# Photography Basics - Perspective



## Sylvanite (May 5, 2014)

"Age does not bring wisdom, but it does give perspective" - _Robert Heinlein_.

Although I like the quote, it has nothing to do with this topic.  No, I'm going to talk about _photographic_ perspective.  Here are a few demonstrative pictures:







The above photo was taken with the camera very close to the pen (six inches or less).  Notice how big the nosecone looks compared to the finial, and how much longer the lower barrel looks than the upper barrel.






I shot the second picture from about eight feet away.  See how the pen looks fat and stubby.  The lower barrel appears short for a cigar-style pen.






And for the third photograph, I placed the camera about two and a half feet from the pen.  Now the proportions of the pen look much more natural.  The lower barrel is visibly longer than the upper barrel and the other components look normal.

Photographers call this phenomenon "foreshortening", which literally means "shortening of the foreground".  Many people say it is caused by the focal length of the lens used, but it is really just a matter of distance between the camera and the subject.

So, what is the right amount of foreshortening?  The answer to that is "however much you want", but I usually like my pen pictures to match how the pen looks in person.  Given that I typically hold a pen in my hand to look at it, I generally take pen photos from the same distance.  For me, that's around 2 to 2 1/2 feet.

When I'm setting up equipment to photograph a pen, I first lay out the pen and props (if any); arrange the lights; and then position the camera.  As I just mentioned, I most often put it between 2 and 2.5 feet away.  Then I'll choose the focal length (either by picking a fixed length lens, or by using a zoom lens) that frames the pen appropriately.

The exact focal length isn't particularly important.  It will vary depending on the size of the pen, the composition of the photograph, and (particularly) the size of the camera's sensor.  Changing the focal length doesn't alter the perspective - just the magnification.

I hope that is helpful,
Eric


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## WalkOn (May 5, 2014)

Thanks Eric, very interesting. I've done some photography, i.e. family gatherings/holidays, filming my son's high school football/lacrosse games, but nothing like pen photography.  I'm just getting started with pens, so reading your post was very helpful.

Thanks, Kev


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## BSea (May 5, 2014)

That's a great tip.  It really does make a great deal of difference, and I'd never have looked at that in my photos.


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## JohnGreco (May 5, 2014)

Great info that I was completely unaware of!


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## benjamingc (May 19, 2014)

so helpful! thank you!!


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## pendrijo (Aug 26, 2014)

Very much helpful info, thanks


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