FAQ 24 • satode (in P4 and P5)
“specific appearance that occurred during exposure”
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2401. What does “satode” refer to?
Every TTG photograph — no matter how it was made — must depict only one “specific appearance that occurred during exposure” (satode).
Satode ensures that no TTG-qualified photo depicts an appearance or combination of elements that nobody at the scene would have seen.
If at no point during the exposure period could someone have glanced at the scene and seen exactly what the photo depicts, then the photo will not meet satode. TTG-qualified photos are like a momentary “glimpse” of the subject.
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2402. Why is satode necessary?
Because when the subject or the lighting changes during the exposure period, it is easy to create photos that do not depict only one scene (which all TTG photos must depict, as per characteristic #4).
Since it is impossible to put a precise numerical limit on long exposures or combined exposures, to prevent misrepresentation P4 instead reins in the effects of combined or long exposures. More
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2403. Is it easy for smartphone users to avoid satode issues?
It’s very easy. Turn off all effects, put the smartphone in “Photo” mode, snap a normal photo (using the camera’s automatic settings), and leave the photo exactly as it is.
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2404. What are some familiar kinds of photos that are disqualified from TTG by satode?
Any photo that depicts as simultaneous a combination of visual elements that did not appear simultaneously during the recording period, including:
• Combining elements from different exposures (including choosing the best facial expressions from multiple group shots)
• Deleting anything (except by cropping)
• Adding anything to a photo (including inserting a depiction of the photographer into a photo)
• Moving or resizing anything in a photo
• Non-simultaneous lighting from multiple directions during exposure (“light painting” always disqualifies photos from TTG, thanks to satode).
• Successive flash bursts on a moving subject
• Depicting the subject in more than one location in the image (apart from standard motion blur)
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And one additional category:
“Bright changing lights in the dark”
• Fireworks photos that depict (in one photograph) fireworks bursts that would not have been seen simultaneously by someone at the scene
• Lightning photos that depict (in one photograph) lightning bolts that would not have been seen simultaneously by someone at the scene
• Other bright-lights-in-a-dark-setting situations
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2405. Is TTG saying the bright-lights-in-dark-settings subjects in #2404 are hard to photograph?
No, with modern cameras it is actually very easy to photograph all of the bright subjects in #2404 without running into satode issues...
. . . but it is often hard to resist the temptation to use TTG-disqualifying [long] exposures to make the photo look more dramatic.
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2406. So how do TTG photographers deal with the “bright-changing-lights-in-the-dark” subjects listed in #2404?
They have two main choices:
1. The photographer can make the exposure as long as they want and not worry about it qualifying as TTG.
Most viewers won’t be expecting to see the TTG label on something like a fireworks photo, which is why “fireworks” are on both this list and this list. (The most dramatic fireworks photos found online usually would not qualify as TTG, because they wouldn’t meet the satode test.)
2. The photographer can choose a shutter speed that is short enough to ensure that the photo does not depict an appearance or combination of elements that never occurred simultaneously during the exposure(s).
Both the fireworks page and the lightning page suggest that single-exposure photos of 1 second or less are unlikely to be challenged on TTG/satode grounds; other subjects (see #2404-more) may warrant shorter shutter-speed choices.
See also FAQ #14.
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.