SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

abc, what's wrong with you. The exposure triangle is as American as Apple pie! And everyone knows Apple pie!!
Even beginners. :lol:
SS

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

I've found that the only way is to explain that what is important about the aperture is the size of the hole - that is the area of the hole. How the numbers relate to that is a bit complicated and you will learn that later. For now just remember that the smaller the number the bigger the hole.
The whole dissertation on the specific meaning of the numbers, what they mean, and why the system has to be the way it is, I save till later - sometimes much later. I have found people who have been shooting for years to whom the system is still a mystery.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

I really don't know why we are trying to pretend that the exposure triangle is difficult.
It is intuitive.
It has never been difficult.
It is simple.
I really do not see the problem.
The exposure triangle is so simple that it is ridiculous.
This is your second go in a few days trying to complicate it.
Shutter speed - you open the shutter for longer and you are going to let more light in and you may get movement blur.
ISO - if your film/sensor medium is more sensitive, they are going to register the light better, go too far and it gets noisy/grainy.
Aperture - open the hole in the lens bigger and you are going to let more light in. Big hole has shallower depth of field than narrow hole.

Honestly people - it is not hard.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

It really is pretty simple.
What complicates it is trying to reinvent it!
If you cut one corner in half, you just need to double one of the other two and it stays the same.
The sunny 16 comes to mind. :lol:
SS

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

Lighthouse, I don't know you
I know little about you
I do know from your posts that you are an accomplished and knowledgeable photographer.
In fact, I think it is because you are a successful photographer that you may be missing the whole point of the Exposure Triangle. It is not for people of your calibre, but for those starting out, some of whom have never held a camera (other than a fully automatic point and shoot). I get asked questions such as "What do you mean - aperture?", what is "ISO?", "what is noise?" These are the reasons for teaching aids such as "Exposure Triangles"

I teach the very basics of photography on DSLRs to men and women who through no fault of their own have retired from work, some on medical grounds, some on mental health grounds, and the rest who simply retired.

When they leave my class, each of them leaves with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of photography, an ability to take a photograph in manual mode which is sharp and reasonably well exposed, a basic knowledge of PSE Elements (enough to brighten their shots and crop and print), and a readiness (in most cases) to move on to a higher grade of teacher who can add composition and advanced techniques to the mix.

I find teaching aids, such as a diagram of the exposure triangle, essential to what I do.

To some, it is not simple.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Don't get me wrong.
I think the exposure triangle is the most important concept that there is in photography.
It is what EVERYTHING else revolves around.
I use it with every single shot (apart from those that the only thing I have time to do is put it all on auto and click, you know, Loch Nessie, Sasquatch, UFOs, getaway vehicle number plates, that sort of shot)
I totally agree with you, it is a wonderful teaching aid.
And I think a cheat sheet for it is a wonderful idea.

I just think it is silly trying to pretend that it is hard, trying to complicate it by rebadging it as a sharpness triangle, and reinventing a 3 pronged cheat sheet when there are already a myriad of simple one diagram sheets already available.

(Download)

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

May be as American as apple pie but like so many Americans and their institutions which came from other continents, apples came from the Caucuses, once the heartland of Communist Russia. Does that make apple pie lovers Communists?

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I have to chuckle at your last comment. All too true, sadly.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

And cloves come from the Moluccas and wheat from the Middle East so ... as American as a Russian and Indonesian and Middle Eastern mix maybe?

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

You are right. It is not so hard but then again, it is not so informative either. The only value to it is pick any two sides or angles and the third is set. It only helps with illustrating the concept of the three interdependent parameters. Yet, some devotees read more into it than merited. Pick Any Two is the next step for beginners to take. It does not replace the triangle, it only extends it. Experienced photographers do not need either.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

So, if I were from Moluccas, would that make me a Mollusk?! :lol:
SS

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Possibly the easiest way for people to try to understand it is to put the LCD screen on WYSIWYG, put the camera in manual, and turn the shutter and aperture dials, one at a time, one way, then the other, and then leave those two alone and do the same with the ISO setting.
And watch your LCD while you do.
You can do the same thing in aperture priority with your Exposure Compensation adjustment but you only get two f/stops either way (maybe 3 with some cameras)
But, if doing this people, do not leave your LCD whited out for too long, just turn it straight back if it goes white. You could possibly be burning out sensor pixels (maybe, not sure, better to be careful).

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

No SS, no matter where you were, I think you would still be a Canaanite. :lol:

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I did not rebadge the exposure triangle. If you read the discussions on both Pick Any Two and the sharpness triangle, you would see both address different issues. Judging from your comments, I would say that you either did not read carefully and you missed the point for reasons I do not understand. You might be thinking that just because shutter speed, aperture and ISO both deal with exposure and sharpness, then exposure and sharpness must be the same thing. I think you know better than that. If you do not want to use either approach, that is fine with me. No one is forcing you to.

As for your attached triangle, talk about confusing. If you change one thing, what happens to the others? How are sharpness and exposure related? What are you trying to optimize or are you subobtimizing? Perhaps I missed that and if I did, I will be glad to look at it again.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

SS, in this age of built-in meters, why would you use sunny 16? Is a sunny day in my neighborhood as sunny as in yours? Or is a sunny day in January the same as on in June? Or is 9 AM as sunny as 4 PM. Might be in July but how about December?

As for cutting corners, what happens if you cut a f/stop in half or double it? f/4 becomes f/2 or f/8. Right? Oops, now we have four times the light or a fourth. Oops is right.

I know you know better. Thanks for all your enlightening posts.