How does one show a sense of scale when photographing animals? It’s quite tough for a viewer to sometimes judge how big or small an animal is just by looking at a photograph. Photographing the subject with another object that is larger or smaller is a good start. I often like to photograph youngsters with their mother or another adult close by, to show just how small they are. Have a look at the two photos below, which gives the viewer a sense of just how small the rhino and elephant calves are.

Notice that I cut a lot of the adult off and really focused just on the calves. An entire image of the adult is not necessary, but rather just enough to show the size difference.

Another method is by going much wider than the photos displayed above. To show the immense size of an elephant or the towering height of a giraffe, I like to photograph them close to a large tree, with other smaller animals or even just a landscape photo with the subject. This enables the viewer to get a true sense of the size of these large beasts in relation to their surroundings.

Go on, try something different!

Pravir Patel