Roadmap

What's built, and what's coming

Everything on the plan for The Exposure Triangle, and where each piece stands. Shipped items show the version they went out in.

There's no feedback form yet: the site is plain files, and a form needs a small server route. It's on the list below.

items
43
Shipped
28
In progress
4
Planned
11

Showing 43 of 43

7

Layered blur, zoom plates and click-to-aim

The model and the backdrop blur separately, and the zoom switches to a sharper photograph as you go in. A click on the picture aims the zoom. It's in the app, waiting on one last check of two fixes.

FoundationsAdded 24 Sep 2026

FoundationsLargeHighIn progress-
8

Four more scenes

Four more scenes follow the portrait's recipe: a road landscape, a rainy street, a lakeside at dusk and a bee on a coneflower. The road landscape, the rainy street and the lakeside are in the app now, and the bee is on its way. Each one's photographs wait for my approval.

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026

AI-builtLargeHighIn progress-
12

Moving subjects and flowing water in each scene

Each scene gets its moving parts: the cyclist, the car, the bee and the lake's water. The shutter speed then freezes them or lets them smear.

High valueAdded 24 Sep 2026

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28

Go live

Put the app on the web for anyone to use. It lives on Vercel with the photographs on Cloudflare R2, and since 26 September anyone can open it at its own address, exposuretriangle.houghtonphoto.com, with no sign-in. A wider launch needs the photographs on a faster address first.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026

OperationalMediumHighIn progress-
13

Keep very small cut-outs in the blur

A fix: a very small cut-out, such as the distant car, can drop out of the blur planner.

Carried overAdded 25 Sep 2026

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15

Every check re-run, including Safari

Time every frame again on a quiet machine, make sure Safari draws the same picture as Chrome, and look over all five scenes for realism.

Carried overAdded 24 Sep 2026

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18

Five beginners explain it back

The real test: five people new to photography use the app, then explain the exposure triangle in their own words.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026

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19

Choose your camera: full frame, APS-C or Micro Four Thirds

Pick a Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm or Panasonic body, and the crop factor changes the framing, the sharp zone and the grain.

High valueSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 24 Sep 2026

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20

Type in your own lens

Enter a focal length and an f-number, and the camera obeys the same limits as the zoom ring.

High valueSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 24 Sep 2026

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21

A drawn camera with a moving lens and iris

A camera body you can see, whose lens barrel extends as you zoom and whose iris closes as you stop down.

High valueAdded 23 Sep 2026

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22

A phone layout

A layout that puts the camera, the side view and the controls on an upright phone, and runs on a mid-range handset.

High valueAdded 23 Sep 2026

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23

An accessibility pass

Measure the contrast across the whole app, then run it end to end with a screen reader and with the keyboard alone.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026

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25

A feedback form

Tell me what's confusing or broken from inside the app. It needs a small server route, because the rest of the site is plain files.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026

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29

Studio lighting mode

Move the softbox and the reflector and watch the portrait relight as you go. A short experiment comes first: does relighting a flat photograph look convincing?

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026

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43

Natural grass when you zoom into the road landscape

Zoomed in, the road landscape's grass shows a hatched, checked pattern. A careful edit of the grass alone, leaving the sheep, gate and post untouched, will make it look natural.

FoundationsAdded 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsSmallHighPlanned-
1

Research and the design board

Four research reviews, concept renders, a first depth test and the interactive design board the app's look comes from.

FoundationsAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.0.1 on 23 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumHighShippedV.0.0.123 Sep 2026
2

A live viewfinder and side-on view

The first working camera: turn the aperture on the studio portrait and watch the photograph and the side view change together, live in the browser.

FoundationsAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.0 on 24 Sep 2026

FoundationsLargeHighShippedV.0.1.024 Sep 2026
3

Speed and accuracy checked

Nineteen frames in twenty had to draw in under 16.7 ms, and each blur disc had to land within 5 % of the optics maths. Both passed.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.0 on 24 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallMediumShippedV.0.1.024 Sep 2026
4

The realism check

The rendered portrait at f/1.8 had to be hard to tell from a real photograph. It passed, so the approach went ahead.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.2 on 24 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallHighShippedV.0.1.224 Sep 2026
5

The studio portrait, built in layers

Four nested photographs from 24 to 200 mm, each with depth and a cut-out of the model. The zoom stays sharp and the blur stays true.

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.17 on 24 Sep 2026

AI-builtLargeHighShippedV.0.1.1724 Sep 2026
6

The camera moves into the app

The renderer moved from a test page into the app you're using now, drawing the same picture to within measurement noise.

FoundationsAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.19 on 24 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumMediumShippedV.0.1.1924 Sep 2026
9

P, A, S and M, with Auto ISO

The camera sets whichever of the aperture, the shutter speed and ISO you've left to it, in thirds of a stop. It flags a setting that runs out of room.

FoundationsAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.32 on 24 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumHighShippedV.0.1.3224 Sep 2026
10

Dials, lens rings and the viewfinder readout

Real-feeling dials and lens rings, the viewfinder's readout and histogram, the side view, and full keyboard control.

High valueAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.39 on 25 Sep 2026

High valueLargeHighShippedV.0.1.3925 Sep 2026
11

Motion blur and camera shake in the renderer

The renderer can smear a moving subject along its path. It also shakes the whole frame when the shutter's open too long to hold by hand.

FoundationsAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.34 on 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumHighShippedV.0.1.3425 Sep 2026
14

Groundwork for studio lighting

A slot in the renderer for relighting later. Tests show it changes nothing in today's pictures.

FoundationsAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.36 on 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsSmallLowShippedV.0.1.3625 Sep 2026
16

Explanations, the light ledger, the glossary and seven challenges

Every control explains itself in plain English after you use it, and a light ledger adds up the exposure. There's a 29-word glossary too, and the questions, hints and answers for seven predict-first challenges; five of them run so far: three on the portrait, one on the road landscape and one on the rainy street.

High valueAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.35 on 25 Sep 2026

High valueLargeHighShippedV.0.1.3525 Sep 2026
17

The teaching panels in the app

The challenges drawer with predictions and hints, the searchable glossary, and Take a shot, so camera shake shows up in the picture.

High valueAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.44 on 25 Sep 2026

High valueLargeHighShippedV.0.1.4425 Sep 2026
24

The opening photograph first

Each scene opens on a still of its first view the moment the page appears. The live camera takes over as soon as its first photograph arrives, and the rest load behind the picture.

OperationalAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.64 on 25 Sep 2026

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26

The user guide

A printable guide to every control, panel and challenge, with a version history.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.44 on 25 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallMediumShippedV.0.1.4425 Sep 2026
27

This page: the plan in public

Everything on the plan and where each piece stands. It changes as the work moves.

OperationalAdded 23 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.44 on 25 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallMediumShippedV.0.1.4425 Sep 2026
30

The road landscape

The second scene: a country road at golden hour, with a gate, sheep and a car driving away, on a 14 to 600 mm zoom. Its photographs still wait for my approval.

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.45 on 25 Sep 2026

AI-builtLargeHighShippedV.0.1.4525 Sep 2026
31

The rainy street

The third scene: a wet city street at blue hour, on a 14 to 600 mm zoom. A cyclist rides away up the road past a café table, so Freeze the cyclist runs here. Its photographs still wait for my approval.

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.51 on 25 Sep 2026

AI-builtLargeHighShippedV.0.1.5125 Sep 2026
32

Aperture, the photographer's word

The aperture dial and every note now say aperture, the word photographers use, and talk about a wider or narrower aperture. Beginner spells out that a smaller f-number means a wider aperture.

High valueSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.53 on 25 Sep 2026

High valueSmallHighShippedV.0.1.5325 Sep 2026
33

Shutter speed and ISO, the photographer's words

The dials read Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO at both levels, with the plain meaning under each: lens opening, time open, brightening. The aperture's first mention explains that bigger f-numbers are narrower.

High valueSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.54 on 25 Sep 2026

High valueSmallHighShippedV.0.1.5425 Sep 2026
34

A cleaner blur round her face at full zoom

Zoomed right in, the grey backdrop no longer shows through along her jaw where her hair sits behind it. The camera now draws the near parts of a subject over the blurred parts behind them.

FoundationsSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.55 on 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumHighShippedV.0.1.5525 Sep 2026
35

Her face's real shape at full zoom

At full zoom and a wide aperture, her far eye and chin now blur only a little, and her nose tip softens in front. Before, the far side of her face melted and her nose stayed sharp.

FoundationsSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.56 on 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsMediumHighShippedV.0.1.5625 Sep 2026
36

The lakeside at dusk

The fourth scene: a lake at dusk, with a bronze figure on a bench, a heron and a small cascade. The cascade and the lake smooth out at a slow shutter speed, so Silky water runs here. Its open questions were settled on 26 September.

AI-builtAdded 24 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.61 on 25 Sep 2026

AI-builtLargeHighShippedV.0.1.6125 Sep 2026
37

Smaller image files

Lighter photographs and depth files, so a whole scene arrives sooner on a slower connection. The depth files travel compressed, which more than halved each download. The photographs now use near-lossless compression too: about a third smaller, at most 2 levels off in any colour, with no visible change.

OperationalAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.74 on 26 Sep 2026

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A private preview on the web

The app on Vercel behind a sign-in, with its photographs on Cloudflare's storage, ready for the first testers.

OperationalAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.63 on 25 Sep 2026

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39

Switch scenes without the wait

Once your scene has all its photographs, the others download quietly in the background, so switching to one shows its picture almost at once. Skipped when your browser is set to save data.

OperationalAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.68 on 25 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallHighShippedV.0.1.6825 Sep 2026
40

The subject never disappears when you aim

Aiming the zoom low, at the lakeside cascade for instance, could make the figure on the bench and the heron vanish from about 17 mm. The same could happen to the subject in any scene. The subject is now always drawn in front of its scenery.

FoundationsAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.69 on 25 Sep 2026

FoundationsSmallHighShippedV.0.1.6925 Sep 2026
41

Visit counts

The app counts visits with Vercel Web Analytics: no cookie, no record of who you are, totals only. The user guide's privacy section explains how.

OperationalAdded 26 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.71 on 26 Sep 2026

OperationalSmallMediumShippedV.0.1.7126 Sep 2026
42

The heron's reflection moves with it

At a slow shutter speed the heron streaked, but the dark reflection under it stayed sharp. Now the reflection streaks and fades with the bird.

FoundationsSuggested by Joe HoughtonAdded 25 Sep 2026Shipped in V.0.1.73 on 26 Sep 2026

FoundationsSmallMediumShippedV.0.1.7326 Sep 2026