Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition Practice Exam

Question 1 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is a "fast" lens?

A change in the plane of best focus as aperture is stopped down. More common in older designs and fast primes. Mitigated by stopping down 1–2 stops. One with a wide maximum aperture — typically f/2.8 or wider. Lets in more light and produces shallow depth of field. Compressing the captured high dynamic range into a viewable 8-bit image. Local tone mapping preserves more local contrast than global. Zooms the LCD image to 100% or more to check critical focus. Essential for macro, landscape, and astro work.

Question 2 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the "decisive moment"?

A term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson for the instant when visual elements align to express the essence of an event. The philosophical core of street photography. Evaluative/Matrix: averages scene.
Spot: meters a small area — useful for backlit subjects or contrast. Sensor amplifies the signal — including random fluctuations (noise). Modern sensors are usable up to ISO 6400+ in good light. Centered framing works when the subject is itself symmetrical (architecture, reflections).

Question 3 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Does crop factor change the effective aperture?

RAW histogram: based on sensor data, before demosaicing.
RGB histogram: after demosaicing, more conservative for warning of clipping. JPEG shooters rely on RGB. Vertical lines tilt inward because the camera was tilted up. Corrected in post or by using a tilt-shift lens. A triangle of light on the cheek opposite the light source. Classic portrait pattern created by 45° key light placement. Depth of field and diffraction behavior are tied to actual focal length and aperture, not the equivalent FOV. f/2.8 stays f/2.8.

Question 4 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

RAW vs JPEG?

Key: main light shaping the subject.
Fill: softens shadows created by the key.
Hair / rim: edge light separating subject from background. First hour after sunrise and last hour before sunset — warm color, soft directional light, long shadows. Best light for portraits and landscapes. RAW: full sensor data, large files, edit-friendly.
JPEG: compressed, smaller, less editing latitude — fine for web sharing. Flash fires at the END of a long exposure, leaving a trail of ambient motion behind a frozen subject — great for creative low-light shots.

Question 5 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is ED (extra-low dispersion) glass?

A 50mm f/1.8 prime lens — affordable, sharp, fast, lightweight. A classic learning lens for full-frame shooters. Wet cleaning swabs if blower doesn't work. Visible spots on f/16 sky shots = dust. Many cameras self-clean on power on/off. Cut reflections from glass/water, deepen sky blue, reduce haze. Strongest 90° from sun direction. Glass that reduces chromatic aberration by separating wavelengths less. Critical in telephotos and wide-angles.

Question 6 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What does "shutter priority" mode do?

Software-applied fix for distortion, vignetting, and CA based on the specific lens model. One-click in Lightroom/Capture One for supported lenses. Primes: wider apertures, better optics for the price, lighter, force composition discipline.
Zooms: flexibility. You set the shutter speed; camera chooses the aperture. Useful for sports (fast shutter) and long exposures (slow shutter). Approximately 1/1000s captures the wheels and body sharply. Below 1/500s the spokes may show motion blur.

Question 7 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the "circle of confusion"?

The maximum blur spot size that the eye still perceives as sharp. Used to calculate depth of field. Typically ~0.03 mm on full frame. On a bright sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to 1/ISO. ISO 100 → 1/100s at f/16 produces a correct exposure. Auto exposure but with the ability to shift aperture/shutter combinations. Quick exposure control without thinking about either priority explicitly. If you decrease aperture by one stop (less light), you can compensate with one stop slower shutter or one stop higher ISO.

Question 8 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is loop lighting?

Set white balance, fix exposure + highlights/shadows, then adjust contrast and saturation. Sharpen and noise-reduce last. Color fringing in front of and behind the plane of focus (purple/green halos on out-of-focus edges). Corrected in RAW with one click. Hard light: small source, sharp shadows, high contrast (sun at noon, bare flash).
Soft light: large source, gradual shadow edges (overcast sky, big softbox, window light). A small loop-shaped shadow from the nose on the cheek — the most common flattering portrait pattern. Light at about 30–45° to the side, slightly above eye level.

Question 9 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is rear-curtain sync?

Flash fires at the END of a long exposure, leaving a trail of ambient motion behind a frozen subject — great for creative low-light shots. Depth of field and diffraction behavior are tied to actual focal length and aperture, not the equivalent FOV. f/2.8 stays f/2.8. One full stop doubles or halves total light. Most cameras make adjustments in 1/3-stop increments — finer tuning for tricky exposures. The fastest shutter speed at which the entire sensor is exposed at once. Typically 1/200s or 1/250s for DSLRs, up to 1/8000s with electronic shutters on mirrorless.

