Week 4 Session: Distance, Height and Framing Lab

Compare camera distance, height and crop on the same person, then identify which combination looks most natural to the subject.

SLOP1810WEEK 0415 March 2027

Before the session#

Bring a phone or camera and wear clothing that makes the outline of the torso and legs easy to compare. Enable grid lines. If the device has several optical focal lengths, know how to switch between them without using digital zoom by accident.

In the session#

1. Distance test#

Make a close portrait from too near, then step back and recover a similar crop with a longer optical view or by leaving more space around the person. Compare nose, ears, jaw and the overall feeling of recognition.

2. Height test#

Keep the subject and background fixed. Make full-body portraits from a high, eye-level and waist-level camera position. Keep one version level and make one deliberately tilted version. Compare head size, leg length and stance.

3. Framing test#

Produce one full-body, one half-body and one close-up portrait. Scan all four edges and avoid cutting unintentionally through ankles, knees, elbows or wrists.

4. Subject selection#

The subject chooses the frame that looks most like them before the photographer shares a preference. Discuss the visible reason for agreement or disagreement.

Afterwards#

Submit a nine-frame contact sheet labelled with distance, camera height and framing. Add three short conclusions:

1. the position that produced the most natural face;
2. the position that produced the preferred full-body proportion; and
3. one deliberately distorted version that could still work for a specific style.

The strongest result is not automatically the longest legs or the blurriest background. It is the frame whose proportion supports how the subject wants to be seen.