Novice photographers may be aware of the valuable diagram known as the exposure triangle, a visual aid that links the three primary exposure controls within your camera: the shutter, aperture and ISO settings. Here I present an expanded version of the diagram that includes additional elements inside of the triangle boundary.
The expanded diagram incorporates the creative considerations along with the exposure considerations, and emphasizes that the setting of the primary light controls is a result of one’s creative objectives – not the other way around. Let’s get started by working through an example and exploring the value of considering the 3 primary zones with every picture.
Let’s say you’re planning to visit Beacon Hill Park for a few hours. You arrive and, as a start, head for one of the flower beds to look over the options. You choose a large, bright yellow flower and, in the usual fashion, you snap it and move on. Let’s assume you had the camera in auto mode to capture the image.
Now, go back a step and eliminate the ‘snap-and-run’ behavior. You’re probably hand holding your camera, but for the purpose of this, let’s assume you’ve attached the camera to a tripod (see the article on the Discipline Tool). For your next exposure you adjust the tripod head to get the image of the flower in place – but this time, you pause, refer back to the CET, and look within the triangle (diagram included).
You’ll see that the area in the triangle is divided into 3 sections: the foreground, the mid-ground (or subject), and the background (the areas are numbered as a subtle reminder of the guideline of thirds, where it makes sense). Now, go back to the snap shot you made and, consider some of the following points as you follow the inner CET areas and examine your image:
- What drew you to this flower? Was it the shape? The colour? It’s relative size? How it contrasted with the surrounding colours and shapes?
- Did you simply isolate the subject flower without looking over the foreground or background elements? Could the Foreground or Background add any ‘value’ to the main subject, such as depth or contrast?
- As an important part of reviewing any image, let’s look at a process that should become automatic: the scanning of the viewfinder (represented by the arrows on the 3 sides of the triangle).You were pretty excited about the flower itself, but did you notice some of the distracting, extraneous elements you also captured? Did you see that the green leaf of another plant cut across a part of your flower? Was there a portion of another flower out on the edge? In the background, is there a ‘bright spot’ serving as a distraction. Was your shadow part of the image? Did you forget to detach the camera strap and then realize it appears in the photograph?
I don’t know how many times I have read a story about photographers being frustrated by the fact that they totally missed the distractions because they were so excited by the main subject. And this includes some of photography’s masters. Ansel Adams specifically recommended that you should always ensure that you ‘look around’ the viewfinder, as the last step before the exposure (of course, he didn’t have an LCD on his view cameras for a quick image review). Landscape photographer Jack Dykinga advises that the edges (and corners) of an image can make or break a great composition – thus the importance of looking away for a moment and looking back with fresh eyes. I recall instructor Bryan Peterson as he looked over a harbour shot made by one of his students. He said it was a great shot but asked why she had cut off the back of the boats on the right side. She said she hadn’t cut the boats – and she was looking at the image on her LCD! He finally put his finger tip on the specific area on the LCD to get her to acknowledge the slight.
The lesson for us all: We see what we want to see. And it doesn’t always work in our favor. The CET can help you, but it’s your eyes that have to be trained to actively seek the imperfections.
The objective is to achieve your goals in camera so that you don’t have to spend precious time doing repairs on the computer. And scanning the viewfinder (properly) takes mere seconds.
Back to the Flower
So, you’ve composed the flower as you normally would, and you’ve scanned the viewfinder and confirmed that nothing is conflicting with the chosen subject. Now (assume you’re still in auto mode) make the exposure. Take a look at the image and think about the CET. In this case, you have a subject (mid-ground) and a background. Does the background currently serve as a distraction for the flower? Is everything sharp? Would it be better if only the flower were sharp?
Let’s say you decide that the objective is to have a sharp flower on a blurred background. To keep things simple, let’s move to the outside of the CET. You know that the aperture determines depth of field, so you set the camera’s mode dial to aperture priority (I’ll deal with manual mode in another article), set a larger f/stop opening and make the exposure.
Does that exposure meet your goals? If not, then modify the aperture setting to get a result you prefer. A depth of field preview button can help. If you’re hand holding the camera, then the ISO setting may come into play depending on lighting conditions and shutter speed limitations. Don’t erase any previous exposures: let them keep the memory card warm until you get home. (PS: always check to make sure the auto focus switch is in the proper position. Too often it isn’t !) You can now sneak a peek at the results of auto vs. aperture priority.
So now you have what you think you want. Before you fold up the tripod and move on, let’s assume you have a kit lens on your camera body…or even a point and shoot with zoom lens. Why not zoom closer in on the flower, and/or zoom out to review the areas around the flower?
When you zoomed in, was there a dramatic result? Zooming out, is there now an opportunity to include some foreground elements? What about that row of coloured flowers in front of the main subject? Does the size of the foreground flowers add impact to the main subject? What about the colours? Perhaps there is a variety of shapes. Should you consider moving the tripod around to discover an even better vantage point?
Back inside the CET, you now have some ideas for images that could include the foreground you’ve discovered. Do you want those front flowers and the background to be out of focus? Just one zone out of focus? How much of the foreground do you want to include – zoom in, zoom out, compose, expose and save the images. You are experimenting, and that is valuable practice as you improve your ability to ‘see’.
What is the point of this process?
Often we walk away from some possibly award winning images because we haven’t learned to see the potential variations of what we’re already focused on. The same logic applies to other subjects such as landscape photography where there are often pictures within a picture. Sometimes it’s as easy as zooming your lens(es) in and out. Other times, you have to walk around and force yourself to start looking at both the micro and macro elements. As an example, you might revisit Beacon Hill Park and include those beautifully sunlit willows as the background of a much larger image. As a foreground element, you could include the log in the pond that serves as a popular turtle’s resting place. Then you might head over to Dallas Rd. and set up the tripod on the shore of the ocean to focus on driftwood or rocks (F), the water (M) and the mountains (B). Foreground-Mid-ground-Background…ponder the value of those three zones relative to the camera position you have chosen. (NOTE: Have a look online for Ansel Adams’ ‘Mount Williamson’ to witness how effective the inclusion of foreground elements can be. See if you could emulate his ‘Rock and Surf’ idea on a coastal visit.)
Finally, after experimenting, composing and exposing a number of images, it’s time to take them
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