The last post I wrote was about faking the ‘mist filter look’ in Lightroom, which of course is designed to help create that cinematic look. It’s a subjective term, but most agree that it means your photos look like a still from a movie. I am not sure I agree with this, as there are as many types of movie as there are types of photography – so it isn’t like all movies have that dreamy look.

Having said that, there is one thing I have been doing lots lately which is certainly paying homage to the movies, and that’s the widescreen crops I have been using.

I have been switching between 16:9, 2:1 and anamorphic (2.39:1) aspect ratios for my landscape orientated images. The problem is, I am getting addicted. It feels now like when I just have a landscape 3:2 photo, the top and bottom feels like dead space – I must therefore be composing my shots with the knowledge I am probably going to remove these areas in post.

Take a look at what I mean…

As you can see – some are really panoramic. That one of the Circus in Bath for example is about 7 images stitched together, and would almost look ridiculous were it to be printed (yes I am tempted).

But I have been enjoying the widescreen aspect ratio, and will definitely carry on experimenting with it…