|
 | 
27-11-2006, 05:47 PM
|  | Dame Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North Kent
Posts: 6,151
| | | Size matters
Hi. I just wondered whether anyone has thought about adding sizes to their invertebrate photographs to help aid identification. The gallery is, I'm sure being studied and used for the purpose of id. Graham has done this already and I think it will give new members an insight into the relative size of these hugely detailed macro shots.I'm sure if members aren't sure of dimensions, others could step in and help.
Julie
__________________
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.:p |
27-11-2006, 06:46 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 4,959
| | | Re: Size matters
Julie, great, important, something I've always said ...... and then forgot to do when adding photos myself .... whoops! Will try harder - I assume I can go back and correct things? Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild-Woman  Hi. I just wondered whether anyone has thought about adding sizes to their invertebrate photographs to help aid identification. The gallery is, I'm sure being studied and used for the purpose of id. Graham has done this already and I think it will give new members an insight into the relative size of these hugely detailed macro shots.I'm sure if members aren't sure of dimensions, others could step in and help.
Julie | |
28-11-2006, 08:56 AM
|  | Frozen | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.E. Lincolnshire
Posts: 4,130
| | | Re: Size matters
Do we mean by sizes included with photos: The estimated size when we take a photo (for ID), or the size stated in a fieldguide (for info purposes)?
Either way the size can be variable depending on sex/cast or even feeding conditions (a bit like us!).. I admit, a rough size is better than nothing though..
Alan |
28-11-2006, 09:07 AM
|  | Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Nottingham
Posts: 11,463
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Do we mean by sizes included with photos: The estimated size when we take a photo (for ID), or the size stated in a fieldguide (for info purposes)?
Either way the size can be variable depending on sex/cast or even feeding conditions (a bit like us!).. I admit, a rough size is better than nothing though..
Alan | I'm just giving the sizes quoted in my guides. As you said, it's not exact but it's just to give an idea of scale especially to new viewers who have little or no idea of size of the creature they're viewing. |
28-11-2006, 09:20 AM
| | Frozen | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.E. Lincolnshire
Posts: 4,130
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by glsammy I'm just giving the sizes quoted in my guides. As you said, it's not exact but it's just to give an idea of scale especially to new viewers who have little or no idea of size of the creature they're viewing. | Yep, that makes sense Graham.
It always amuses me when you often look at illustrations (spiders being a good example) and they look like great big fat specimens, when in fact when you read further, they're often only a few mm in size!
Little Al  |
28-11-2006, 09:51 AM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 4,959
| | | Re: Size matters
Quite. I think you need just a rough guide: i.e. 'around 5 mms' rather than '4.96mms'. The main purpose, of course, of it is is to allow discrimination between species of (e.g.) 4-6 mms and 7-8mms. Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Do we mean by sizes included with photos: The estimated size when we take a photo (for ID), or the size stated in a fieldguide (for info purposes)?
Either way the size can be variable depending on sex/cast or even feeding conditions (a bit like us!).. I admit, a rough size is better than nothing though.. Alan | |
28-11-2006, 11:45 AM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Wirral
Posts: 1,932
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by glsammy I'm just giving the sizes quoted in my guides. As you said, it's not exact but it's just to give an idea of scale especially to new viewers who have little or no idea of size of the creature they're viewing. | I would suggest if the species is recognised then quote the size given in the wildlife guide book.
It would also help if the magnification of the image was indicated, e.g. taken at 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:3, 1:4, i.e. life size, half size, 1/3 or 1/4 life size. Jon
__________________
We may "see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower" William Blake |
28-11-2006, 11:46 AM
| | Dame Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North Kent
Posts: 6,151
| | | Re: Size matters
I was showing a non wildlife nutter friend of mine a picture I'd taken of a Migrant Hawker, that I'd printed out on A4. She gasped and said aren't they big and she thought that was the actual size!!!
Some people just have no concept of sizes sometimes.
