I don't know exactly what it is about portrait photography and why I'm obsessed with the format but it has a hold on me. Just about every photo I take is a portrait.

Side effects include: Looking like a complete ass if you try filming this way. Complete loss of trust in your DP and other crew members. Unhappy clients after they discover that their web commercial just got a LOT skinnier and will NOT fill up the entire 16x9 frame.

Okay so I made up all of those side effects because I clearly don't film in portrait but believe it or not, some commercial clients do actually ask for content shot in a portrait format. In fact the lobbies of the Cosmopolitan Hotel turns their TV screens vertically. I have worked on commercials that shot for the look, filming models walking down a runway... You know how tall n' sassy models are.

Horizon format is standard, making sense for a multitude of reasons... but deep down it still makes me sad. Maybe its because I'm always interested in those wacky perspectives where you can see both the ground and sky on a 10mm lens shot on a full frame sensor. It leads my eye vertically and in a way gives me a bigger picture of whats happening down below, in the middle, and up above.