Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale

So I have been a bit slack with the blog this past 2 weeks.  Sorry! Have been busy at work and took a bit of a hiatus….Catching up now – Last week’s Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post prompted us to post an image to show Scale.  Often one of the hardest things in Travel Photography is to show scale in an image.  How many times have you said to people “…the picture just doesn’t show how huge {insert place/object} is! I can’t describe the size of it!”

Put a Person In It

One of the easiest ways to display the scale of an object to your viewer is to include a human element (as in show someone standing next to your object).  If you are say taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, look for an angle that you can shoot to show the people at the base of the tower waiting to go up.  This will help to describe the size of the tower.

It is hard to describe to people the size of the Angel of the North in Gateshead, England. So including a human element can help to give some perspective to the image.

It is hard to describe to people the size of the Angel of the North in Gateshead, England. So including a human element can help to give some perspective to the image.

The magnificent Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead, England – standing to the side of the A1 motorway it is hard to miss this monolithic sculpture.  Standing 20 metres high and with a wingspan of 54 metres (bigger than a 767 jumbo jet!).  The combined weight of the body and wings is over 200 tonnes.  All that is impressive but it is not until you see the tiny size of my darling wife at the base of the tower that you can get an idea of the size of this sculpture.

Worth a stop if you are making the trip along the A1 we stopped in on our way from Newcastle upon Tyne to Windsor.

Paris - a "small" city in France. No better way to take in the scale of the city and the density of the buildings than on the viewing deck of the Eiffel Tower.

Paris – a “small” city in France. No better way to take in the scale of the city and the density of the buildings than on the viewing deck of the Eiffel Tower.

Get High

Another fabulous way of taking in the scale of a city is to get above it.  No better way to appreciate the size and density of a city than to get atop the highest building or tower.  I know the Eiffel Tower is the “touristy” thing to do in Paris, but it is seriously one of the largest/tallest things in the city so you would be hard pressed to find a better view.  Paris is often a city that scares the new traveller – foreign language strange street layouts and possibly confusing transport system – but once you get it worked out there is so much to find in this city.  Don’t let the scale of the place scare you.

Stay tuned I am almost finished my two part post on Paris – a friend is visiting later this year and wanted my thoughts on where to go and what to do, so I have put together a bit of a travel guide (not going to win any awards for literature but will give you Just My basics!)

What is your definition of scale?  Feel free to leave me a comment below – how do you like to show scale in your travel photography?

Category : General Travel Musings, Paris, Photography
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