__________________
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.:p |
28-11-2006, 11:51 AM
| | Frozen | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.E. Lincolnshire
Posts: 4,130
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild-Woman I was showing a non wildlife nutter friend of mine a picture I'd taken of a Migrant Hawker, that I'd printed out on A4. She gasped and said aren't they big and she thought that was the actual size!!!
Some people just have no concept of sizes sometimes. | Best not to show her A4 size pics of head lice then Julie |
28-11-2006, 04:03 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 3,562
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild-Woman I was showing a non wildlife nutter friend of mine a picture I'd taken of a Migrant Hawker, that I'd printed out on A4. She gasped and said aren't they big and she thought that was the actual size!!! | I wish they were Julie, that would just be awesome although it wouldn't do much for anyone who had a fear of insects would it! |
28-11-2006, 04:09 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 1,373
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild-Woman I was showing a non wildlife nutter friend of mine a picture I'd taken of a Migrant Hawker, that I'd printed out on A4. She gasped and said aren't they big and she thought that was the actual size!!!
Some people just have no concept of sizes sometimes. | It is frustrating in some ID books where you really can't tell the size of something, it seems pretty obvious to give a measurement. |
28-11-2006, 04:14 PM
| | Dame Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North Kent
Posts: 6,151
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fourwings I wish they were Julie, that would just be awesome although it wouldn't do much for anyone who had a fear of insects would it! | We need to step back a few million years when the BIG guys were hanging around. 
Imagine the nymphs! Wicked!
__________________
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.:p |
28-11-2006, 04:57 PM
| | Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Nottingham
Posts: 11,463
| | | Re: Size matters
I think I'll go back through my older shots and update the descriptions, time permitting. I'm lucky in the guide book I've got, it lists all the relevant sizes so the info is right there. I don't know why I didn't do it before. |
28-11-2006, 05:10 PM
| | Dame Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North Kent
Posts: 6,151
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by glsammy I think I'll go back through my older shots and update the descriptions, time permitting. I'm lucky in the guide book I've got, it lists all the relevant sizes so the info is right there. I don't know why I didn't do it before. | See you in a couple of weeks then.
__________________
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.:p |
29-11-2006, 09:04 AM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 4,959
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon It would also help if the magnification of the image was indicated, e.g. taken at 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:3, 1:4, i.e. life size, half size, 1/3 or 1/4 life size. Jon | I wonder how helpful this is? Some people might be able to adjust these things in their heads but for me it's necessary to get out the ruler ..... e.g. a picture at 2.5x life size, I get the ruler, measure the picture, divide by 5 and multiply by 2 .... far easier to say that the original was 5mms long?
And even worse the other way round - the screen size is 20cms, the insect was 4mms long therefore do the calculation and describe it as 50x. Surely easier just to say what the original length was?
.... and, of course, there are two screen sizes .... ! |
29-11-2006, 09:52 AM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Wirral
Posts: 1,932
| | | Re: Size matters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul mabbott I wonder how helpful this is? Some people might be able to adjust these things in their heads but for me it's necessary to get out the ruler ..... e.g. a picture at 2.5x life size, I get the ruler, measure the picture, divide by 5 and multiply by 2 .... far easier to say that the original was 5mms long?
And even worse the other way round - the screen size is 20cms, the insect was 4mms long therefore do the calculation and describe it as 50x. Surely easier just to say what the original length was?
.... and, of course, there are two screen sizes .... ! | Horses for courses Paul, I personally find it easy to relate to a photographic image that is 1:1 or 1:2, but on a screen I agree it would be useful if the size was given in mm Jon
__________________
We may "see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower" William Blake | |
| Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode |
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | |
|  » WAB Development Posts | |
No Threads to Display.
| » New Wildlife Posts | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Bee ID Yesterday 11:20 PM 2 Replies, 32 Views | » New Environment Posts | | | | | | | | | » New Community Posts | | | | | | | | | » New Activity Posts | | | | | | | | | |
