This is a short post about an interesting subject. Steve, over at http://photographyfree4all.wordpress.com/ blog, or see my blogroll at the right, posted an interesting article about showing scale in your landscape and scenic photos. He is so right in describing how necessary it is.
Here is one of my photos of Santa Elena Canyon, in Big Bend National Park. The canyon walls rise 1,500 feet and I wanted to show the scale in the photo. I was on a narrow trail on the north wall, about 100 feet above the Rio Grande River. I was trying to show a total view of the walls in the photo, so I needed to do a vertical shot. I needed that something to show scale, as Steve mentions. I noticed a hiker plodding along the shore below me. I waited until he walked into the frame, before snapping the photo. Here is the result, and you will see the tiny hiker down in the bottom left corner. Click on the image to enlargement.
Hiker in Santa Elena Canyon
It always amuses me, when I have this photo on display at art shows. People will notice the canyon walls first, then when they finally notice the hiker, it is like, WOW!, it blows their mind. But without the hiker, those grasses wouldnt look as large as they actually are.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 