Factors of size representation – The shooting distance

You are here: Nature Science Photography – Image creation, Depth and Size – Photographic size mapping

As we have seen in the previous chapter, the object sizes in photography depend on the focal length and the shooting distance. Doubling the focal length at a given distance also doubles the image size. With the telephoto lens, we can enlarge distant parts of the subject to fill the format, or with the wide-angle lens, we can depict them from the same point of view as part of the whole. Conversely, if we halve the shooting distance for a given focal length, the image size is doubled (compare figures Scale of reproduction 1, 2 and 3). However, we become really creative by changing the shooting distance in addition to the focal length, as already indicated in the section How we can control the spatial representation in the image – Viewing angle. Let’s look at the images of that chapter from this creative point of view.


The plank standing in front, serving as a fence post, is our main motif and should appear accordingly large in the picture. All other elements should provide a background and mood. We take the first variant with a 50 mm normal lens (figure 44). In it, the background appears in a certain size relation to the main subject. If you dislike this ratio and want to make the background larger without reducing the size of the main subject, simply double the focal length and move away until the plank is as large as before. A grid in the viewfinder makes this size adjustment easier. Figure 45 shows the result with 105 mm focal length. If you want to see the background smaller in relation to the main subject, halve the focal length and move in until the main subject again fills the same number of boxes on the focusing screen. All elements are now shown smaller without the plank having lost its prominence. Figure 43 is the corresponding image with a slightly downward rounded 24 mm focal length. In all cases, the image scale of the main subject remains the same, but the size relationship to the background has permanently changed.

The shooting location determines the proportions of the different parts of the subject in relation to each other.

With the right combination of focal length and shooting distance, we determine the proportions between the main subject and its background and make the space between them appear wider or narrower. Wide-angle lenses, in contrast to a normal lens, make objects far away in the background appear too small in relation to those in the foreground, exaggerating the perspective effect of the decrease in size toward the background. Telephoto lenses, conversely, shorten the apparent distances between objects at different distances. This provides us with a potent and user-friendly method to manipulate the image’s proportions in accordance with our ideas, all while maintaining the chosen perspective.

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