Question 10 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Sensor cleaning?

Linear: cheapest, but can disrupt autofocus and metering on modern cameras.
Circular: same effect, but compatible with AF systems. Always choose circular. Reduces atmospheric haze by increasing local contrast. Often useful for landscapes but can introduce noise and edge artifacts in flat areas. Wet cleaning swabs if blower doesn't work. Visible spots on f/16 sky shots = dust. Many cameras self-clean on power on/off. Light, Object, Aperture — a playful reminder that light × ISO × shutter time / aperture² = scene brightness.

Question 11 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Why prime lens vs zoom?

Primes: wider apertures, better optics for the price, lighter, force composition discipline.
Zooms: flexibility. Software-applied fix for distortion, vignetting, and CA based on the specific lens model. One-click in Lightroom/Capture One for supported lenses. Rolling shutter skew for fast-moving subjects or flash banding with artificial light. Some sensors also lose dynamic range. A tone curve shaped like a gentle S — slightly lifts shadows and slightly darkens highlights. Adds contrast without crushing blacks or blowing whites.

Question 12 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Rule of thirds?

f/1.4 → f/2 → f/2.8 → f/4 → f/5.6 → f/8 → f/11 → f/16 → f/22. Each step halves the light entering the lens. Divide frame into 3×3 grid; place subjects on intersections or along the lines. Avoid centering by default. A small loop-shaped shadow from the nose on the cheek — the most common flattering portrait pattern. Light at about 30–45° to the side, slightly above eye level. The line where earth meets sky. Must be level for most landscapes unless deliberate tilt is used. A crooked horizon is the most common compositional flaw.

Question 13 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

How does the inverse square law affect flash?

Shutter stays open as long as the release is held — for exposures longer than 30 seconds (star trails, lightning, very long light painting). A light source twice as far from the subject delivers 1/4 the light. Doubling distance = 2 stops less illumination. Critical for off-camera flash setups. Divide frame into 3×3 grid; place subjects on intersections or along the lines. Avoid centering by default. Placing the main subject along a diagonal line. Diagonals feel dynamic and energetic — more active than horizontal or vertical compositions.

Question 14 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the "horizon line" and why is it important?

The ISO value where the analog signal is read directly without software amplification — typically ISO 100, sometimes 64 or 200. The line where earth meets sky. Must be level for most landscapes unless deliberate tilt is used. A crooked horizon is the most common compositional flaw. A small loop-shaped shadow from the nose on the cheek — the most common flattering portrait pattern. Light at about 30–45° to the side, slightly above eye level. T-stops account for actual light transmission through the lens. Used in cinema lenses where precise exposure across matched lenses matters.

Question 15 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Exposure triangle — three elements?

Aperture (depth of field, light), Shutter Speed (motion, light), ISO (sensor sensitivity, noise). Set white balance, fix exposure + highlights/shadows, then adjust contrast and saturation. Sharpen and noise-reduce last. The maximum blur spot size that the eye still perceives as sharp. Used to calculate depth of field. Typically ~0.03 mm on full frame. Blocks flare and stray light from hitting the front element; also protects the lens physically.

Question 16 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Bokeh — what is it?

Small change in focal length / field of view when focusing closer. Cinematic and fast primes minimize this; some zooms breathe heavily. The 20-30 min before sunrise / after sunset — even, cool light. Great for cityscapes and creating a moody mood. Architecture (correct converging verticals), product photography (selective focus plane), and miniature/tilted-plane effects. The aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas, especially blurred highlights. Comes from lens design + aperture shape.

Question 17 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is tone mapping in HDR?

Hard light: small source, sharp shadows, high contrast (sun at noon, bare flash).
Soft light: large source, gradual shadow edges (overcast sky, big softbox, window light). One full stop doubles or halves total light. Most cameras make adjustments in 1/3-stop increments — finer tuning for tricky exposures. Compressing the captured high dynamic range into a viewable 8-bit image. Local tone mapping preserves more local contrast than global. Meters to preserve highlights, allowing shadows to fall where they may. Useful for high-contrast backlit scenes and stage lighting.

