Representing Scale - For Photography and Photographers

Representing Scale

Placing something, or someone, of a known size in your composition can help show the size of the unfamiliar things in your composition.

Frequently when you visit places you have seen only in pictures before, you are surprised that they are so much bigger or smaller than you had expected. A photograph can fit a mile-high mountain into a frame, of course - and without knowing the subject's exact distance and the focal length of the lens used, the exact size of any subject can be only a matter of conjecture. Few people will realise the extent of the Grand Canyon, for instance, if they have not seen it for themselves. It is very easy, however, to give the people who see your holiday pictures a better idea of scale - particularly when visiting a landmark that appears particularly large.

The way to do this is to include something within the frame of a recognisable size - a human figure is the most obvious choice. The scale object must be close to the main subject, however - otherwise variations in perspective make it almost impossible to use accurately.

Leading the eye

Natural paths can be used as the spine for your photograph - linking the different elements together, and leading the viewer through the composition.

Tracks, roads, pathways, rivers and railways - thoroughfares both natural and manmade are important compositional devices in photography. Their straight lines can be found in practically every landscape, and lead to every monument. Their appeal is the way in which they can guide the viewer's eye. When people look at a photograph, their eyes do not remain fixed: they flit from point to point, scanning for things of interest. A line connecting the foreground to the background in a landscape or drawing you to the main subject of your shot - then acts as a route for the viewer to follow (subconsciously) through the picture. These routes are, of course, an excellent way of adding linear perspective and diagonal lines to your composition.

Frames in frames

Natural frames allow you to change the effective shape of your pictures, as well as helping you to lose the crowds and to add a feeling of depth to your shots

A camera provides an artificial border to your pictures, and whilst this format might be made to suit most subjects, it won't work with all of them. Often you are faced with having a bland foreground in the shot, because the subject does not fill it well enough. One way of avoiding this is by using a natural frame - such as an archway, or a gap between two trees, which will create a secondary window within which to compose your picture. Once you start looking, you will find that most scenes can be framed in this way.

This compositional approach has other advantages too. In busy tourist places, it can often be a good way of losing the crowds from the foreground of a picture. The technique also provides a way of adding depth to a picture - which is particularly useful when photographing the flat front of a building.

Source : Ezinearticles