Insight please on length short quandary

**bunzfan** · November 23rd, 2013, 08:50 AM

Ok this is driving me slightly crazy if i take length pictures i have always used the top shelf of my bookcase to rest my camera on and it seemed like my hair grew but not that much but all of a sudden i asked my eldest son to take my pictures and now it looks way longer like a good inch or two longer and this has been since the summer.

The shelf i put the camera on is around nose level but my son is a good few inches taller than me (5ft)and over the summer when ever he takes the pics i can see growth but if i take my own it never looks like it's grown ...thoughts??

**Madora** · November 23rd, 2013, 10:29 AM

It all depends on at what height the camera is held.

**bunzfan** · November 23rd, 2013, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Madora

It all depends on at what height the camera is held.

Thanks Madora my son is taller than me where as the shelf i had been putting it on is shorter .

**Madora** · November 23rd, 2013, 10:39 AM

Perhaps your son could squat just a smidgen (to be the same height as the shelf?)

Also, the distance to subject thingie plays an important part.

**bunzfan** · November 23rd, 2013, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by Madora

Perhaps your son could squat just a smidgen (to be the same height as the shelf?)

Also, the distance to subject thingie plays an important part.

Ah i could try that yes

i think he also zooms in a bit .

**jeanniet** · November 23rd, 2013, 11:44 AM

If the shelf is taking the pictures straight on, and your son is aiming at an angle, his pictures will make your hair look longer. This happens in selfies, too. Aiming the camera downward distorts length, sometimes not enough to be obvious distortion, but enough to change the length. It may help if you tie something around your natural waist, or set your hands there. Then at least you have a marker.

**bunzfan** · November 23rd, 2013, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by jeanniet

If the shelf is taking the pictures straight on, and your son is aiming at an angle, his pictures will make your hair look longer. This happens in selfies, too. Aiming the camera downward distorts length, sometimes not enough to be obvious distortion, but enough to change the length. It may help if you tie something around your natural waist, or set your hands there. Then at least you have a marker.

Thank you, yes from the shelf it is straight on when he took one the other day there wasn't such a massive difference so maybe he had been pointing the camera down. Also i have been using cones recently so my hair is much thinner and straighter than normal hence looking longer maybe.

**Merlin** · November 23rd, 2013, 11:59 AM

For the most accurate image you'd want the centre of the lens level with the midpoint of your height - that way you are as close to vertical as possible and you should get little or no distortion due to camera angle - though you need to make sure that the lens isn't zoomed either in or out as that is going to distort the image one way or another too. Get a tripod, you should be able to find a cheap one somewhere like Ebay for comfortably under a tenner, and then set that to put your camera lens at 50% of your height...then always shoot at that height.

**bunzfan** · November 23rd, 2013, 12:23 PM

Thank you Merlin i think you are right i have a mini tripod somewhere, i tried standing it on a few books so its not quite as low and its a more accurate length then i tried putting it on top of the book case and it looked inches longer so possibly he was pointing the camera down as he is taller than me ..i will hunt the tripod out also he has taken pictures on days when my hair is pretty straight for me as a wavy that can add inches to the length.