Proportions

    One of the most difficult parts of Photography to teach successfully is "Proportions"....Yet it comes into play in EVERY photo.

 

    Proportions is the relationship of Width to Height.

 

    First, let me say that width is always stated first....An 8"X10" photo is one that is 8" wide and 10" tall. This is a "vertical" format. (Taller than it is wide).

 

    An 8"X10" photo that is horizontal is correctly expressed as a 10"X8" photo. They are the same number of square inches, but one in an "up and down" photo and the other is a "sidewaya" photo, to use street language.

 

    Always expressing the width first will solve the problem as to which it is, Vertical or Horizontal.

 

    Now, what happens when you change sizes? Say you now want a 5"X7" photo. What is the difference between it and an 8"X10"?

 

    First, the area of a 5"X7" photo is much smaller than an 8"X10". Both are vertical, but there are two major differences.

 

    First, the size is 5x7 or 35 sq. inches in the 5"X7". The 8"X10" photo is 8x10 or 80 sq. inches. (more than double the size of the 5"X7").

 

    Second, the 8"X10" is "fatter" (wider) in relation to the "taller" (narrower) 5"X7" photo, PROPORTIONATELY.

 

    To explain this clearer, say you had an 8"X10" photo and a 1"X10" photo. The 1" wide photo is more like a soda straw than is the 8" wide photo. That is because the PROPORTIONS are different. There is no way to fill an 8"X0" area with a 1"X10" photo.

 

    There is then, no way to make a 5"X7" photo fit an 8"X10" frame....that is, without a mat to fill up the difference. Here, both the size and the proportions are different.

 

    Now, when you start to take a photo....first decide does it need to be horizontal or vertical? A mountain scene might need to be horizontal and a flagpole, vertical.

 

    An alligator horizontal and a tall, pretty girl in a bathing suit, vertical.

 

    Photos can be any size and shape, but the proportions need to be considered when placing on a wall or in an album. Is the wall area most conducive to a tall or wide photo? Will a vertical photo look right alongside an existing horizontal photo. All these are "Proportion" questions.

 

    Now, enlarging or reducing the size of a photo brings on a different type of proportional consideration.

 

    The"Proportions" of a 4"X5" photo, an 8"X10" photo, and a 16"X20" photo are all identical. That's because if you multiply or divide both sides of any of them by the same number, you can eventually make all the same.

 

    Multiply both sides of the 4"X5" by 2 and you get an 8"X10". Do that to the 8"X10" and you get a 16"X20".

 

    For instance, then, you CANNOT make 5"X7" photo out of any of the above without cutting off or adding to some of it....because the PROPORTIONS are different. The relationship of the width to the height is different. In street language, the "SHAPE" of a 5"X7" is proportionately different than the others. An 8"X10" might be called "fatter" and 5"X7" might be referred to as "skinnier", when their "shapes" are compared to each other.