What make a tiny look tiny?

[Rosoca]

Hey so im planning on doing an Alice in wonderland photo shoot,
And im curious about, for you
What make you believe a woman is tiny in a photo or video? What tips and tricks do you have?
Im talking like having giant props, but do you have something specific? camera angles, specific shots you like, blurring the edges.
Or what other aspects should I consider or have in mind so it could work the best

[shrinky]

In my opinion, what matters most is the perspective of the 'viewer'. A lot of media attempts to make the subject look small by using a low angle shot (looking down at the tiny person) - but i think the opposite is more effective. Use high angle shots (where the camera is pointing upwards) - to make the environment look huge. Treat the camera as if it is the same size as the tiny person and depict the world they are in as huge. I think it's way more effective than setting the camera at the scale of a 'normal' person and looking down at the tiny subject.

[Queen Skadi]

Well giant props for starters, whether something is big or small is relevant to the objects in it's vicinity, a picture relies on context clues to give meaning to the other aspects.

That said photography tricks like low angle shots also help to sell the shot but the biggest thing that sells the perspective is scale is going to be the objects you surround yourself with.

And if you can't get props there is always photoshop and AI, just if you are using photoshop to edit yourself or others into a different scene pay attention to the lighting of the scene you are going be using and try to set up the lighting of the shot to match that, you can do some shadow work in photoshop and will probably have to but if you can set up the photo where the lighting already matches some what it will make it all that much easier to sell the shot.

[Little Sally]

I'd agree with most of the above suggestions regarding props and the scale of the background, but nothing works better than physical interaction between the subject and a giant. So if you're able to do 'handhelds' then why not try that.

Not sure how that would work with the Alice theme you mention (if you're sticking to the traditional story idea), but a fantasy based on it might be suitable.

Edit: I was thinking in photomanipulation terms (using Photoshop), but if it's an actual shoot without any collaging involved, that's going to be a whole lot more work. But you could still try for some giant hand/subject interaction, by using forced perspective. Which would be a good test of your camera skills, by getting the required depth of field and good focussing etc.

Good luck with it anyway.

[DocRick]

Little Sally is referring to "forced perspective", which is how the below images were created. You need a camera that is able to focus on one subject close up and another farther away.

[Little Sally]

Little Sally is referring to "forced perspective", which is how the below images were created. You need a camera that is able to focus on one subject close up and another farther away.

(images)

Quite correct Doc, and I did refer to forced perspective in my post.

And for the kind of depth of field that's required for these things, you need a very small aperture setting and (usually) a pretty slow shutter speed.
Which in turn will need a very steady hand or a tripod for best results, with preferably an SLR camera for accurate framing. Then (as you say) you focus on one subject and another one further away, and create the illusion you give examples of.

Good fun!

[DocRick]

Little Sally is referring to "forced perspective", which is how the below images were created. You need a camera that is able to focus on one subject close up and another farther away.

(images)

Quite correct Doc, and I did refer to forced perspective in my post.

And for the kind of depth of field that's required for these things, you need a very small aperture setting and (usually) a pretty slow shutter speed.
Which in turn will need a very steady hand or a tripod for best results, with preferably an SLR camera for accurate framing. Then (as you say) you focus on one subject and another one further away, and create the illusion you give examples of.

Good fun!

Sorry, I missed that in your post. That type of photography is WAY beyond my skill level. I'll stick to collaging.

[Prof Sai]

High angle and low angle can both work, given the right context. The reaction of the subject is important. If she is just standing there in a generic photo pose, I find that quite dull.

Forced perspective requires a wide depth of field, which can undermine one of the other cues of smallness - a very steep bokeh. If you have a subject that is not much larger than the camera lens, then you will find that backgrounds and foregrounds turn out of focus quickly. For example, anything that is one foot from the lens would be in focus, but eleven or thirteen inches would have noticeable blur.

There is a photo technique called Tilt Shift that can simulate this but getting it wrong just looks blurry and annoying.



In this image, note that the lens is a fairly wide angle, and yet the background is very blurred. For normal sized subjects, you'd need a telephoto lens to get this level of bokeh.

[Prof Sai]

Here is a _bad_ example of the tilt shift effect:



It doesn't work because the wrong things are blurred. The background behind the subject's faces is sharp, while their legs are heavily blurred. Bokeh is about distance from the lens, not position in the frame.

[Little Sally]

Little Sally is referring to "forced perspective", which is how the below images were created. You need a camera that is able to focus on one subject close up and another farther away.

(images)

Quite correct Doc, and I did refer to forced perspective in my post.

And for the kind of depth of field that's required for these things, you need a very small aperture setting and (usually) a pretty slow shutter speed.
Which in turn will need a very steady hand or a tripod for best results, with preferably an SLR camera for accurate framing. Then (as you say) you focus on one subject and another one further away, and create the illusion you give examples of.

Good fun!

Sorry, I missed that in your post. That type of photography is WAY beyond my skill level. I'll stick to collaging.

And you keep the flag flying for it. So all power to your (non AI) creative elbow!