L-t-R or R-t-L - DPChallenge Forums

10/24/2007 04:04:46 PM · #1

Maybe this has been discussed before, but I havenâ��t seen it and to be honest hadnâ��t considered it until a week or so ago.

Do you prefer right to left or left to right when you set up a photo?

Letâ��s say you are photographing a calendar lying on a table, at a sort of oblique angle with the top corner receding back into the photo. Do you angle the calendar back to the right, or back to the left?

Letâ��s say you a shooting a portrait of your best â��budâ�� in semi-profile. Is your â��budâ�� looking into the space at photo-left or photo-right?

Now that you have answered these questions â�� the big question is are you Left or Right handed?

This is only a theory, but I believe there is a tendency of Left or Right handed folks to be more pleased by one of the arrangements and feel something just isnâ��t right with the other even if they canâ��t put their finger on what it is.

Thoughts?

10/24/2007 04:14:22 PM · #2

It has a lot to do with which way your culture reads text, too. If you read from top left to bottom right, you'll tend to visually scan pictures that way, too. It then becomes a question of when do you want to reach the 'object' - early, or late in that scan and what you want it to mean.

Other cultures read from a different starting point, with a different scan.

posthumous

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/24/2007 04:15:20 PM · #3

I think it's much more relevant the direction your primary language is written in. Some people read right-to-left, and that will cause them to look at images differently than people who read left-to-right.

((acchhh!! I was beaten to the punch... I must come from a culture that reads too slooowwwwww))

Message edited by author 2007-10-24 16:16:05.

brownsm

Canon EOS-5D

10/24/2007 04:18:38 PM · #4

for the portrait question, I think it would be what side is the person's "good" side. most everyone looks better on one side versus the other. rare to have someone perfectly symmetrical.

10/24/2007 04:33:18 PM · #5

I agree with the cultural differences so let's take that out of the equation for now so we can look at one variable at a time. So, in the US....

If you do a little test, as I have done, I'm guessing you see a distinct difference between left and right handed people. This is of potential significance as since the majority of folks are right handed, and if this theory has some weight, then left-handed people may have to adjust their thinking to fit in with the majority of the public's tendency - should they so desire.

I am interested however, to see if others find this same possible result.

10/24/2007 04:46:18 PM · #6

Originally posted by tcmartin:

So based on that - am I left handed or right handed ?
//www.flickr.com/mcgregorphoto/ should give you plenty of images for you to be able to work it out.

Message edited by author 2007-10-24 16:46:39.

geoffb

10/24/2007 05:12:31 PM · #7

Hmmm...I do tend to have the subject look off toward camera left. I'm left handed. I didn't think about that before until you wrote about it, but it'll be a more conscious decision now.

10/24/2007 05:30:33 PM · #8

Well Mr. Gordon while I have not worked out an actual formula, but I do have a feeling that left-handed folks do NOT have the same strength of a visual requirement that right-handed folks do. Nobody please get frizzled about this as it is just something I am wondering...

I would guess Mr. gordon that you are left-handed.

cpanaioti

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/24/2007 06:06:24 PM · #9

Originally posted by tcmartin:

... I do have a feeling that left-handed folks do NOT have the same strength of a visual requirement that right-handed folks do. ...

You do realize that everyone is born right handed but only the greatest overcome it. ;oP

10/24/2007 06:08:01 PM · #10

Originally posted by tcmartin:

same strength of a visual requirement

could you explain what you mean by this phrase ?

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

10/24/2007 06:49:16 PM · #11

I tried to word that in an inoffensive manner, but I donâ��t think I did that very well.

In addition to this hypothesis I have about the visual left- or right-handedness, I am also wondering if it is more pronounced or stronger in left- or right-handed folks. In other words, for an image to feel right, it is more important to left- or right-handed folks that the orientation to be one way or another. This being related to viewing an image rather than the process of setting an image up without thinking about all of this which is what the first question was related to.

Iâ��m sure what I am wondering is all perfectly clear now, right?

So did I guess correctly?

Nikon D200

10/24/2007 06:52:19 PM · #12

I like my images to read Left to Right, like a book. I was born left-handed, but am more right-handed now.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f/4 ED VR

10/24/2007 06:59:44 PM · #13

Originally posted by tcmartin:

I am left handed.

There's a fairly strong body of research that shows that right handed people are less visually intuitive. In general left handed people appear to have better visual problem solving skills, while right handed people need to break things down and reconstruct them and are often better at language based problem solving. There's a strong bias in visual arts towards left-handed or mixed handedness, compared to the general population too - some studies show around 50% of art students as left or mixed handed, while the general population break down is around 10% for left handedness in general.

//painting.about.com/od/rightleftbrain/a/Right_Brain.htm

LanndonKane

Nikon D800

10/24/2007 07:01:03 PM · #14

Im much more comfortable with my subjects facing the left, expecially with portraits.

My left, their right.

I'm right handed.

cpanaioti