Question 18 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is an aspherical element?

Pulses the flash across the shutter slit so you can use shutter speeds above sync speed — useful for fill flash in bright sun at wide apertures. Darkening of the image corners. Caused by the lens barrel, filters, or sensor stack. Often most visible at wide apertures. Corrected in RAW. A non-spherical lens element that corrects spherical aberration and allows flatter, lighter lens designs. Common in modern wide-angles and fast primes. A 1.4× increases focal length by 40% but loses 1 stop of light. A 2× doubles focal length but loses 2 stops. Both reduce autofocus speed and accuracy.

Question 19 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is masking in sharpening?

Reduces light entering lens — enables long exposures in daylight (silky water, motion blur). Restricts sharpening to high-contrast edges, avoiding sharpening noise in flat areas. Slider in Lightroom's Detail panel. A shallow, dish-shaped reflector with a center deflector. Produces a semi-hard, wrapping light popular in fashion and beauty. A term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson for the instant when visual elements align to express the essence of an event. The philosophical core of street photography.

Question 20 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the difference between RAW and RGB histograms?

RAW histogram: based on sensor data, before demosaicing.
RGB histogram: after demosaicing, more conservative for warning of clipping. JPEG shooters rely on RGB. Unit of color temperature. 2000K = candle, 3200K = tungsten, 5500K = midday sun, 6500K = overcast, 10000K = deep blue shade. Telephoto lenses visually compress distance between foreground and background; wide angles exaggerate the gap. It's a perspective effect, not an inherent lens property. Push exposure as far right as possible without clipping highlights — captures more shadow detail with less noise.

Question 21 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

How much light difference between f/2.8 and f/4?

Exactly one full stop — f/4 lets in half as much light as f/2.8, requiring doubling ISO or halving shutter speed to compensate. Any directional element: road, fence, river, light streak, shadow, gaze, even the line of a body. Should ideally point to or support the subject. Decouple focus from shutter half-press; use a rear button instead. Lets you keep focus while recomposing or shooting bursts. Light bending around aperture blades. Softening becomes visible around f/11–f/13 on high-resolution APS-C sensors; f/8 is the practical limit.

Question 22 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Reciprocity rule?

If you decrease aperture by one stop (less light), you can compensate with one stop slower shutter or one stop higher ISO. Real-time detection of human (or animal) eyes in the scene — camera continuously focuses on the nearest eye. Major breakthrough for portrait and event photographers. Linear: cheapest, but can disrupt autofocus and metering on modern cameras.
Circular: same effect, but compatible with AF systems. Always choose circular. A flowing, sinuous line that guides the eye through the frame (e.g. river, path, body). Classic landscape and figure-photography element.

Question 23 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the difference between clarity, texture, and dehaze?

Luminance: smooths grain.
Color: removes color speckles. Apply color NR first and more aggressively — luminance NR is best kept minimal to avoid a waxy look. Clarity: medium-radius local contrast — punchier.
Texture: small-radius detail — skin pores, hair.
Dehaze: targeted atmospheric reduction. Aiming a softbox or strobe so the light falls off across the subject rather than directly hitting — controls contrast and where the falloff begins. If you decrease aperture by one stop (less light), you can compensate with one stop slower shutter or one stop higher ISO.

Question 24 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is Rembrandt lighting?

A shallow, dish-shaped reflector with a center deflector. Produces a semi-hard, wrapping light popular in fashion and beauty. A triangle of light on the cheek opposite the light source. Classic portrait pattern created by 45° key light placement. One full stop doubles or halves total light. Most cameras make adjustments in 1/3-stop increments — finer tuning for tricky exposures. The line where earth meets sky. Must be level for most landscapes unless deliberate tilt is used. A crooked horizon is the most common compositional flaw.

Question 25 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is longitudinal chromatic aberration?

Color fringing in front of and behind the plane of focus (purple/green halos on out-of-focus edges). Corrected in RAW with one click. Use natural framing (doorway, branches, archway) to direct attention and add depth. Track the subject with shutter ~1/30-1/60. Subject is sharp, background blurs — conveys speed. Auto exposure but with the ability to shift aperture/shutter combinations. Quick exposure control without thinking about either priority explicitly.

Question 26 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

How does shutter speed affect moving water?

