“One scene”
-
1401. What’s the point of P4?
P4 ensures that when the subject has any change or motion in it, TTG photographs of that subject
(A) do not depict more than one scene;
(B) do not depict a scene that did not occur during the exposure(s); and
(C) do not depict the scene in a way that would fail to meet rinairs.
-
1402. Why is it difficult to meet P4 when shooting a changing scene or moving subject using combined exposures or long exposures?
Because combined and long exposures of changing or moving scenes can produce TTG-disqualifying visual effects that are difficult to remedy without making changes that are not on TTG’s Allowable Changes list.
Any changes not on that list disqualify the image from P2 and from TTG.
-
1403. So the four requirements in the last paragraph of P4 are there to prevent “disqualifying visual effects”?
Yes.
Without all four of those requirements, it would be easy to make photographs that fail to meet A, B, and C in #1401 above.
More
-
1404. Does P4 always disqualify smartphone “group” (or “couple”) photos that pull the best expressions or poses from different exposures into one picture?
Yes, such pictures are always disqualified from TTG, because the result depicts as simultaneous a combination of visual elements (that is, a scene) that did not occur simultaneously in real life.
In other words, the picture does not show a specific arrangement that occurred during exposure (“satode”)—
—and thus it is always disqualified both by P4 and by P7.
(Note that such images are always disqualified regardless of whether the exposures were recorded within the same second or not.)
-
1405. Apart from what is described in #1404, when will photographers have trouble meeting P4?
Other issues with P4 are likely to arise when a photographer manually selects particular exposure settings to shoot a changing or moving subject (see also #1406 below).
But in practice, any photographers who are advanced enough to manually select those exposure settings will usually understand the four requirements in the last paragraph of P4 and can knowledgeably consider their options.
For more on this, see this brief.
-
1406. So it’s never a problem meeting P4 when a smartphone is set to Automatic?
Most photographers will never have trouble meeting P4 when they use automatic settings and semiautomatic settings (i.e., aperture- or shutter-priority) on their smartphones and cameras in normal light.
But there are exceptions in other conditions, especially for smartphone users
-
1407. If TTG photos can only depict “one scene,” why does TTG allow at all for combining multiple exposures?
Because many millions of non-deceptive photos are made every day on smartphones that instantly combine multiple exposures to improve picture quality.
More
-
1408. Does the “ghost objects” prohibition of P4 disqualify what is traditionally considered a “double exposure” of the kind made in the 19th and 20th centuries?
Yes it does (assuming the reference is to having semi-transparent scenes overlap in the same photograph).
More
-
1409. Why doesn’t motion blur disqualify a photograph from TTG?
Because genuine motion blur is very familiar to the public and is not considered deceptive.
More
-
1410. What about the use of flash during a single exposure, which often illuminates the scene for only a fraction of the total exposure?
Use of flash is usually not a disqualifier from TTG; see the guide to flash photography.
See also the “P4” tab on the page “What the public knows about how undoctored photographs work”
The numbering of the FAQ questions will not change — any new questions are added at the bottom and given new numbers — so users can safely make a link to any specific question.