Appendix E: Genre Field Cheat-Sheets

One scannable page per genre — the card you screenshot before you walk out the door. Each sheet gives a Settings Box starting point (a place to begin, never a recipe to obey — read the scene, take a test frame, check the histogram, adjust), the gear that actually matters, the light to look for, the top three mistakes and their fixes, an ethics note where people are involved, and the one key tip that, if you remember nothing else, will save the shot.

Two reminders that run through every sheet:

• The camera is a tool; your eye is the instrument. Every setting below serves a decision about light, time, or attention — it is never the point.
• There is always a phone path. Each Settings Box includes a phone-equivalent line. A reader with only a phone can shoot every genre here.

The lighting diagrams use the book's standard top-down legend:

( S ) = subject     ▢ = key/main light (soft)     ☀ = sun / available light
[CAM] = camera       ○ = reflector / fill          ▣ = rim / hair / background light
arrows (→ ↓ ↘) show the direction light travels TOWARD the subject.

Full treatment of each genre lives in its chapter; this appendix is the field reference, not the lesson.

Portrait → Chapter 13

Settings Box — flattering single-person portrait

Gear that matters: A longer focal length and the ability to back up (kills nose-balloon distortion). A window. One bright thing to bounce — foam board, bedsheet, white wall. That's a complete portrait studio. Posing is 100% free and out-shoots gear.

Light to look for: One soft source, to the side and slightly forward — a north window is the best portrait light in the world. Choose short lighting (key on the far cheek → slims, sculpts — the default) over broad (key on the near cheek → widens). Put a catchlight at 10 or 2 o'clock in the eye.

LOOP / 45° KEY (top-down)        ( S ) ──► faces camera
                              ↗         ↖
                         ▢ 45° key       ○ reflector (fills shadow side)
                         (just above        key ≈ 2 stops brighter than fill
                          eye level)               = gentle, rounded modeling
                              [CAM]

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Always ask, explicitly; make sure they want to be photographed and can stop anytime. A subject who feels they have agency relaxes — which is also why the portrait gets better. Meet people at their eye level; use the name and pronouns they give you (Ch.32 covers releases and rights).

💡 One key tip: Put the camera down and talk to them until they forget it's there, then raise it slowly and shoot through the real moments. The portrait happens in the relationship, not the camera — chase the expression in the eyes; everything else is just the stage you build for it.

Landscape & Nature → Chapter 16

Settings Box — deep grand vista

Gear that matters: A tripod (enables low ISO + filters + the patience to wait). A polarizer — the one filter software cannot fake (cuts glare so you see into water). A wide lens — but your phone already has one. ND for smoothed water (or the phone's long-exposure mode).

Light to look for: Golden hour's low raking light reveals form and depth — most great vistas are made within an hour of sunrise/sunset. Overcast kills the grand vista but is perfect for the intimate landscape (textures, saturated color, forests, waterfalls). Go out in "bad" weather — clearing storms, fog, dramatic clouds — and stay home on dead-clear days.

DEPTH = foreground anchor + wide lens, LOW and CLOSE (side view)
[CAM] low/close ─► ▓ANCHOR▓ ···· middle ground ···· ^^^ far horizon ^^^
                  (looms large)                      (small, far away)
◄────────────────── eye travels IN ──────────────────►   focus ~⅓ in, f/8–f/11

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Leave no trace — stay on trails, don't trample the foreground you came to shoot, and respect closures and wildlife (see the wildlife sheet). Accessibility: superb landscapes come from roadside pullouts, boardwalks, and your own backyard — the variables that matter are light, weather, timing, and a thoughtful foreground.

💡 One key tip: You can't move the land or the light — so your only real levers are where you stand and when you're there. Scout in poor light, return in good light, arrive early, and stay 15–20 minutes past sunset for the afterglow.

Street & Documentary → Chapter 17

Settings Box — reactive street setup (bright day)

Gear that matters: Small and quiet wins — a modest camera or a phone is invisible in a way a big body with a long white lens is not. This is the one genre where smaller gear is better gear.

Light to look for: Three raw materials — light, gesture, juxtaposition. Position yourself where good light and likely activity intersect, then wait. Find a strong background first (a sign, a beam of light, a graphic wall) and wait for a person to complete it — the background is the half you control.

ZONE FOCUS at f/8, lens pre-set to ~3 m:
[CAM]──────|=================|==================|──────►
           ~2 m            3 m (set here)      ~5 m
           \________________ IN FOCUS _______________/   raise camera → instantly sharp

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Three separate questions — legal ≠ ethical ≠ kind. In many places you may photograph what's plainly visible in genuinely public space; the hinge is a reasonable expectation of privacy (never into homes, bathrooms, changing rooms), and jurisdictions vary — learn yours (publishing/selling carry extra rules; Ch.32). Run the gut-check: punching up or down? dignity? vulnerability? truth? would I trade places? If someone's uncomfortable, lower the camera; if asked to delete, delete. Raise the bar for children and anyone who can't object.

