exposure Archives - DIY Photography

It’s not a triangle: it’s the exposure quadrangle

October 8, 2018 by Edward Crim 2 Comments

The Exposure Triangle; you’ve heard of it, I’m sure. It’s fabled in story and song and celebrated by photo instructors everywhere. We can even buy t-shirts commemorating the concept! There have been countless articles written about the “exposure triangle” (try a web search and see for yourself), all with the intent of helping newcomers to photography figure out how exposure works in their cameras.

Some of these articles are obscure and pedantic and, as my friend Shaw would put it, indulge in technobabble to impress the reader with the writer’s expertise. Others make a sincere effort to communicate important information to the reader, but all of them fail to acknowledge that beyond ISO, aperture and shutter speed, there is a fourth part of the exposure equation, the part without which there would be no exposure at all; and that part is light.[Read More…]

This in-depth beginners guide shows everything you need to know about manual exposure

September 17, 2018 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Manual exposure. It’s probably the scariest term out there for new camera owners. Stepping out of automatic or semi-automatic exposure modes for the first time can be a daunting task. When you’ve only ever shot in the automatic modes, understanding the manual and the exposure triangle can be difficult to wrap your head around.

Well, this 26-minute video from photographer Sean Tucker should help to demystify it for you. He goes in-depth to break everything down to the basic fundamental principles. He explains what each of the three settings means, how they function, and how they all work together to create a good exposure.

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These are the most annoying ways to ask photographers to work for free

September 5, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 3 Comments

There are some annoying sentences that photographers, filmmakers, and other creatives hear way too often. And among them, there are plenty of excuses people will use to ask them to work for free. In this amusing video, comedian Tanya Hennessy acts them out in a pretty hilarious way. It’s funny enough not to make you blow your top when you hear them for who knows which time in your life.

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Understanding the exposure triangle with a little help from Star Wars Lego

August 7, 2018 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Understanding exposure is vital if you want to make informed decisions about your photography. And specifically understanding the exposure triangle. The relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed. It’s a delicate balance that newer photographers can often struggle with. But let Aaron Nace guide you through it in these videos with a little assistance from Star Wars Lego.

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25 essential terms that every photographer must know

June 19, 2018 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Getting used to the sheer number of technical terms and numbers in photography can be pretty overwhelming for beginners. There are a lot of them out there. But you don’t really need to know about all of them from day one. But there are some that you’ll want to learn and understand first.

You’ll hear these terms quite often if you hang around other photographers or partake in any of the photography groups on Facebook. They might confuse you at first, but this video from Apalapse goes through 25 of the most important and breaks down exactly what they mean.

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How to set a great exposure when shooting video

May 28, 2018 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Getting exposure for video isn’t all that much different from getting a good exposure with photography. The only real difference is that neutral density filters are more commonly used with video than they are with stills, so they need to be taken into account more regularly. So, the exposure triangle becomes a square. Well, a trapezoid, really. Shutter speed, aperture, gain (rather than ISO), and neutral density.

In this video, Chris and Jordan from DPReview delve into the topic of video exposure. They discuss the things you need to know to understand the exposure relationship, the difference between T stops and F stops, the 180° shutter rule, and everything else that goes into getting a good exposure for your shot.

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What is middle grey and why does it even matter?

April 5, 2018 by John Aldred 1 Comment

Middle grey is a term we often hear mentioned when it comes to exposure for both photography and video. But exactly what “middle grey” means often causes heated debates. So, what is middle grey? And why is it important?

As a follow up to a recent post going into the science of exposure and metering, John Hess at Filmmaker IQ goes into depth into the meaning of middle grey. He explains why different people have different numbers for what middle grey is, and why it’s important to know the difference.

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How scopes will help you to get the perfect exposure every time

February 6, 2018 by John Aldred 2 Comments

There are so many options for exposure tools available to us these days. Gone are the days of having to guestimate with the Sunny 16 and similar rules. Now we can know with almost absolute certainty that we’ll get the shot we want before we’ve even hit the shutter or started recording video. This video from Matti at TravelFeels shows us several ways that our cameras and other devices can help us get perfect exposure every time.

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