1/1000s freezes individual droplets; 1/60s shows some flow; 1–4s gives a silky, ethereal look with smooth streaks. ISO 6400 amplifies the signal 64× more than ISO 100, which is why it produces visibly more luminance and chroma noise. If you decrease aperture by one stop (less light), you can compensate with one stop slower shutter or one stop higher ISO. The optical center of a lens. Panoramas stitched from rotated images must rotate around the nodal point to avoid parallax errors.

Question 27 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the "L" curve in tone editing?

Two stacked polarizing layers that can rotate to vary density (typically 1–8 stops). Convenient for video; can cause cross-polarization "X" artifacts at certain densities. A tone curve shaped like a gentle S — slightly lifts shadows and slightly darkens highlights. Adds contrast without crushing blacks or blowing whites. A fabric diffuser in front of a flash or strobe. Larger relative to the subject = softer light, smoother shadow transitions, more flattering for portraits. Angular camera motion — handshake. It does NOT freeze subject movement. CIPA ratings of 5–8 stops are common on modern bodies.

Question 28 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Polarizing filter — when?

A flowing, sinuous line that guides the eye through the frame (e.g. river, path, body). Classic landscape and figure-photography element. Two stacked polarizing layers that can rotate to vary density (typically 1–8 stops). Convenient for video; can cause cross-polarization "X" artifacts at certain densities. Luminance noise: grain-like brightness variation — often film-like and tolerable.
Chroma noise: random color speckles — usually more objectionable and targeted first in editing. Cut reflections from glass/water, deepen sky blue, reduce haze. Strongest 90° from sun direction.

Question 29 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is flare?

Stray light bouncing inside the lens, reducing contrast and adding veiling glare. Lens hoods, clean optics, and shading help prevent it. The 20-30 min before sunrise / after sunset — even, cool light. Great for cityscapes and creating a moody mood. Unit of color temperature. 2000K = candle, 3200K = tungsten, 5500K = midday sun, 6500K = overcast, 10000K = deep blue shade. Sharpening: edge enhancement via local contrast at the pixel level — applied last.
Clarity: tonal midtone contrast — applied before sharpening.

Question 30 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What does in-body image stabilization (IBIS) compensate for?

One full stop doubles or halves total light. Most cameras make adjustments in 1/3-stop increments — finer tuning for tricky exposures. Angular camera motion — handshake. It does NOT freeze subject movement. CIPA ratings of 5–8 stops are common on modern bodies. A flowing, sinuous line that guides the eye through the frame (e.g. river, path, body). Classic landscape and figure-photography element. The optical center of a lens. Panoramas stitched from rotated images must rotate around the nodal point to avoid parallax errors.

Question 31 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the difference between TTL and manual flash?

f/1.4 → f/2 → f/2.8 → f/4 → f/5.6 → f/8 → f/11 → f/16 → f/22. Each step halves the light entering the lens. TTL: camera meters flash output through the lens for an automatic exposure.
Manual: fixed power output — consistent, predictable, repeatable. Light placed directly in front and above the subject, creating a small symmetric shadow under the nose. Flattering for fashion and beauty work. Past the lens's "sweet spot" (often f/5.6–f/8 for primes), diffraction and lens aberrations combine to reduce overall sharpness.

Question 32 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is "convergence" in architectural photography?

Architecture (correct converging verticals), product photography (selective focus plane), and miniature/tilted-plane effects. Vertical lines tilt inward because the camera was tilted up. Corrected in post or by using a tilt-shift lens. White balance → exposure → highlights/shadows → white/black points → tone curve → HSL/color grading → sharpening → noise reduction → local adjustments last. Any directional element: road, fence, river, light streak, shadow, gaze, even the line of a body. Should ideally point to or support the subject.

Question 33 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is "feathering" the light?

Rolling shutter skew for fast-moving subjects or flash banding with artificial light. Some sensors also lose dynamic range. A tone curve shaped like a gentle S — slightly lifts shadows and slightly darkens highlights. Adds contrast without crushing blacks or blowing whites. Aiming a softbox or strobe so the light falls off across the subject rather than directly hitting — controls contrast and where the falloff begins. 2 stops between frames is standard. For very high-contrast scenes, 3 stops may be needed to fully capture the dynamic range.

Question 34 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Negative space?

