph. I tend to compose specifically to the format camera I am working with. Each scene seems to have its own personality and the format (horizontal or vertical) flows from that.

The medium format Hasselblad is a 6x6cm or 2 1/4" square format. Photographing square images seems strange until you hold this camera in your hands for the first time. The square is meant for flexibility in not having to rotate the camera - the image can just be cropped. But like many photographers, I tend to just compose square images instead - like this one. I came to love the square image and miss not shooting with it any longer.


This image was made of an abandoned boathouse in Door County, Wisconsin. The walls were covered with tar paper that had torn in the wind over time. I could not have manufactured this shot to be more pleasing to my eye with the folded back silver section and the silvery screws jutting out from the black surface.

Hasselblad 500 C/M, 150mm f/4 Sonnar, 21mm extension tube, 1 sec @f/32, Kodak PXP 120, EI 64, Zone VI 5000 Lightweight Wood tripod, Bogen 3047 3-way Pan/til head, Roll given N-1 development, HC-110 1:15