💡 One key tip: Pre-set everything so lifting the camera and releasing is one motion. When you're not fighting the machine, you suddenly see far more — and you are exactly as good as your edit.

Architecture & Interior → Chapter 18

Settings Box — exterior, and available-light interior

Gear that matters: A level/grid (free, in every phone). A tripod (for blue hour and bracketing). A tilt-shift lens corrects verticals optically but is a pro luxury — you don't need it: level camera + distance/height + software correction gets you 95% of the way for 0% of the cost.

Light to look for: Exteriors want golden hour (rakes texture) or blue hour with lit windows (the magic hour) — avoid flat noon and a blank white sky. Interiors are a dynamic-range fight: a window can be 4–6 stops brighter than the room. Wait for blue hour / overcast to balance the light is the strongest move.

WHY VERTICALS LEAN (side view):
camera LEVEL (sensor ∥ wall) → verticals stay parallel ║
camera TILTED UP             → top recedes → lines converge ╲ ╱  (keystone)
FIX, in order: 1 step back & shoot level   2 gain height   3 tilt-shift   4 correct in software

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Interiors are often people's homes and workplaces — get permission before shooting a private space, even with no one in frame. Many houses of worship welcome respectful photography but ask you to avoid services, flash, or certain areas — ask first.

💡 One key tip: The subject won't move, so every flaw is yours to prevent — slow down. Keep verticals true, kill the clutter, and beat the interior contrast with a clock (blue hour) rather than gear.

Macro & Close-Up → Chapter 19

Settings Box — small-subject close-up

Gear that matters: Working distance beats sharpness. Extension tubes ($-cheap, no glass, no quality loss) turn a 50mm you own into a macro lens — the best first buy. For live insects, favor a ~90–105mm macro for room to light and to not spook them. Phone: a clip-on macro lens + a homemade diffuser (sandwich bag) is a complete kit.

Light to look for: Soft = large relative to the subject — at this scale a sheet of paper is an overcast sky. Diffuse any hard source and bring it forward and to the side, past the lens barrel, or your own lens casts the shadow.

LENS-SHADOW PROBLEM → FIX (top-down):
                         ▢ diffused source, held FORWARD & to the SIDE (past the barrel)
                        ╱
   [CAM]=[lens]──►( S )
                        ╲
                         ○ white card fills the far side    (ring light banishes shadow but flattens form)

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent (wildlife at small scale): Don't kill, chill, or glue insects for a shot — photograph them where they are; early morning, when they're cool and slow, is kindest and easiest. Accessibility: macro is one of the most accessible genres — a complete body of work from one chair by a window.

💡 One key tip: Depth of field up close isn't a setting you dial in — it's a sequence you build. For deep, still subjects, lock the camera down and focus-stack many f/8 frames; the merge gives front-to-back sharpness no single exposure can.

Sports, Action & Wildlife → Chapter 20

Settings Box — the action setup

Gear that matters: Reach is the one genuine gear demand — wildlife/distant sport want 300–600mm-equivalent. But fieldcraft beats focal length: the photographer who knows how to get close with 200mm out-shoots the one leaning on 600mm. Phone "zoom" is mostly a digital crop → get close to approachable subjects (pond ducks, park squirrels, feeder birds) instead.

Light to look for: Bright enough to hold a fast shutter. Side/front light that carves the muscle and gives the subject edge against a soft, distant, compressed background (a long lens flattens the backdrop into a clean wash).

THE PEAK OF ACTION (speed of subject vs. time):
fast │\                         /     shoot at the HANG — motion slows, hangs at full
     │ \_____________________ /       extension, briefly almost STILL → most expressive
slow │        ↑ THE PEAK ↑            shape AND easiest to freeze.
     └──── rise ── HANG ── fall ──►   ANTICIPATE: release on the CUE before the peak.

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent (wildlife): If your presence changes the animal's behaviour, you are too close. Approach slowly and obliquely, stay low (eye level + less threatening), use a blind or a car, and be patient — the welfare of the subject outranks the photograph, always. Bait and nest disturbance are out of bounds.

💡 One key tip: Decide freeze or blur → continuous AF → direct the focus area → anticipate the peak → short aimed burst → cull hard. Leave space in the direction of travel so the subject has somewhere to go.

Night & Long-Exposure → Chapter 21

Settings Box — by situation (always on a tripod, stabilization OFF)

Gear that matters: The tripod — not a fast lens — is the enabling tool; it separates the still world from the moving one. A remote/2-s timer (don't shake it firing). A fast lens earns its cost only for the starfield. Phone: any steady brace + Night mode (which fakes a long exposure by stacking frames).

Light to look for: Blue hour (~20–40 min after sunset) is prime time — the deep cobalt sky and the just-switched-on city lights balance in brightness, so both hold detail (warm lights vs. cool sky = complementary contrast). After that, anything bright that moves draws a line; anything textured that moves turns to mist.

WHERE THE LONG SHUTTERS LIVE:
1/500 … 1/15 … 1" … 2" … 8" … 15" … 30" │ BULB
        └ handheld ends here ┘ (tripod) │ └ held open by remote
                                         ▲ time becomes the medium

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Light painting and tripods in public — don't blind drivers or block walkways, and respect private property at night. At a dark-sky site, shield your light and keep voices down for others shooting the stars.

