...with their paper oriented to the portrait position?

Of course, you can't enlarge as much as with the paper in a landscape orientation but for some images it might look great especially when you feel the image looks better at a smaller size. I don't mind white space (bottom weighted) when viewing prints, in fact I do this a lot on 8x10 paper with 6x7 negatives, but always with a vertical neg...

I don't see the point really. But I try to put all of the prints I care to show in an over-mat. So the excess paper will be covered by that.
How do you display/view your prints?

- Thomas

Ahh yes, Thomas...I neglected to mention that I was thinking of loose unmounted prints, as in a portfolio of that nature.

I just love the way a print feels in the hand and was also inspired by a TV show on photography that was recently on the Ovation channel, which showed photographers like Sylvia Plachy, Andrew Moore and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders going through their print boxes and talking about the prints. It was so tactile, and wonderful to hear them talk about the images while holding them in their hands. You could actually see the type, finish and weight of paper they were holding...mmm! The print as object...yes!

I have printed this way in the past, but prefer to print full frame horizontally, bottom weighted. Does make for some interesting results though, and I remember reading somewhere that a smaller print encourages the viewer to look at the image in greater detail.

- Nanette

...a smaller print encourages the viewer to look at the image in greater detail.

This is definitly true!

Yes I recently printed a portfolio of 13 images in this format. Printed on 11"x14" with equal boarders left and right, with large boarders top and bottom. They were presented unmounted so thet had a nice 'balance' about them printed this way.

Interesting. When I mount the prints, however, I like to mount my square prints in vertically rectangular mats. For some reason I always make them top heavy.
My normal print size is 6.5" square for 8x10 paper and about 9" square for 11x14 paper. I have equal borders on the sides, and about a 40% / 60% distribution of the remaining space above and below the print.
If I for some reason print rectangular prints, I still make them top heavy, but by about a 45% / 55% distribution above and below.
I have never tried to print / mat anything rectangular horizontally on a vertically oriented paper / mat board. Interesting concept.

How do you figure out how much space above and below? For my purposes above I just tried different ways until I liked what I saw. Very unscientific. Perhaps there is some sort of 'human geometry' to what looks best?

- Thomas

Ahh yes, Thomas...I neglected to mention that I was thinking of loose unmounted prints, as in a portfolio of that nature.

I just love the way a print feels in the hand and was also inspired by a TV show on photography that was recently on the Ovation channel, which showed photographers like Sylvia Plachy, Andrew Moore and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders going through their print boxes and talking about the prints. It was so tactile, and wonderful to hear them talk about the images while holding them in their hands. You could actually see the type, finish and weight of paper they were holding...mmm! The print as object...yes!

This is sometimes called "salon style" printing--where everything is printed on vertical paper of the same size for a show.

It's a good way to make a portfolio or a photographic book, too.

How do you figure out how much space above and below? For my purposes above I just tried different ways until I liked what I saw. Very unscientific. Perhaps there is some sort of 'human geometry' to what looks best?

This site has some information, along with a handy web-based calculator: Optical Centering (http://www.russellcottrell.com/photo/centering.htm)

I've never sorted through the math, but I believe optical centering raises the center of the print about 1/8 of the mat margin width above the center. Just a slight upward bias that gives additional weight to the lower mat area to "ground" the image.

I suspect if you work it through, you'll find out what you set by eyeball comes close to the calculator. Many of these "rules" for art and composition appear to have been derived from work people did that is considered successful (as opposed to the rules being applied to start the work).

DaveT

Thanks for the feedback, everyone...

David...yes, books are printed like that. You don't want your reader to be turning the books sideways to look at every horizontal image! Thanks for the term "salon style". I hadn't heard that before...

Also, I noticed that Bainbridge sells a window mat/backing board package for a horizontal 8x10 mounted on a vertical 16x20.

Thomas...by bottom weighted I meant more white space at the bottom. I've seen this effect described with this term quite often. Sorry if there was some confusion...