Photography Scales…

I have found one of the most important things to do when photographing any Artefacts or objects, is to use a scale, and not just because the academics say so, the scale could be a common every day coin for size comparison, but there are several methods of measuring the scale of the items, from using a wooden or perspex ruler, a piece of paper with an accurate measurement could also be used, but to be more precise try using something dedicated to provide a scale for the viewer to gauge the size of the object that has been photographed, instead of using the crime scene version which seems to be the most popular, i chose to go with a full A4 Photography Scale, which is sold by a company called Wizthings, who operate on Amazon, and what a brilliant piece of kit, this photography scale provides a fast easy & reliable way of recording the image & dimensions of many small or large objects, you can accurately record your collections consistently with professional results, the scale itself has a fine precision printed grid background, which provides a good advantage over other types of scales, any amount of objects can be placed on the grid lines, which provides the viewer with a clearer image instantly, providing greater precision on determining the size of the artefact placed on the scale, so at a glance when a subject that has a complex shape the information is there provided by the grid line, whereas using the crime scene “right angle” you only get an overall size of the object… Wizthings make a few different sizes of board, prices start from about twelve pounds to twenty-two pounds plus delivery, their biggest one called Wizthings Photographic Scale ASC3, is about the size of A4, & this is the one i use, they are made with a durable surface which is also supposed to be anti-glare on an aluminium base, & are very easy to carry around with an actual size of 200mm x 300mm…

whilst using mine i have noticed that you need side & or low-level lighting, & not overhead lighting, and disable the flash otherwise you might get a white spot on the board… Apart from shadows, the overhead lighting sometimes provides you with a yellowish photo, which does not reproduce the object in its true form, also go for the daylight bulbs, these are the best ones to use or failing that go for some LED’s and light the area with these, these LED’s are cost-effective & can be purchased from the bay of thieves… as can be seen from below anybody viewing the photos below can see this spoon in detail and its size…