No—there is nothing inherently wrong with portrait orientation, and it isn’t a rule that landscape should always be preferred.

Choose orientation based on the subject, composition, and intended display. Portrait orientation often suits a single person or other tall subjects well. Landscape orientation feels more natural to many viewers because human vision is wider than it is tall, and many display formats—monitors, movies, prints, and web layouts—are horizontal.

That presentation issue matters online: portrait images usually appear smaller on landscape-oriented screens, so they may show less visible detail at the same “full screen” viewing size. That can make them feel less impactful in some contexts, even when the composition is strong.

So the useful rule of thumb is not “always prefer landscape,” but “have a reason for the orientation you choose.” Landscape is often the default because it matches common viewing formats and our wider field of view, but portrait is equally valid when it better supports the subject or composition.