Photograph by Tim Speciale
The Photo Dictionary
The photo dictionary is a growing list of photography terms, principles, ideas and constructs. It serves as a dictionary, encyclopedia, and glossary to beginning photographers as well as advanced photographers. Although geared more towards the amateur, ThePhotoDictionary is designed to help anyone with a camera. If you have questions or suggestions, please visit the forums and blog.
Click on the letter to go to the corresponding section
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZA
Aberration
In photography, an aberration refers to an optic flaw as seen in a photograph that is the direct result of a lens's ability to accurately resolve an image. An aberration will manifest itself in a couple of different ways depending on the specific aberration. Because there are many forms of aberrations, there are many results.Related Articles:
Buying a lensHow lenses work
Lenses and aberrations
Aperture
The aperture is a small iris located within the lens that dictates how much light is allowed through the lens. This iris is made out of multiple blade-like hinges that form a circular opening. On more expensive lenses, there are typically more blades forming a more perfect circle which in turn will often provide more pleasing bokeh. See: Aperture setting.Aperture Setting
The aperture setting is how you control the opening of the iris of the lens. A larger opening lets in more light as well as decreases the depth of field (and vice versa). The value is limited to the capability of the lens. Typically, more expensive and higher quality lenses have larger constant apertures. This setting is expressed in f/stops; the larger the number, the smaller the opening in the lens.E.g. A setting of f/2.8 has a larger opening than f/4
Available Light
Available light refers to the measurable amount of light in a given scene. This amount of light is often measured in lumens.Artificial Light
Artificial light is merely light that is created artificially. The use of a flash or strobe is a classic example of creating artificial light.B
Backlight
Backlight, or backlit, refers to a situation in which the subject of a photograph is in front of a brighter background. This can lead to a loss in contrast and dark subjects. See article on fill flash...Bokeh
Bokeh is a Japanese word that refers to the quality of out of focus blurring resulting from a particular lens. Please note: you cannot “add bokeh” or “have more bokeh” as bokeh is a subjective qualitative term in regards to the lens, not a quantitative term in regards to a photograph. See: Depth of FieldE.g. That lens provides excellent bokeh.
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Camera Shake
Camera shake refers to the effect on a photograph that is caused by shutter speed that is too slow for the camera's setup. Different lenses, for instance, require different shutter speeds. Telephoto lenses require faster shutter speeds than do wide angle lenses. Camera shake is rarely an effect that is obtained intentionally and should not be confused with motion blur.Composition
Composition refers to how a photographer frames and exposes a photograph. Composure can be thought of having 3 aspects:
Content, or what you are actually photographing.
Framing, or how you put those subjects in the frame of your photograph.
Exposure, or how you manipulate the settings of your camera to obtain the photograph.
Contrast
Contrast in photography refers to a difference in color or brightness. An image with low contrast will appear hazzy or foggy while an image with high contrast will often process a certain "pop". Too much contrast can result in a loss of detail in an image.Crop
Crop refers to how a photograph is edited and "cut". Cropping a photograph will typically cut off parts of an image to cut out things the photographer doesn't want in the final image.D
Depth of Field
Depth of Field refers to the size of the area of a photograph that is in focus. The Depth of Field (often noted as DOF) is controlled by the focal length and the aperture of a lens.Depth of Field Preview Button
When pressed, the camera will stop the lens down to the selected aperture setting allowing the photographer to preview the depth of fieldDigital Camera
A digital camera is a camera that contains no film. Instead of film the camera has a digital sensor in its place.Digital Sensor
A digital sensor is an electronic light sensor that is used in place of film in modern cameras. Sensors are rated primarily by their amount of light capturing pixels, measured in megapixels; this is commonly referred to as sensor size but should not be confused with the physical size of the sensor.Dynamic Range
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Exposure
Exposure refers to the actual process of taking a photograph. Exposure is the act of exposing a photograph or exposing film or a sensor to light. (See: article on principles of exposure)F
Fill Flash
Fill flash is a technique used by photographers to literally fill in dark areas of a photograph with artificial light--most often an on-camera flash. To learn more about fill flash click here...Flash
A flash is a small hand held device that produces a very bright flash of light. This produces artificial light in situations where there is not enough ambient light. Flashes, unlike strobes, are typically mounted on the camera (flashes often produce much less light than a strobe can). Many newer flashes work together with the camera to automatically produce the correct amount of light for a proper exposure.Focal Distance
The focal distance refers to the distance from the end of a lens to the focal point.Focal Length
The focal length of a lens refers to the distance, expressed in millimeters (mm), from the focal point of the lens to the principle plane. In an SLR, the focal point is the film or sensor. Larger focal lengths yield more magnification. The focal length is also how a lens is gets its classification.E.g. A 300mm lens is longer than a 200mm lens.