💡 One key tip: Lock the camera down so the only thing moving is what you want to move. Focus manually on a bright distant light — the cardinal sin is discovering at home that a whole night's work is softly out of focus.

Product & Food → Chapter 14

Settings Box — tabletop product / food

Gear that matters: A window + a bounce/diffuser + a tripod is a full product set. For glossy surfaces, a large diffused source (a window behind tracing paper, a softbox) controls the reflection. A backdrop you can keep clean (seamless paper, a board) matters more than the camera.

Light to look for: Soft, directional light that reveals shape and texture — usually side or back light for food (backlight makes drinks and translucent food glow; rim-lights the steam). It's portraiture for objects: light the surface and the form, since objects can't be put at ease.

BACK / SIDE LIGHT for food (top-down):
        ☀ / ▢  large soft source, BEHIND & to the side (glows translucent food, rims steam)
           ↘
        ( S ) plate
           ↑
           ○ white card / bounce on the camera side (opens the front shadows)
        [CAM]

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: Food and product work is persuasion — styling for appetite is fine, but don't misrepresent the actual product a buyer receives (truth-in-advertising; retouching ethics, Ch.29). Credit makers/brands honestly.

💡 One key tip: One good light, placed well, beats four lights placed badly. Decide what the photo is about (the steam, the texture, the gloss), light that, and keep the set clean.

Travel → Chapter 24

Settings Box — the one-bag travel kit, run lean

Gear that matters: Less is more — one versatile body + one zoom (or just a phone) you'll actually carry beats a bag you leave in the hotel. Spare batteries, cards, and a way to back up daily (you can't reshoot a trip). A small travel tripod if blue-hour cities matter.

Light to look for: The same light every genre wants, but you rarely get to wait — so shoot the golden/blue hours hard (early mornings also mean empty famous sites), and learn to make flat midday work by finding shade, detail, and the intimate frame when the grand view is washed out.

TRAVEL = a portfolio of FRAME TYPES, not 50 versions of the wide shot:
[ ESTABLISHING ]  →  [ PORTRAIT ]  →  [ DETAIL ]  →  [ MOMENT / LIFE ]  →  [ FOOD / CLOSER ]
 sense of place      a face            the telling     people doing         the texture of
                                       small thing     something            the place

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: You are a guest. Ask before photographing people up close — a smile and a gesture cross most language barriers; honor "no." Don't pay-then-pose people into a stereotype, don't shoot inside sacred spaces or ceremonies without permission, and follow local laws on government/military sites and drones (Ch.24, Ch.32).

💡 One key tip: Photograph the place as someone who lives there would see it, not just its postcards — the light, the small rituals, the faces — and the camera you have with you (often your phone) is the one that gets the shot.

Event → builds on Chapters 11 (flash), 13 (portrait), 17 (documentary)

(Weddings, parties, conferences, performances — fast, unrepeatable, low and mixed light, real people.)

Settings Box — run-and-gun event

Gear that matters: A lens that gathers light (f/2.8 or faster), a flash you can bounce off ceilings/walls (never blast it forward — it flattens the room and kills the atmosphere), spare batteries and cards, and a second body or lens so a failure mid-event isn't fatal. Quiet, fast, mobile.

Light to look for: Mixed and dim. Find the existing pockets of good light (a window, a spotlight, string lights) and put people in them. When you must add light, bounce it to keep the room's feel; drag the shutter a little to let the ambient glow record behind the flash-lit subject.

BOUNCE, DON'T BLAST (side view):
            ceiling ──────────────────
               ↑  ▢ flash aimed UP/BACK → soft, broad, room keeps its mood
              ╱
   [CAM]──► ( S )         (direct on-axis flash = flat "deer-in-headlights" — avoid)

Top mistakes → fixes

Ethics / consent: You're often shooting paying clients and their guests — get a clear brief and a shot list, and a contract/usage agreement for paid work (Ch.35). Read consent at performances and private events (some bar photography); be discreet with children and during religious or solemn moments; ask before publishing identifiable guests (Ch.32).

💡 One key tip: Events don't pause — anticipate and pre-position for the moments you know are coming, gather the room's own light first, and bounce your flash so the photographs still feel like the night it was.

Cross-genre quick reference

Shutter speed — what each region does

FREEZE ◄───────────────────────────────────────────────────► BLUR / SMOOTH
1/4000  1/2000  1/1000  1/500  1/250  1/60  1/30  1/8  1"  10"  30"  BULB
wingtip  motor-  cycling  sport  walk   pan   pan  flow  silk  glassy  star
         sport                          (run)(car) water       water   trails

Aperture — the working defaults by genre

The three habits that travel across every genre on this card: (1) decide what the photograph is about before you touch a dial; (2) read the light first — its quality, direction, and color; (3) check the histogram, not the bright rear screen, and adjust. Settings serve the seeing. Now go shoot.