Mathematics are terrifying, there’s all those numbers and letters and symbols… It gives me the night sweats just thinking about it. Photographers and cinematographers are artists, and last time I checked, there isn’t a lot of long division involved in finger painting; however, despite being artists, we should understand the science and mathematics behind what we do so we don’t look like a bunch of phony-bologna, amateurs. Our good friend, and rock star DP, Clayton Moore (CMDP), talks a whole lot of crazy about footcandles, lux, lumen, watts, etc., and normally it’s a “smile and nod” situation, but perhaps he’s on to something. I was on the youtube getting my morning fill of puppies and otters when I came across a video about the Inverse Square Law; now, don’t get me started on how dull, and horrible that sounded, but I accidentally clicked the link, so I was in for the long haul. For those of you who don’t know, you’re lucky, it’s horrible, useless knowledge that is in no way practical or worth 15 seconds of your time. If you however, enjoy punishment, you can watch this video and learn all about how lighting works over distance. Believe me though, I guarantee no one in Hollywood or New York gives it a second thought.