Photography: General Knowledge Quiz

Answer: Doubling the amount of light coming into the camera

Going from one full f-stop to the next full f-stop either halves or doubles the amount of light coming into the camera. For any "f" numbers: The lower the "f" number, the larger the lens aperture, and therefore more light will enter. The "f" number is defined by dividing the focal length of a lens by the diameter of the entrance pupil, i.e. lens opening, and is then expressed as "f/{f number}", like "f/8", etc.

A simple definition of focal length is the distance between the lens and the image sensor [or film] when a subject is in focus.

Answer: 1/9 of the original amount of 1 meter away

The inverse squares law of light says the power of light will be inversely proportional to the square of the distance. For 1 meter, squaring 1 is 1, and making it inversely proportional means putting a 1 in the numerator of a fraction, and putting the square in the denominator, in this case, 1. So the fraction is 1/1. For 3 meters, the result is 1/9. Comparing 1/9 to 1/1 is one-ninth the original.

Answer: Exposure

The zone system was formulated by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer. In a nutshell, it is used for determining the best exposure for a given subject, based on the reflectance and the desired final results. Of course, it's much more involved than that.

Answer: High Dynamic Range

HDR typically applies when an image contains both extreme lights and extreme darks, and the idea is to balance the two. HDR typically involves taking three or more pictures while bracketing exposure, then using software to blend the photos into one pleasing, balanced photo.

Answer: He invented the world's first digital camera

Steven Sasson was an engineer at Eastman Kodak, and invented the digital camera in 1975. It weighed 8 pounds (about 3.64 Kg) and recorded 0.01 megapixel (10,000 pixels or roughly 100 by 100) black and white photos to a cassette tape.

Answer: The filter is reducing light to 1/8

Reducing the exposure by 1/8 is equivalent to closing the lens 3 full f-stops.

Answer: Edwin Land, who invented self-developing camera and film

Dr. Edwin Land (1909-1991) cofounded the Land Wheelwright Laboratories in 1932 in Boston along with his former Harvard physics professor George Wheelwright III, to do research into the applications of polarizers in sunglasses, filters, and automobile headlights.

The company was renamed Polaroid Corporation in 1937. In 1947, Land demonstrated an instant camera and film to the Optical Society of America. Named the Land Camera, it was in commercial sales less than two years later.

Answer: Prontor/Compur

Prontor comes from the Italian word "pronto" meaning "ready", and "Compur" is a series of leaf shutters popular years ago but still in use. The PC Sync Port electrically connects a camera and a flash to ensure proper flash triggering.

Answer: Making dark areas of the print lighter, and light areas darker

Prints were made by shining light through the negative onto a piece of photographic print paper for a period of time. Generally, the longer the light was exposed onto the paper, the darker the print was.

Dodging was used to expose less light onto just a portion of the print to make that portion lighter, by using, for example, a small piece of cardboard or other object to obstruct light from hitting the desired portion of the print for some of the exposure time. Conversely, burning was used to expose more light onto a portion of the print. This could be done by exposing the paper for the desired time, then taking a piece of paper or cardboard with a hole in it, holding it so that the hole was over the area needing to be darker, and exposing more light onto the print but just through the hole.

Answer: International Organization for Standardization

In film photography, ISO is the measure of the film's sensitivity to light. In digital photography, it is a measure of the sensitivity of the sensor. In both cases, the lower the number, the less sensitive. Since it deals with light, it is a factor in exposure along with shutter speed and aperture. Higher ISOs result in grainier photos.

According to Wikipedia, the reason the initials are "ISO" and not "IOS" is because the name of the organization would have different acronyms in different languages, so they settled on ISO derived from the Greek "isos" meaning "equal".