I know this is one that's probably kept a lot of us awake all night. I've know I've certainly lost nights of sleep over it. Ok that's not true at all, but it is something I've often wondered. Are posts better received with the first image posted in landscape or portrait?
I'm sure we all know that the thumbnail on the post is a preview of the first image posted, so I've been trying to post landscape orientated images to keep the aspect ratio correct and show the full image in the preview.
Now comes the dilemma, is it a good thing to show all the image at first or is it better to post landscape so the thumbnail is a crop that might make the viewer click in to see more?
I've deliberate posted a portrait image here to illustrate the point. The preview will show part of the image which may be a good thing. I've seen a lot of very successful posts which do this. Even myself, I've often clicked into posts because I seen part of the image in the thumbnail and wanted to see what was going on it the full image.
Then again if I'd posted the below image then it would have shown up in full in the thumbnail.
Maybe the answer is it doesn't matter. I don't really know if there is an answer as everyone will likely have a different take on it.
I definitely believe the content of the post matters more, but I'd be curious to hear other peoples thoughts on it. Does it matter to you if the thumbnail is a cropped image that doesn't show all or do you even prefer it that way?
These shots are of the lovely Jessie Byrne taken a few years back at a fun shoot in an abandoned factory in Arklow, Ireland.