How to judge size and scale in your photos

When you’re charting your children’s lives and their progress–emotionally and physically–you might want to gauge exactly how much they have grown. To do this, it is helpful to call on tools to showcase scale and size.

To translate the moment into something where the size of your child is clearly noted, you can bring in elements of comparative context. These don’t necessarily need to be contrived props. Using the elements and object of daily life can make for easily accessible size comparisons and can also give your story a context.

Thresholds

Doorjambs, thresholds, and hallways offer easy to find, simple to use backdrops. If you can capture your child in a shot that’s almost floor-to-ceiling, the context of size is unmistakable. The graphic lines of the architecture can also be used to enhance the overall composition of your shot and be used to frame your small subject. The same goes for the inclusion of furniture. Whether it’s a child- sized chair or a large couch, the context of child to furniture can be just the reference point you need to better show the scale of your story.

Hallways

Hallways are often dark and hard to shoot in, but the confined space gives a good sense of scale. In order to make the most out of the situation, try opening all of the doors that open onto your hallway and all of the blinds and curtains in those rooms. You might need to increase the ISO of your camera, too!
In Elevate the Everyday, Tracey Clark shows how each day of our lives is full of potential for great photography. Focusing on the moments that are most precious to us, she offers a host of inspirational ideas enabling the reader’s photographic achievements to grow, turning the incidents in a family’s life – arrivals, departures, childhood, and parties – into beautiful, captivating images that will stand the test of time. Most of all, learn to turn the ordinary and everyday into the extraordinary with this unique guide to picturing motherhood.

Elevate the Everyday
Tracey Clark
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RRP for print edition: £17.99