Empty area around the subject — emphasizes it and gives the photo room to breathe. Small change in focal length / field of view when focusing closer. Cinematic and fast primes minimize this; some zooms breathe heavily. A fabric diffuser in front of a flash or strobe. Larger relative to the subject = softer light, smoother shadow transitions, more flattering for portraits. Golden ratio (1:1.618) places interest slightly closer to center than thirds — subtle, often more pleasing for portraits.

Question 35 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is a grid spot on a flash?

Shake: blurry whole image — faster shutter or stabilization.
Subject motion: only the moving subject is blurred — needs faster shutter or panning. A preflash fires, the meter reads reflected light through the lens, and the camera calculates power for the main flash. Fast, automatic, but not 100% reliable. A honeycomb attachment that narrows the beam angle. Used for hair lights, accent lights, or theatrical effects. Clouds act as a giant diffuser — wrapping soft light, low contrast, minimal harsh shadows, no squinting. Excellent for skin tones.

Question 36 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What does the f-number actually measure?

Rolling shutter skew for fast-moving subjects or flash banding with artificial light. Some sensors also lose dynamic range. A preflash fires, the meter reads reflected light through the lens, and the camera calculates power for the main flash. Fast, automatic, but not 100% reliable. The ratio of focal length to entrance pupil diameter. f/2.8 on a 50mm lens has a physical aperture of about 17.9 mm. Half clear, half dark — used to darken bright skies relative to landscapes. Available in hard and soft transitions. Essential for landscape work.

Question 37 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is split lighting?

Light placed 90° to the side — half the face lit, half in shadow. Dramatic, moody effect for character portraits. First hour after sunrise and last hour before sunset — warm color, soft directional light, long shadows. Best light for portraits and landscapes. Long exposures (multi-second) lose efficiency on film; modern digital is mostly immune. Mention only for long exposure film work. f/0.95 — produced by Leica, Voigtländer, Canon, and others. Extremely shallow DOF, very expensive, often manual focus.

Question 38 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the Looney Loa mnemonic?

Zooms the LCD image to 100% or more to check critical focus. Essential for macro, landscape, and astro work. Light, Object, Aperture — a playful reminder that light × ISO × shutter time / aperture² = scene brightness. On a bright sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to 1/ISO. ISO 100 → 1/100s at f/16 produces a correct exposure. You set a floor shutter speed; the camera raises ISO automatically when needed to maintain it. Common for handheld work with variable-light subjects.

Question 39 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is a reflector used for?

Software-applied fix for distortion, vignetting, and CA based on the specific lens model. One-click in Lightroom/Capture One for supported lenses. Bounces existing light into shadows — silver for contrast, white for neutral, gold for warm. Cheap, portable, often more effective than another flash. A change in the plane of best focus as aperture is stopped down. More common in older designs and fast primes. Mitigated by stopping down 1–2 stops. Two stacked polarizing layers that can rotate to vary density (typically 1–8 stops). Convenient for video; can cause cross-polarization "X" artifacts at certain densities.

Question 40 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is focus calibration or AF microadjustment?

Calibrating a lens's autofocus to a specific body to fix front- or back-focus. Done using a focus chart at a fixed distance and aperture. A colored plastic sheet placed over the flash to change its color temperature — CTB (blue) to match daylight, CTO (orange) to match tungsten, or creative colors. Hard light: small source, sharp shadows, high contrast (sun at noon, bare flash).
Soft light: large source, gradual shadow edges (overcast sky, big softbox, window light). A standardized reference card (e.g. X-Rite ColorChecker) used to set accurate white balance and color profiles in post-processing.

Question 41 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

When is "program" mode useful?

Around 1/250s freezes the body; 1/500s+ freezes the hands and any swinging arms or props. Auto exposure but with the ability to shift aperture/shutter combinations. Quick exposure control without thinking about either priority explicitly. Empty area around the subject — emphasizes it and gives the photo room to breathe. Golden ratio (1:1.618) places interest slightly closer to center than thirds — subtle, often more pleasing for portraits.

Question 42 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is bulb mode used for?

Shutter stays open as long as the release is held — for exposures longer than 30 seconds (star trails, lightning, very long light painting). Exactly one full stop — f/4 lets in half as much light as f/2.8, requiring doubling ISO or halving shutter speed to compensate. The range of stops between the darkest shadow with detail and the brightest highlight without clipping. Modern full-frame sensors reach 14–15 stops. Use at least 1/(focal length) seconds — 200mm → 1/200s. Modern stabilized systems let you go 3–5 stops slower.

