Learning the Exposure Triangle -- Another View: Some of you may know that since retiring, I have been serving as a substitute teacher in my city's school system, almost exclusively at...

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have been serving as a substitute teacher in my city's school system, almost exclusively at the high school level. It has been my pleasure this past week to be with the same group of 10th graders each day. The school is a STEAM school in which almost all learning is organized around a continuous series of projects.

The current 10th grade project includes a lot of topics, one of which is photography. Teams of 4 kids worked together to research principles of photography and use what they learned to design and build a pinhole camera. They then each used 5x7 sheets of Ilford photographic paper as film to create and develop negatives, then used a second sheet of paper to expose and develop a positive contact print, then assembled the collection of prints to tell a story.

Because the teachers knew that I have some background in photography, I was partnered with the art teacher, who is mostly a painter, to guide the kids through the learning process.

The first surprise was the level of sophistication of the camera designs. They all look like cameras. The film load mechanisms are all functional and durable. After a little testing, they are light tight. The pinholes are all precisely made and properly located with respect to the film (paper). And the shutters, which are of several different designs, all function properly, blocking light when closed and passing light when open.

The biggest surprise, though, was how quickly every one of those kids (well, 90% of them) learned how exposure works. They saw that a larger pinhole would pass more light, increasing exposure. They almost immediately learned that a longer shutter open time would provide more exposure. They then figured out that going from 30 seconds to two minutes had a bigger impact than going from 30 seconds to one minute. From Wednesday to Friday, they went from everything being new to understanding how to control their exposures. And yes...almost all of them were wishing for "higher ISO" paper, or at least for paper that was more sensitive to light. By Friday, all but a couple of them had either completed their final print or knew what final adjustments were needed to get there.

There's a lot of good discussion here about how to teach exposure and other elements of photography, and there are also some great teaching tools here. That's good. But please know that when interested or required, kids, at least, readily "get it." It's not a mystery to them if we don't over-complicate things.

So my encouragement to you is to please don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Be patient and give them time to figure it out. Help if needed. Don't overwhelm with more than needed. Let things come in sequence and in steps.
And...good luck.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

A fascinating read, Larry! Thanks so much.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

I always fascinates me how open young people are to new ideas. There minds haven't gotten to point yet where failure is an option. My hat off to you for being a substitute teacher and taking on so an in lightening project.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Congrats. It proves that there is no substitute for experience. You just have to do it, and not be afaid of mistakes. A good analogy-- you open a window wider you let more air in--you open the shutter-pinhole- wider you let more light in.

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

Young people are amazing. I have an 8yr old great-grand-daughter that my wife and I have had since she was 2mo. old. I have gotten her interested in photography. Bought her a Nikon P500, she is amazing. Loves the outdoors, I hoe I can keep her intrested as she grows older. Pray that be the case.

tcthome Loc: NJ

A great story. Glad you enjoyed it as much as the kids!

duck72 Loc: Laurel Ridge, PA

Well said.

Enjoyed. Thanks for posting.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

larryepage wrote:

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have been serving as a substitute teacher in my city's school system, almost exclusively at the high school level. It has been my pleasure this past week to be with the same group of 10th graders each day. The school is a STEAM school in which almost all learning is organized around a continuous series of projects.

The current 10th grade project includes a lot of topics, one of which is photography. Teams of 4 kids worked together to research principles of photography and use what they learned to design and build a pinhole camera. They then each used 5x7 sheets of Ilford photographic paper as film to create and develop negatives, then used a second sheet of paper to expose and develop a positive contact print, then assembled the collection of prints to tell a story.

Because the teachers knew that I have some background in photography, I was partnered with the art teacher, who is mostly a painter, to guide the kids through the learning process.

The first surprise was the level of sophistication of the camera designs. They all look like cameras. The film load mechanisms are all functional and durable. After a little testing, they are light tight. The pinholes are all precisely made and properly located with respect to the film (paper). And the shutters, which are of several different designs, all function properly, blocking light when closed and passing light when open.

The biggest surprise, though, was how quickly every one of those kids (well, 90% of them) learned how exposure works. They saw that a larger pinhole would pass more light, increasing exposure. They almost immediately learned that a longer shutter open time would provide more exposure. They then figured out that going from 30 seconds to two minutes had a bigger impact than going from 30 seconds to one minute. From Wednesday to Friday, they went from everything being new to understanding how to control their exposures. And yes...almost all of them were wishing for "higher ISO" paper, or at least for paper that was more sensitive to light. By Friday, all but a couple of them had either completed their final print or knew what final adjustments were needed to get there.

There's a lot of good discussion here about how to teach exposure and other elements of photography, and there are also some great teaching tools here. That's good. But please know that when interested or required, kids, at least, readily "get it." It's not a mystery to them if we don't over-complicate things.

So my encouragement to you is to please don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Be patient and give them time to figure it out. Help if needed. Don't overwhelm with more than needed. Let things come in sequence and in steps.
And...good luck.

