Objects for scale in photos

September 4, 2020 12:24 PM

What objects are used to show scale in photos (like putting a hailstone next to a coin)? I'm interested in examples that are standard for a given field of study -- e.g. in geology, a rock hammer -- and in unusual, extreme, clever or interesting examples.
posted by LobsterMitten to Science & Nature (23 answers total)

Can't not answer with Banana For Scale!
posted by Perplexity at 12:30 PM on September 4, 2020 [15 favorites]

Currency is a big one, coins and bills. A ruler, of course. In the everyday carry world, it's common to post a picture of something next to a Zippo lighter to show scale. And dedicated photo cubes are a thing.
posted by box at 12:41 PM on September 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

I hate that I know this, but it sure seems like a lot of guys include beer cans or cans they find in the bathroom (shaving cream, hairspray, etc.) for their dick pics.

does that count as unusual, extreme, clever, or interesting? Mods, please delete if not.
posted by Fuego at 12:44 PM on September 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

I'm a goldsmith, and we have a few I feel!

objects will quite often be photographed being measured in calipers which are pretty standard in construction, so they're a good reference, plus they provide the actual measurement simultaneously.

Also sometimes stones are held in "slide lock" tweezers like this, which aren't really a standard size, but almost everyone I've ever seen uses ones that all look alike anyways, so it kind of works, and while it's not explicity for scale, I think it does give a familiar reference point right away.

Sometimes loose stones will be photographed with a 1-carat equivalent cubic zirconia next to them, because most jewellery professionals will be really familiar with the size of a 1 carat diamond.

However, if I'm sending to a customer, I use a coin. In canada cash money is really unpopular the last few years, so I stick to quarters and loonies because stores need them for unlocking carts and such so most people still keep them around. I honestly feel like some people (myself included) are no longer intimately familiar with the size of a dime!
posted by euphoria066 at 12:51 PM on September 4, 2020

A quarter is customary.
posted by Freyja at 1:06 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

For terrain roughness classification, I've worked with meteorologists and acousticians who have independently and deliberately taken pictures of the ground with their foot in it.
posted by scruss at 1:15 PM on September 4, 2020

A fork or spoon are almost always included in food photos (desserts especially can be hard to judge without some frame of reference).
posted by mdrew at 1:33 PM on September 4, 2020

People
Blue whale, sports field
posted by BoscosMom at 1:36 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

As part of an online Buy Nothing group where people are often posting photos of stuff to give away, I often see a baby or pet that inadvertently walked into the photo. The poster usually adds in, humorously, "child [or dog] for scale."
posted by hydra77 at 2:01 PM on September 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

A geologist’s hammer is traditionally used for scale in photos of sediment layers, fossils, and other structures (and sometimes children).
posted by theory at 2:02 PM on September 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Leakey Foundation, which funds anthropological/archaeological research on human origins, gives out promotional scale cards - I keep mine in my wallet, and have used it when photographing skeletal material in museum collections.
posted by ChuraChura at 2:20 PM on September 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

I have used a Bic pen that was handy.
posted by theora55 at 2:36 PM on September 4, 2020

In my experience of undergrad archaeology, you get a lot of slide lectures covering architecture, sculpture, monumental sites and the like with a “tourist for scale.” It’s something of a joke, in that it lets the lecturer use their own candid personal snaps as course fodder, but often it can be truly helpful to appreciate the scale of a thing.
posted by mumkin at 2:39 PM on September 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

The picture of a giant zucchini with "frightened corgis for scale" always cracks me up.
posted by DrGail at 2:44 PM on September 4, 2020 [7 favorites]

From r/notinteresting: My Chinese to-go box is plain white with no decorations. Cashew for scale (cashew was a little small so I included a snow pea so you would know how big the cashew is. Snow pea is large for a snow pea).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:59 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

In aerospace / military electronics, for a long time, it was a pack of cigarettes.
posted by nickggully at 4:35 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

In child protective services, we use these right angle rulers to measure injuries when photographing them. If we don’t have one handy, standardized Items like a quarter, a Bic pen or a dollar bill can substitute in a pinch.
posted by purenitrous at 6:44 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

I will never not adore this National Geographic entry on a pufferfish that shows its size in comparison to a teacup:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/group/pufferfish/
I think a teacup should be used in all visualizations for scale.
posted by pie_seven at 7:30 PM on September 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

For terrain roughness classification, I've worked with meteorologists and acousticians who have independently and deliberately taken pictures of the ground with their foot in it.

I see some photos with feet in them, but in my work most often people use their field notebook (typically something standard like a Rite in the Rain #373) to give a size reference for photos of sediment, plants, or other close up photos where scale is needed.

For photos at a distance, having a person in them for scale is ideal.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:45 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Field notebooks in geology often have a ruled edge for scale. Or if you know you are doing a lot of field work, you would bring a ruler. Ad-hoc, it's foot, hand, pen, camera lens cap, or coin.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 2:05 AM on September 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I often put my wife in a shot, and she positions herself to be anonymous.

Roadside marker pegs are useful as they're equally spaced and the same height.

Yep, I use my shoe (340mm) a lot, very useful to show stair tread depth. Worth knowing all ones body dimensions, saves carrying a ruler!

A lot of my site shots have a clipboard in.

Oh, and with houses I always measure a brick/block and the mortar dimension, then I can scale wall areas. Very useful for 'driveby designs'.
posted by unearthed at 2:45 AM on September 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

In my local Buy Nothing group, a bottle of hot sauce is customary and expected for showing the size of items.
posted by Liesl at 5:49 AM on September 5, 2020 [4 favorites]

We photocopy a ruler so that we can more easily drape the paper over curved surfaces.
posted by trialex at 3:19 PM on September 6, 2020