Proportion and Compression

By Peter Thoeny, one of our Digital Photo Academy instructors in San Francisco.

Ask, what size should the subject be in a scene? 

Ask, how is the compression of a long lens perceived?

Example: Ask, what size should the subject be in a scene? Tiny people, highlighting the vast landscape, and big mountain

Example: “Yan Can Cook, So Can You!” – people and mood are the focus, thus cover most of the scene. Taken with Canon 50mm f0.95 “Dream Lens”

Example: Compression: The compression of a long lens causes the foreground and background to appear closer together in an image than they do in real life.  Traffic appears to be coming out of nowhere – thoughts of long road trips in California

Example: Compression: Long road trips in California – thoughts of Easy Riders

Example: Compression: People in old Japan living close to each other

Example: Compression: Colonial world with dominant colonialists, and natives, living in a cramped space; Grand Lisboa in background

Example: Compression: Moon with starting eclipse appears big over Lick Observatory, 10 miles away.  Taken with 900mm lens from Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve, located above the Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area

Example: Compression: Moon with starting eclipse appears to be even bigger over Lick Observatory, 12 miles away. Taken with 900mm lens from Telegraph Hill, located in San Jose, San Francisco Bay Area

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography, http://bit.ly/qualityHDR

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