WEEK 2

Theme 2: Photographic Triangle

Submit Assignment

• Due Jan 24 by 11:59pm
 
• Points 30
 
• Submitting a website url or a file upload

Task

Each week, post 6 photos that fit the weekly theme: 3 unedited, and a version of those 3 with edits made in Lightroom or Photoshop.  This week: The photographic triangle. Shoot a photo on manual, then adjust your ET up 3 EVs and your F-stop down 3 EVs and shoot again. Then adjust your ET down 3 EVs and your ISO up 3 EVs. Alternatively, just shoot 1 photo that shows the extreme effects of each triangle point (a motion blur photo, a DOF blur photo, and a grainy ISO photo)

Purpose

The photographic Triangle is is the means with which three factors (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) combine to lighten or darken a photographic exposure, each in their own way. They combine to make a universal unit of measurement called an Exposure Value (EV). Going up 1 EV means you DOUBLE the light. Going down -1 EV means you HALVE the light. 

• Aperture (aka f-stop): how "open" your camera is is open, thus letting in more light. 
• Exposure Time (aka ET, aka Shutter Speed aka SS aka exposure): how long your camera is open, thus letting light expose the photo for longer or shorter amounts of time. 
• ISO: how sensitive to light the hardware is. 

Criteria for Success

Successfully upload 3 photos unedited photos that fit the theme. This week you can skip LR edits, because we want 3 photos with IDENTICAL exposure, done THREE different ways! Actually look at your 3 photos. Do they look identical in overall exposure? If so, you did it correctly. 

Use jpegs unless otherwise stated in that week’s theme.

You can upload your files in a .zip or .7z. Additionally, if you have a Flickr account, website, or other online portal you’d prefer to use, post your photos there and turn in a URL as your assignment.

Use a subject that will actually show the benefits/flaws of each triangle point. Example: shoot inside by a window during mid-day, AKA not too bright and not too dark. Motion is also good, like karate chops or running water (the campus fountain, for instance). Use a tripod or have your camera sitting on something, so your shot is identical in all 3! And don't point at a wall; you need a long depth of field to show the difference between a wide and shallow aperture.

When in doubt, here's 3 settings that have identical exposure and fit the criteria:

• ET 1/15 sec, F-stop 11, ISO 800 (motion blurry due to ET)
• ET 1/125 sec, F-stop 4, ISO 800 (shallow depth of field due to F-stop)
• ET 1/125 sec, F-stop 11, ISO 6400 (noisy due to ISO)

Rubric

30 points total.

• 5 points for 3 unedited photos.
• 5 points for the edited versions of the 3 photos. This week in Lightroom, adjust the exposure up or down for one of them, right click > Copy Settings, and right click > Paste settings onto the other 2, so you have 3 photos with an identical edit. 

Knowledge & Skills

First off, try out Canon's interactive simulator! http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/

This assignment has us diving into Manual Mode, where we'll set custom values for ET, F-stop, and ISO. Any one of these can brighten or darken the image. Here's how to calculate each one:

Exposure time. 1 EV = double the time, -1 EV = half the time. So if your exposure was at 1/4 second and you wanted to go down -3EVs, that would be 1/8, 1/16, 1/32!

Aperture. This is how open/closed the your lens in, letting in more or less light. When the AREA of that circle is doubled, it's 1 EV, and when the AREA is halved, it's -1 EV. It's complicated, but essentially to go 1EV with F stop, it's your current F stop * 2root2, or about 1.4. Take enough photos, and you'll memorize these EVs for F stop: 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45, 64. 

ISO. This is the sensitivity of the photodiodes in your camera's image sensor, and increasing it can add a lot of yucky noise. 100 is the darkest, and then to brighten it, you just double it! So 3 EVs from ISO 100 would be 200, 400, 800!

Some other tips that are easily overlooked:

• Usually, 3 clicks on your camera wheel = 1 EV
• Sunny 16 rule: On a sunny day with aperture F16, your ISO and ET can both be 100 (technically 1/100 for ET.) From there, as long as your ISO and ET are the same, the exposure will be the same; go down 4 stops on ET to hit 1/1600, therefore go UP 4 stops on ISO to hit 1600. 
• Indoor 1600 rule: If I'm indoors, a good starting point in my experience is #1. do the Sunny 16, and #2. immediately set your ISO to 1600, or 4 stops higher. More ISO than that is usually too noisy, but you'll almost always need it at least at 1600 in brightness, or you'll experience problems compensating with your F stop and ET.
• Too many numbers? CHEAT! Although manual mode is ideal for pros, your camera can get you to a nice starting point. Set your camera to Auto, or better yet Creative Auto set to Brighter. Take a picture, hit play to chimp it, and hit Info to get the details. This will list a good starting point for your manual mode settings. 
• Hold the shutter down halfway and look through the viewfinder. See that little triangle on a graph? That's your camera's METER. It's giving you a robotic guess about whether it's too dark (the left side) or too bright (on the right side.) You can use this setting to determine if you need a brighter or darker exposure. 

For getting started with Lightroom: https://www.lynda.com/Lightroom-tutorials/Lightroom-CC-Essential-Training-2015/383035-2.html (Links to an external site.)

For getting started with Photoshop: https://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Photoshop-CC-2017-Photographers/517324-2.html (Links to an external site.)

Are you using a Canon? A Nikon? A Sony? There are hardware-specific tutorials that match your exact camera. On the Software side panel, you can sort by manufacturer. https://www.lynda.com/Cameras-Gear-training-tutorials/71-0.html