Photowheel

In photography terms, the ‘Exposure Triangle’ is the combination of the camera aperture, shutter speed and ISO to create a perfectly exposed photograph. Once learnt, we photographers can then spend more time evaluating composition and lighting, without constantly fiddling with dials and buttons.

Modern DSLRs have a handy program, or ‘P’ feature, which can take away all the hassle of learning the Exposure Triangle and many people are happy to leave their cameras set to this function. However, as we start to learn more about photography, we soon realise that it is better to take control and switch our cameras back to manual, or “M'. That is when it can be important to learn the exposure triangle.

There are some very handy YouTube videos that can help with your learning, or you might want to take a look at the superb online resource at Cambridge Colour (well worth bookmarking for your future studies) However, when I am training students, I was finding that I was constantly drawing illustrations to demonstrate the importance of taking control of aperture and shutter speed (and ISO to a lesser extent) and that is when I started to think about making the PhotoWheel to assist.

During lockdown, I started working on the first prototypes of PhotoWheel, by creating shapes from polyboard. My idea was to try and demonstrate how we can balance the three elements of the Exposure Triangle, by using two wheels and a paddle. The larger wheel has an illustration of film silver halide crystals on the reverse, that shows film ‘grain’ from 100 IOS (fine) all the way to 6400 ISO (coarse). Once, I have shown this to the student, they can understand how we used to switch films, depending on the lighting conditions.

Once I have discussed film, I then turn around the wheel to show them the modern approach, using a digital sensor and I explain that, if necessary, it is now possible to change the sensitivity of the sensor for every photograph. Next we look at aperture and it’s importance for controlling depth of field (blurred or sharp backgrounds). Finally, I move to the shutter slider on my PhotoWheel and I show the student when we are likely to require fast, or slow shutter speeds.

By using PhotoWheel, I can demonstrate the principle of the Exposure Triangle with my Photowheel in under 20 minutes and my students ofter ask if they can purchase a smaller version for handy reference themselves. The good news is that we are now looking to take PhotoWheel into production and supply them to schools and colleges. Please register your interest below and I will be in touch as soon as they are ready.

PHOTOWHEEL IN DEVELOPMENT

Tuition Questionnaire

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