Focal Point
The focal point is the absolute point of focus that a lens is focused on. This is also the center of the depth of field.f/stop
An f/stop refers to the setting of an aperture where the setting is expressed f/[setting].E.g. "The f/stop used for this shot was f/2.8"
Freelance
In photography, a freelance photographer is one who works on contract. Often, a freelance photographer will work for multiple organizations. Work often comes when an organization, perhaps a newspaper, asks the photographer if they can go photograph an event.G
Grain
Grain refers to the grainy effect of higher ISO film use. A film’s sensitivity to light is directly related to the size of the light sensitive particles in the film. Bigger particles yield more sensitivity and in turn are more visible resulting in a visible grain with the use of higher ISO films. Although grain is technically no longer an issue with digital photography, digital sensors are vulnerable to a nearly identical phenomenon. The resulting effect is referred to as noise.H
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Image Stabilization
Image stabilization is a technology built most commonly into lenses (on SLR systems) but most recently directly in the camera. The technology compensates for camera movement that would lead to motion blur. Although image stabilization will not get rid of motion blur, it will significantly cut down on it in certain situations.ISO
ISO refers to the sensitivity to light of film or a digital camera's sensor. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light the film/sensor is.E.g. ISO 400 is less sensitive than ISO 800
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Lens
A lens is the object attached to the body of a camera that allows for the focusing of light. The actual construction of a lens often contains many groups of lens elements. The lens is also where the aperture is located.Lens Classification
A lens is often classified as wide angle, standard, or telephoto. Wide angle lenses are generally range from 1-35mm, standard is often viewed as 40-80mm and telephoto is viewed as anything longer than that. Lenses are also classified by their aperture. This is often referred to as the speed of the lens. Faster lenses have wider apertures and offer more control over the depth of field as well as allow higher shutter speedsLens Speed
The speed of a lens refers to the size of the aperture. Faster lenses have larger apertures than slower lenses. A fast lens allows for more control of depth of field and allow for higher shutter speeds. Longer focal lengths require a larger opening for the same sized aperture (see article on depth of field), lens speed is often relative to the focal length of a lens. Also, lens speed can be subjective to an individual photographer. (See focus speedE.g. I think that f/2.8 is fast enough.
E.g. I need to buy a faster lens.
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Megapixels
Megapixels refer to the amount of pixels, in millions, a digital sensor contains. An increase in megapixel size is often the most notable upgrade from camera-to-camera within a given product range. Larger sensors yield larger files, often allowing for more control over cropping and print size. An 8 megapixel sensor is often written as 8mp (or 8,000,000 pixels). The amount of pixels is, for the most part, independent of its physical size.E.g. The canon 10D only has 10mp but the 20D has 8mp
Micro Four Thirds System
The Micro Four Thirds System is a standard created by Panasonic and Olympus that allows for interchangeable lens systems on compact sized cameras. Unlike other system standards, the Micro Four Thirds System does not allow for a mirror to be used due to its extremely small size.Motion Blur
Motion blur refers to the effect in a photograph produced by photographing an object that is moving quickly. The subject is moving so quickly that the shutter cannot freeze the action. Motion blur can be avoided (or obtained) merely by adjusting the shutter speed. Note: Motion blur should not be confused by camera shake.N
Noise
Noise refers to the visual effects of electrical interference between pixels on a sensor that results from higher ISO settings on a digital sensor. The effects on the photograph are nearly identical to the grain that results from the use of high ISO film.O
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Photo Essay
A photo essay is an essay "written" with photographs. The amount of photographs in an essay can vary but should have at least 5 but really should have more. All of the photographs should be connected to a central theme and tell a story. Often the essay is narrated. They can also include music or ambient noise.Point and Shoot
A point and shoot camera is, as the name refers, a camera that you simply point and the subject and "shoot". Point and shoot cameras generally are cheaper but yield less quality images than an SLR. This is in part because of their size (which to some is also an advantage) but also due to the lack of control the photographer has (which to some is also an advantage).Q
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Sensor Size
The sensor size can either refer to the amount of megapixels a sensor contains or the actual physical size of the sensor. Differences in physical sensor size are what give different digital cameras their respective classifications as full frame or crop. See: pixel density.Shutter
The shutter is a mechanical unit that sits in front of the sensor/film in a camera that opens and closes allowing light to hit the sensor/film. The duration that the shutter is open is referred to as shutter speed.Shutter Drag
Shutter drag (dragging the shutter) refers to a technique in flash photography where the camera is set to expose the photograph so that motion blur (or camera shake) is introduced into the photo while the flash is used to freeze the action. Since flashes typically fire very fast, the flash produces a very crisp and sharp image (lacking any motion blur). In a sense, when you drag the shutter, there are two exposures on one frame; the slow motion blurred exposure, and the fast (thus sharp) exposure produced by the flash.Shutter Release Button
The shutter release button is the small button on top of the camera that, when pressed, enables the camera to take a picture.Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is a measurement of time that refers to the length (in time) that the shutter is open and light is exposed to the film/sensor. Shutter speed is most often expressed in fractions of a second.E.g. The shutter speed was 1/400
Single Lens Reflex
See SLR
Stop
A stop refers to a change in setting by a measurement of "1". Stops are relative to each other. That is to say a stop of ISO is the same change in light as 1 stop of aperture or 1 stop of shutter speed or 1 stop of available light.Please note: This is a very difficult concept to comprehend, I would encourage you to read the article on Camera Settings and Exposure