The Legendary Three Elements of Exposure

The Legendary Three Elements of Exposure

Legend has it that the first camera was forged in the ancient volcanic caves of mount Fuji . The three tribes Iso, shutti and iris were living in peace and joined forces to control over exposure and maximized dynamic range. But the volcano gods felt this was too great a power for only a few elite photographer tribes and Mount fuji erupted and consumer cameras flooded the market lowering the premium rates and putting cameras in the hands of Uncle's and nephews accross the world.

Now we study these elements to due away with automatic exposure and better the quality of our work

Jokes aside.

The Three elements of exposure or “The Exposure Triangle” consists of Shutter speed , Aperture and ISO.

Shutter speed

There is a mechanical shutter in most cameras that opens and closes to alow light to a hit the sensor for dialed in amount of time. It opens up allowing light and then closes stopping the light. This can determine the amount of motion blur in an image. Before you go jacking up your shutter speed to 1/8000 I want to remind you that you wont always need a fast shutter and sometimes a slow shutter can be used to tell your story creativly or create really cool effects like Shutter Drag. You can also use a slow shutter to capture motion in a single image called a long exposure. you can also create an illusion of frozen time.

Photographer: Danny Graham

Aperture

Apeture which we cover here. Is the size opening of the mechanical blades within a lens that allow how much light passes through it. This is partly responsible for your depth of field.

Photographer: Danny Graham

ISO

Iso (International Standards Organization) or what used to be ASA (American Standards Association) is a tricky one. Its the sensitivity of your film or sensor. I reccomend you learn the limitations of your cameras ISO becauase this can greatly increase the amount of digital noise on your camera and using film you’ll produce a much grainier image.

conclusion

While these are not as mythical and mysterious as you may have first thought they take time to master and learning them will greatly improve the quality of your work

Gear Lust PSA

Gear lust is a serious problem. It can lead to you not appreciating the gear that you have and overly focusing on getting new gear to fix your problems.

Symptoms Include:

• Impulsively wanting to punch-in in post

• Feeling like you don’t have enough resolution

• Feeling unhappy coloring 8-bit footage in Davinci Resolve

• Feeling uncomfortable with your camera’s compression

• Needing to move your camera around excessively and not having a way to do it buttery smooth

• Impatiently wanting more clients to appreciate the quality of your work

• Problems sleeping

• Dehydration

• Difficulty concentrating on story writing

• Loss of interest in shooting with your old camera

If you or a love one is struggling with Gear Lust, Gear Envy or Gear Accusation Syndrome (GAS) seek help immediately.

Remember 1080p is usually all you need.

Resources:

Healthline : Shopping Addiction

Shopping Addiction Treatment: Know Your Options

If you suffer from gear lust, leave a comment below and share your experience.

Reminder - Timeline Visuals is not responsible for any gear lust it may cause in the making of these articles. Any purchases made after reading, are at the readers discretion and sole responsibility. Should you find your self drooling over a Sony FX6 , a7siii, crane 3s, or any piece of gear and do not have the financial stability to purchase those items, seek help immediately. Your wallet is not safe.

This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase one of these products, we will be compensated and at no cost to you. This helps us to continue writing quality content for readers like you. Thank you for reading!

Thank You

For taking time to read this post. I hope you found some of this information valuable and look forward to post future articles for you in the future!

One lens cap to save them all

Losing lens caps is a pain. There are many alternatives like keeping a leash attached to your lens or creating a system of placing the cap in your pocket or bag that you religiously repeat. My method is to make all of my lenses the same filter thread, using step up rings.

Make a list of all of your lenses and their filter sizes and then determine the largest lens you have. The thread is typically determined by a number near the filter thread, that looks like Ø67. It will be a number and this symbol “Ø” If you cannot find the thread size, google your specific lens and you should find the correct size. *For some vintage lenses, I would look them up on Ebay to ensure the lens is the same*

This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase one of these products, we will be compensated and at no cost to you. This helps us to continue writing quality content for readers like you. Thank you for reading!

My largest filter thread is 72mm. Next, I purchase the step up rings for each lens.

I typically make them a little bigger then my largest lens to future proof my filters. Then, I purchase a bunch of lens caps at my specified size and keep a few extra in my bag. 3 Pack Lens caps

This method is also great if you want to only use one filter for all your lenses. Instead of buying multiple, you can focus on getting quality filters.

For details on buying filters click below.

A Guide to Filters for Lenses

Universal lens caps are a great alternative to this practice. Universal Lens Caps

Step Up Rings

Thank You

For taking time to read this post. I hope you found some of this information valuable and look forward to post future articles for you in the future!