Nearly every brand deliverable I shoot now needs both a horizontal version for traditional placements and a vertical cut for stories and reels, and reshooting the same moment twice in two orientations isn't always possible when you're working with a live, unrepeatable moment. I've had to genuinely rethink how I frame in the moment to serve both without compromising either.
Shoot wide, protect the center
My default now is framing noticeably wider than a final horizontal delivery would need, specifically so a vertical crop from the center of that frame still has a coherent, well-composed subject rather than an awkward crop fighting the original composition. This means giving up some of the tight, deliberate horizontal framing I used to lean on, trading a small amount of horizontal polish for genuine flexibility in post.
Keep the subject away from the horizontal edges specifically
Because a vertical crop typically keeps the vertical center and loses the sides, anything critical placed near the left or right edge of a wide horizontal frame simply won't exist in the vertical version. I've trained myself to keep genuinely important elements, a second subject, key background context, closer to center even in wide shots, accepting a slightly less dynamic horizontal composition in exchange for a vertical crop that still actually works.
- Frame wider than the final horizontal delivery needs, to protect a center crop
- Keep critical elements away from the far left and right edges
- Some shots genuinely need to be captured twice, plan for it rather than forcing one frame
When one frame genuinely can't serve both
For a small number of hero shots where both orientations need to be individually strong rather than one being a compromise crop of the other, I've stopped trying to force a single frame to do both jobs and instead plan two distinct setups when time allows. Knowing which shots actually need that extra effort versus which ones a smart center crop handles fine is its own skill, and it's saved real time by not over-engineering shots that never needed two separate setups in the first place.