Where it goes
You know which category a note belongs to. How it relates to the one before it, or what's missing in between, isn't a folder's job.
A book that keeps growing
One subject,
one book.
Lecture handouts, whiteboard photos, meeting recordings: just keep adding material on the same subject. No sorting, no linking. Kairn picks up where it left off, and over time you hold a book you can read from start to finish, not dozens of disconnected notes.
Photos
Files · PDF
Recordings
Pasted text
Every time you add something, another stone goes on.
Contents · Chapter 2
The Exposure Triangle
- 2.1Aperture: how much light
- 2.2Depth of field and blur
- 2.3Shutter speedNew
- 2.4ISO and noise
- 2.5How the three work together
- 2.6Exposure compensation
Photography
Basics 6 chapters · 32 sections
Basics 6 chapters · 32 sections
Why a book
The same eight notes,
two ways.
Every note felt useful when you took it, yet when you need it you can't find it: one note stops halfway, the rest turns up a week later, with other classes in between. Flip the switch to see the same material written as a book.
A month of notes, in date order.
- One topic is scattered across several notes
- Some stop halfway through
- To review, you first have to put them in order
The same content, as a book.
- One thread from start to finish
- Each topic is explained fully in one place
- To review, start from page one
- Chapter 2 · The Exposure Triangle4 sections
- Sep 3Class notes2.1What aperture is; a smaller f-number opens widerAperture: how much light
- Sep 5Whiteboard2.2Why the background goes blurryDepth of field and background blur
- Sep 10Recording2.3Shutter speed and moving subjectsShutter: how long light gets inUnfinished
- Sep 12Handout PDF2.4Why high ISO looks grainyISO and noise
- Sep 17Recording2.3Continued: slow shutter for water, panningShutter (continued)
- Chapter 3 · Light2 sections
- Sep 19Assignment3.1Why faces go dark against the lightMetering and exposure compensation
- Chapter 4 · Composition1 section
- Sep 24Whiteboard4.1Rule of thirds, leading linesRule of thirds and leading lines
- Sep 26Class notes3.2How to use window lightNatural light from a window
How it's different
Sorted into folders, linked into graphs,
and still not a whole.
With a handful of notes, folders and graphs work fine. With many, they don't: they can tell you which two notes are related, but not what they add up to or where to start.
What it links to
You know two notes are connected. But which to read first, and what's still missing, no number of lines can tell you.
What it adds up to
A table of contents and an order. Read from the first page to the last, and the missing link is filled in for you.
How it grows
By the tenth upload,
it still reads as one book.
Not a log that gets messier as it grows. Each time you add material the book gets a little thicker, and it still reads straight through from chapter one.
Drag to watch it grow
A semester of photography class, with material added after each lesson.
10uploads
Photography Basics · Contents
From the first chapter to the last
- 1Getting to know your camera
- 1.1How a camera turns light into a photo
- 1.2Lenses and focal length
- 1.3Focus: sharp where you want it
- 2The exposure triangle
- 2.1Aperture: how much light
- 2.2Shutter: how long light gets in
- 2.3ISO and noise
- 3Light
- 3.1Metering and exposure compensation
- 3.2Natural light from a window
- 4Composition
- 4.1The rule of thirds
- 4.2Leading lines and frames
- 5Portraits
- 5.1Focal length and distance
- 5.2Catchlights
- 5.3Directing poses
- 6Editing
- 6.1Curves and levels
- 6.2The order of color edits
Purpose
Say what the book
is for.
The same material written as a beginner's guide and as a quick reference makes two different books. You set the purpose in a sentence; here are four common ones. Pull one off the shelf.
Tap a book to pull it out.
Learn from scratch
From not knowing to knowing
Explanations build step by step, with more examples, and never skip a step you may not have learned yet.
For example: before aperture, first make clear what "how much light gets in" means.
Quick reference
Fast to look things up
Lists and tables, definitions next to usage, no long arguments.
For example: one table of common scenes, with the aperture, shutter and ISO for each, one scene per row.
Review
Bring back what you learned, fast
The key points, how they fit together, and the things that are easy to mix up.
For example: aperture, shutter and ISO side by side, so you see at a glance what each one controls and what it costs.
Preview
Know what's hard before you start
Where each idea comes from and why it matters, without piling on detail.
For example: before next week's portrait class, know what problems it solves and where beginners usually slip.
Ask it
It can tell you
which section the answer came from.
Every citation carries its place in the book: which book, which chapter, which section. Tap it and that page opens alongside.
Why does the background blur when I open the aperture wider?
The wider the aperture, the shorter the range in front of and behind your subject that stays sharp (the depth of field). The person you focus on is sharp, and everything behind them quickly melts into blur. At f/1.8 the background blurs; at f/11 everything from near to far is sharp.
That section has a comparison table.
If it isn't in your books, it says so instead of guessing.
Photography Basics › Chapter 2 The Exposure Triangle › 2.2
Depth of field and background blur
Depth of field is the range of distance in a photo that looks sharp. The wider the aperture (the smaller the number after the f), the shallower the depth of field, and things blur quickly in front of and behind the point of focus.
| Aperture | Depth of field | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| f/1.8 | Very shallow | Portraits, close-ups |
| f/5.6 | Moderate | Street, group photos |
| f/11 | Very deep | Landscapes, architecture |
The closer you are and the longer the focal length, the shallower the depth of field as well (see 5.1 Focal length and distance).
Pricing
Try it free,
subscribe if it fits.
Every plan lets you add material, write it into books, and get answers that cite a specific section. The plans differ in how many books you can make, how much material you can process each month, and who writes the book.
See if it fits
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- Up to 3 books
- Add photos, files, recordings and text
- Answers cite a specific section
- Cloud sync across your devices
- Enough allowance to try the whole flow
A few subjects you keep building on
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- 20× the Free monthly allowance, enough to keep several subjects going
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