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have ... (show quote)

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Thanks to all for reading. I would just like to reiterate that it was the kids that accomplished this, not me. They just needed an occasional answer to a question or perhaps a little guidance to their thought process. It was all very reassuring to me. Sometimes it can be too easy to get a bit pessimistic without justification.

Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia

Thanks for sharing, Larry and helping the kids and many of them will remember and perhaps tell their children about this nice instructor that made them aware of Exposure Triangle! Take care!

BebuLamar

As the OP have found out that the kids can figure it out for themselves without any of the triangle thingy. I have the feeling that once you have to rely on the triangle thingy it would be tough to fully comprehend the subject.

badapple Loc: Twin Lake, Michigan

You sound like an excellent teacher.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Larry,
Sounds like an excellent school system. I taught Jr. HS/HS for 38 years. I loved it. My favorite and most guiding quote was, "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery". I believe the quote is credited to Mark Van Doren. That seems to synthesize your approach to learning. That's terrific!
Mark

larryepage wrote:

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have been serving as a substitute teacher in my city's school system, almost exclusively at the high school level. It has been my pleasure this past week to be with the same group of 10th graders each day. The school is a STEAM school in which almost all learning is organized around a continuous series of projects.

The current 10th grade project includes a lot of topics, one of which is photography. Teams of 4 kids worked together to research principles of photography and use what they learned to design and build a pinhole camera. They then each used 5x7 sheets of Ilford photographic paper as film to create and develop negatives, then used a second sheet of paper to expose and develop a positive contact print, then assembled the collection of prints to tell a story.

Because the teachers knew that I have some background in photography, I was partnered with the art teacher, who is mostly a painter, to guide the kids through the learning process.

The first surprise was the level of sophistication of the camera designs. They all look like cameras. The film load mechanisms are all functional and durable. After a little testing, they are light tight. The pinholes are all precisely made and properly located with respect to the film (paper). And the shutters, which are of several different designs, all function properly, blocking light when closed and passing light when open.

The biggest surprise, though, was how quickly every one of those kids (well, 90% of them) learned how exposure works. They saw that a larger pinhole would pass more light, increasing exposure. They almost immediately learned that a longer shutter open time would provide more exposure. They then figured out that going from 30 seconds to two minutes had a bigger impact than going from 30 seconds to one minute. From Wednesday to Friday, they went from everything being new to understanding how to control their exposures. And yes...almost all of them were wishing for "higher ISO" paper, or at least for paper that was more sensitive to light. By Friday, all but a couple of them had either completed their final print or knew what final adjustments were needed to get there.

There's a lot of good discussion here about how to teach exposure and other elements of photography, and there are also some great teaching tools here. That's good. But please know that when interested or required, kids, at least, readily "get it." It's not a mystery to them if we don't over-complicate things.

So my encouragement to you is to please don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Be patient and give them time to figure it out. Help if needed. Don't overwhelm with more than needed. Let things come in sequence and in steps.
And...good luck.

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have ... (show quote)

Toment Loc: FL, IL

larryepage wrote:

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have been serving as a substitute teacher in my city's school system, almost exclusively at the high school level. It has been my pleasure this past week to be with the same group of 10th graders each day. The school is a STEAM school in which almost all learning is organized around a continuous series of projects.

The current 10th grade project includes a lot of topics, one of which is photography. Teams of 4 kids worked together to research principles of photography and use what they learned to design and build a pinhole camera. They then each used 5x7 sheets of Ilford photographic paper as film to create and develop negatives, then used a second sheet of paper to expose and develop a positive contact print, then assembled the collection of prints to tell a story.

Because the teachers knew that I have some background in photography, I was partnered with the art teacher, who is mostly a painter, to guide the kids through the learning process.

The first surprise was the level of sophistication of the camera designs. They all look like cameras. The film load mechanisms are all functional and durable. After a little testing, they are light tight. The pinholes are all precisely made and properly located with respect to the film (paper). And the shutters, which are of several different designs, all function properly, blocking light when closed and passing light when open.

The biggest surprise, though, was how quickly every one of those kids (well, 90% of them) learned how exposure works. They saw that a larger pinhole would pass more light, increasing exposure. They almost immediately learned that a longer shutter open time would provide more exposure. They then figured out that going from 30 seconds to two minutes had a bigger impact than going from 30 seconds to one minute. From Wednesday to Friday, they went from everything being new to understanding how to control their exposures. And yes...almost all of them were wishing for "higher ISO" paper, or at least for paper that was more sensitive to light. By Friday, all but a couple of them had either completed their final print or knew what final adjustments were needed to get there.

There's a lot of good discussion here about how to teach exposure and other elements of photography, and there are also some great teaching tools here. That's good. But please know that when interested or required, kids, at least, readily "get it." It's not a mystery to them if we don't over-complicate things.

So my encouragement to you is to please don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Be patient and give them time to figure it out. Help if needed. Don't overwhelm with more than needed. Let things come in sequence and in steps.
And...good luck.

Some of you may know that since retiring, I have ... (show quote)

Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

A college professor once told me that the best teacher is one who can invoke curiosity in the students mind.