Question 43 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Why portrait lens often 85mm or 135mm?

Mild compression flatters faces. 35mm or wider exaggerates noses; long telephotos compress too much. Automatically capturing 3, 5, 7, or 9 frames at varying exposures. Combined for HDR or to ensure one frame is correctly exposed. Any directional element: road, fence, river, light streak, shadow, gaze, even the line of a body. Should ideally point to or support the subject. Past the lens's "sweet spot" (often f/5.6–f/8 for primes), diffraction and lens aberrations combine to reduce overall sharpness.

Question 44 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

Why does a smaller aperture not always give sharper images?

Decouple focus from shutter half-press; use a rear button instead. Lets you keep focus while recomposing or shooting bursts. A button that stops the lens down to the taking aperture so you can see the actual DOF in the viewfinder. The image darkens because less light passes through. A honeycomb attachment that narrows the beam angle. Used for hair lights, accent lights, or theatrical effects. Past the lens's "sweet spot" (often f/5.6–f/8 for primes), diffraction and lens aberrations combine to reduce overall sharpness.

Question 45 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is a beauty dish?

A sensor where post-capture brightening in RAW produces nearly the same noise as raising ISO in camera. Useful for shooting at base ISO in dark scenes. Depth of field and diffraction behavior are tied to actual focal length and aperture, not the equivalent FOV. f/2.8 stays f/2.8. First hour after sunrise and last hour before sunset — warm color, soft directional light, long shadows. Best light for portraits and landscapes. A shallow, dish-shaped reflector with a center deflector. Produces a semi-hard, wrapping light popular in fashion and beauty.

Question 46 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

How does a TTL flash decide its power?

A preflash fires, the meter reads reflected light through the lens, and the camera calculates power for the main flash. Fast, automatic, but not 100% reliable. Hard light: small source, sharp shadows, high contrast (sun at noon, bare flash).
Soft light: large source, gradual shadow edges (overcast sky, big softbox, window light). Glass that reduces chromatic aberration by separating wavelengths less. Critical in telephotos and wide-angles. Decouple focus from shutter half-press; use a rear button instead. Lets you keep focus while recomposing or shooting bursts.

Question 47 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is the looney 11 rule for the moon?

Small change in focal length / field of view when focusing closer. Cinematic and fast primes minimize this; some zooms breathe heavily. A preflash fires, the meter reads reflected light through the lens, and the camera calculates power for the main flash. Fast, automatic, but not 100% reliable. Aperture f/11, shutter 1/ISO. Assumes a clear night and a full or near-full moon. The 20-30 min before sunrise / after sunset — even, cool light. Great for cityscapes and creating a moody mood.

Question 48 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is a "native" ISO on a digital sensor?

The ISO value where the analog signal is read directly without software amplification — typically ISO 100, sometimes 64 or 200. On a bright sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to 1/ISO. ISO 100 → 1/100s at f/16 produces a correct exposure. Two stacked polarizing layers that can rotate to vary density (typically 1–8 stops). Convenient for video; can cause cross-polarization "X" artifacts at certain densities. Depth of field and diffraction behavior are tied to actual focal length and aperture, not the equivalent FOV. f/2.8 stays f/2.8.

Question 49 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What does "ISO invariance" mean?

Clarity: medium-radius local contrast — punchier.
Texture: small-radius detail — skin pores, hair.
Dehaze: targeted atmospheric reduction. Single-point: precise control.
Zone / Expanded: small cluster of points.
Auto / Tracking: camera chooses and tracks subject. A sensor where post-capture brightening in RAW produces nearly the same noise as raising ISO in camera. Useful for shooting at base ISO in dark scenes. The ratio of focal length to entrance pupil diameter. f/2.8 on a 50mm lens has a physical aperture of about 17.9 mm.

Question 50 Photography Exposure Triangle And Composition

What is lens coating?

Thin chemical layers on glass surfaces that reduce reflection and increase transmission. Modern multi-coating makes lenses much sharper than vintage uncoated ones. Push exposure as far right as possible without clipping highlights — captures more shadow detail with less noise. RAW: full sensor data, large files, edit-friendly.
JPEG: compressed, smaller, less editing latitude — fine for web sharing. Restricts sharpening to high-contrast edges, avoiding sharpening noise in flat areas. Slider in Lightroom's Detail panel.