Photography Basics – The Ultimate Beginner’s Photography Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key photography basics concepts from the video. Each card presents a term and its concise definition to aid study for beginners.

Exposure

The amount of light captured by the camera; determines image brightness and affects highlights, shadows, and details. It is influenced by aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and can be correctly exposed, underexposed, or overexposed.

Aperture

The lens opening that controls how much light reaches the sensor and also affects depth of field. Expressed as an F-number (F-stop); larger opening (lower F-number) = brighter image and shallower depth of field; smaller opening (higher F-number) = darker image and deeper depth of field.

Shutter Speed

The duration the camera shutter stays open to expose the sensor. Measured in seconds or fractions of a second; faster speeds freeze motion and reduce blur, slower speeds brighten the image but can cause motion blur and camera shake.

ISO

Sensor sensitivity to light. Higher ISO makes the image brighter but increases digital noise; lower ISO yields cleaner images but requires more light.

Exposure Triangle

The interdependent relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO; adjusting one requires compensating with the others to maintain the desired exposure.

Depth of Field (DOF)

The range of acceptable sharpness in a photo. Affected by aperture, focal length, subject distance, and sensor size; wide apertures produce shallow DOF, narrow apertures produce deep DOF.

Focal Length

The lens’s optical distance to the sensor, measured in millimeters. Shorter focal lengths yield wider fields of view; longer focal lengths provide more magnification and a narrower field of view, often with different distortion characteristics.

Sensor Size

Physical size of the camera sensor (e.g., full-frame 35mm, cropped sensors, medium format). Bigger sensors generally collect more light, offer better low-light performance, and influence depth of field and reach.

Focus

The process of adjusting the lens to achieve maximum sharpness on a subject; can be manual or automatic (AF).

Hyperfocal Distance

The focus distance that maximizes depth of field for a given aperture, so that objects from near to infinity appear reasonably sharp in landscape photography.

Focus Stacking

An advanced technique of taking multiple shots at different focus distances and merging them to extend sharpness across the scene.

White Balance

Color temperature adjustment to render colors (especially whites) accurately under different lighting. Measured in Kelvin; options include AWB, presets, and custom (manual) white balance.

Histogram

A graphical representation of the tonal distribution in an image, showing shadow, midtone, and highlight information to help judge exposure.

Composition

The arrangement of elements within a frame to create a visually appealing and communicative image; includes rules (e.g., balance, rhythm) and leading lines, shapes, colors, and textures.

Rule of Thirds

A composition guideline that places important elements along a 3x3 grid, typically at the grid intersections.

Golden Triangle

A composition rule that uses triangular regions to place subjects and guide eye movement within the frame.

Rule of Odds

A guideline favoring an odd number of subjects in a scene to create dynamic balance and interest.

Leading Lines

Natural lines within a scene (roads, fences, rivers) that draw the viewer’s eye toward the subject.

Camera Modes

Shooting modes that control exposure settings: Program (P), Shutter Priority (Tv/S), Aperture Priority (Av/A), and Manual (M).

Metering Modes

How the camera evaluates scene light to set exposure: Matrix/Multi, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering.

Focus Modes & Areas

Autofocus behaviors (AF-S/One-shot, AF-C/AI-Servo) and focus-area options (Single Point, Dynamic Area, Auto Area) that determine how the camera maintains sharpness.

Editing

Post-processing steps to adjust exposure, color, sharpness, and overall look to finalize images.

Photography Gear

The tools of the trade: cameras, lenses, tripods, filters, and other accessories used to capture photos.

Tripod

A sturdy three-legged stand that provides stability for sharp images, especially in low light or long exposure work.

Long Exposure

A technique using slow shutter speeds to capture motion (such as flowing water or star trails) and to achieve light trails or silky effects.

RAW

An unprocessed image file that preserves more image data for flexible post-processing, as opposed to compressed JPEGs.

Auto Focus (AF)

The camera’s automatic system that adjusts focus to keep subjects sharp, as opposed to manual focusing.

Bokeh

The quality of the out-of-focus areas in an image, often enhanced by lens design and wide apertures.