Photography Glossary: Camera Equipment, Photographer Choices, and Image Terms
Camera Equipment Terminology
Aperture: Refers to a hole or opening through which light is able to travel.
Bracketing: This is a technique involving the capture of photographs: one taken with the camera's recommended settings, one intentionally underexposed, and one intentionally overexposed. The purpose of this technique is to ensure at least one photograph achieves a good exposure.
Exposure: Represents the unit of measurement for the total quantity of light permitted to reach the electronic sensor during the process of taking a photograph.
Focus: The act of adjusting the distance between the lens and the subject, allowing light rays to converge and form a clear and sharply defined image of the subject.
Focus Ring: A component of the lens assembly that can be adjusted to bring an image into clear focus.
Filter: A lens screen, typically made of dyed gelatin or glass, used for either controlling the rendering of color or diminishing the intensity of light.
Image Sensor: A device that utilizes the property of photodiodes to generate an electrical charge when exposed to light. A single device can contain millions of sensor sites, known as picture elements or 'pixels', which are arranged in rows and columns to form a matrix.
Iris: Any adjustable opening designed to regulate the amount of light that enters through the camera's lens.
ISO: A rating scale that provides a measure of film speed. As ISO numbers increase, the film speed also increases. ISO is an acronym for International Standards Organization.
Lens: A glass disc whose primary function is to focus light into an image that can subsequently be recorded on an electronic medium, such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor.
Shutter: A mechanical device responsible for controlling the duration of time an image sensor is exposed to light.
Shutter Speed: A direct measurement of the length of time that the shutter remains open during an exposure.
SLR: Stands for Single Lens Reflex. This type of camera typically employs a mirror and prism system, which enables the photographer to look directly through the lens and precisely observe what will be captured in the final image.
Viewfinder: A lens, frame, or LCD screen on a camera that allows the photographer to preview what will be included in the picture.
White Balance: The process of correcting unrealistic color casts in a photograph, with the aim of rendering objects that appear white in reality as white in the captured image.
Choices Photographers Make Terminology
Framing: A compositional technique used to draw attention to the main subject of an image by obstructing other parts of the visual frame with elements present within the scene itself.
Zoom Lens: A type of lens whose focal length can be adjusted, effectively eliminating the necessity for a multitude of separate, fixed-focal-length lenses.
Balance: Refers to the pleasing arrangement of elements within a picture, also known as artistic balance, which dictates the strategic placement of visual components in a photograph.
Camera Angle: The specific angle at which the camera is positioned relative to the subject, which can be eye-level or from an angle either below or above the subject.
Close-Up Shot: A photograph taken with the camera positioned so near to the subject that the subject completely fills the frame.
Composition: The deliberate placement or arrangement of visual elements within a photographic frame.
Contrast: The strategic use of an element to generate visual interest or emphasis within a photograph.
Depth of Field: The measurable distance between the nearest and the farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in a photograph.
Editing: The comprehensive process involving the deletion, addition, or rearrangement of elements within a photograph to enhance its overall quality or message.
Eye-Level Shot: A photograph taken with the camera positioned at the same level as the subject. While often considered the default shot, it is not always the most impactful compositional choice.
Intent: The deliberate and planned reason or purpose behind undertaking a specific action or creating a particular photograph.
Rhythm: A compositional technique that utilizes the repeated use of an element throughout a photograph to encourage a sense of movement or flow within the image.
Rule of Thirds: A principle derived from the Golden Ratio, which proposes that an image should be conceptually divided into equal parts by equally spaced horizontal lines and equally spaced vertical lines. Important compositional components should ideally be placed along these lines or at their points of intersection for a more balanced and engaging image.
Zoom: The function of a digital camera used to create the illusion that the image appears closer to the viewer.
The Image Terminology
Bitmap: Images that are created or captured as a grid of colored dots, each known as a pixel. Because a bitmap image (also referred to as a raster image) contains a finite number of pixels, its visual quality and appearance are directly influenced by its resolution.
Harmony: The desirable outcome achieved when various design principles work together cohesively and effectively within an image.
JPEG: A widely used lossy compression technique specifically designed for digital images. The term is an acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group, the organization responsible for creating this standard.
Macro photography: A specialized form of photography focused on producing images of small items at a magnification greater than their actual life size.
Mood: The overall emotional feeling or atmosphere that a photograph evokes in the viewer.
RAW: A specific file type that contains minimally processed data directly from the image sensor of a digital camera, preserving maximum image information.
Subject: Refers to the main person, thing, or event that is captured by the photograph. It is typically considered the most significant element within the photograph and is also known as the focal point.
White Space: The area within a photograph that does not contain any discernible visual information or prominent elements, acting as negative space.