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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) It's Flash Card Friday here at Mass Science
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History, and this Friday I'm bringing you some
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perspective.
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That was a photography joke.
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Today I will talk about some simple math
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tricks that will help you improve your photography.
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Whether you are using a phone or a
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camera, these tricks will help you get some
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of the best photos with a new perspective.
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First, let's use the rule of thirds.
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Imagine that your photo is going to be
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divided into nine equal parts, with two horizontal
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lines and two vertical lines.
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It's a grid.
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And your phone might even provide you with
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a grid if you choose to access it.
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Use this imagined or applicable grid to place
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key elements along these lines or at their
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intersections for balanced, engaging photos.
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Next, consider leading lines.
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This is a cool trick.
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There are natural lines that guide the viewer's
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eyes towards the subject.
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Think of roads, fences, pillars, or rivers.
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When you use these, they add depth and
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interest to your photos.
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I will post a picture of me on
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my website at masssciencehistory.com that my husband
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took when I graduated with my second degree.
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It was taken at the downtown LA Public
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Library in front of a giant pillar.
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And I will give him the credit for
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the photo, even though it was my idea.
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But it'll give you an idea about leading
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lines and how they help take a beautiful
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picture.
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Oh, and by the way, while you're at
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Math, Science, History, don't forget to click on
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that coffee button and buy a cup of
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coffee, because every cup of coffee is a
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donation to the podcast Math, Science, History.
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So next up, symmetry and patterns.
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These are really pleasing to the eye.
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So look for symmetrical scenes or repetitive patterns
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and center your shot to emphasize them.
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I love symmetry and repetitive patterns, because they
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really yield stunning results.
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Then there's something I talked a couple of
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weeks ago called the golden ratio.
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It's like the rule of thirds, but it's
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a lot more dynamic.
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It's a ratio that is about 1.5
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to 1.
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So you place your subject at a point
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that follows this tiny ratio for a naturally
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appealing composition.
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Now let's talk about light and exposure.
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Math is utilized for this too.
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Doing a callback to the rule of thirds,
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if you have a line of light like
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a sunset, position the horizon along the top
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or the bottom horizontal line and place the
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Sun near one of the intersections.
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This really harmonizes the photo, and I know
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that's a funny way of saying it, but
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it's a third, and it creates this balance
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and the eyes fall in a certain way
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to truly see the application of the Sun
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to the sunrise or the sunset.
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Math is at the core of photography, especially
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when balancing shutter speed, ISO, and aperture to
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get the perfect shot.
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Shutter speed, measured in fractions of a second,
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like 1 250th or 1 1000th, controls how
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long light hits the sensor.
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Longer exposures let in more light, but can
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blur fast moving objects.
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ISO adjusts the sensor's sensitivity to light, with
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lower numbers with the ISO being 100, producing
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clear images, and higher numbers like an ISO
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of 3200, adding brightness but also grain.
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Aperture, which is measured in f-stops, controls
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how wide the lens opens.
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Lower f-numbers, like f
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over 2.8,
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let in more light and blur the background,
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while higher f-numbers, like f over 11,
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keep more of the scene in focus.
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These three settings form the exposure triangle, where
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adjusting one requires balancing the others to achieve
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proper exposure.
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It's like a tripod, you know, if you
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adjust one leg, you have to adjust the
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other two so it's not leaning.
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A fast shutter speed, like 1 1000th, requires
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a wider aperture or higher ISO, while a
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slow shutter speed, like 1 30th, may need
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a smaller aperture or lower ISO to avoid
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overexposure.
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Understanding these mathematical relationships helps photographers control
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light, motion, and depth to capture the perfect
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image.
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Another way math is used in photography is
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with focal length and zoom.
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Focal length is measured in millimeters and will
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define how much of the scene you want,
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so when you zoom in or when you
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zoom out.
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Photographers use math to obtain the desired focal
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length to control how much of a scene
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they captured and how subjects appear in relation
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to their surroundings.
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A shorter focal length, like 18 millimeters, captures
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a wider view, making it great for landscapes
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or large scenes, while a longer focal length,
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like 200 millimeters, zooms in, making distant subjects
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appear closer and more detailed, like in wildlife
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or sports photography.
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The choice of focal length also affects perspective.
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Wide-angle lenses exaggerate distances, making objects seem
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farther apart, while telephoto lenses compress space, making
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objects appear closer together.
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This is why a photo of a city
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skyline taken with a zoom lens looks like
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the buildings are stacked tightly together, while a
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wide-angle shot of the same skyline makes
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them seem more spaced out.
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By understanding how different lenses change what we
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see, photographers can use focal length to create
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the exact composition and feeling they want in
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an image.
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Finally, depth of field.
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Depth of field is controlled through aperture settings,
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so let's say you want to get a
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photo with the shallow depth of field, which
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would make the background blurry and focus on
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the subject.
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In that case, a lower f-stop number,
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which is a larger aperture, would help you
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get that perfect photo with a blurry background
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and a sharp subject.
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Now, let's say you want the entire scene
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in sharp focus.
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You would use a higher f-stop number,
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which means you would use a smaller aperture.
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This increases the depth of field and keeps
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the scene in focus.
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Math helps photographers frame the perfect shot, so
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whether you're calculating focal length or just trying
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to focus on getting a clear picture, remember
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that math is always in the frame, whether
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you notice it or not.
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Until next time, carpe diem.