PHOTOGRAPHY VOCAB

CANDID

a portrait taken while the subject is not posing. This can be achieved either by capturing a subject unaware of the photographer's presence or by introducing motion and surprising the model during a photoshoot. This kind of portrait photography is highly popular in street photography and is becoming more relevant in formal environments such as weddings.

VIBRANCE

a post-processing photography term coined by Adobe used to describe a "smart" saturation setting. Unlike the saturation slider, which increases all colors' pureness equally, vibrance only affects those colors that are less saturated than the rest.

P (program)

a semi-automatic camera mode. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't stand for "professional," but for "programmed automatic". This mode allows photographers to control a few settings such as the use of flash, ISO, EV, and WB. The rest of the settings are automatically selected by the camera.

S (shutter priority)

a semi-automatic camera mode. This mode allows photographers to control the shutter speed. The rest of the settings are automatically selected by the camera.

A (aperture priority)

a semi-automatic camera mode.This mode allows photographers to control the aperture. The rest of the settings are automatically selected by the camera.

GOLDEN HOUR

also commonly referred to as 'magic hour,' is the period right before sunset. During this time, the sun is low on the horizon so light takes on a redder shade than when it's higher up in the sky.

JPEG

an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group and the standard format in which pictures are compressed. Due to this compression, JPEG files are smaller and carry less information.

FRAMES PER SECOND (FPS)

determines the speed at which a camera can take photos. It is especially important for sport and wildlife photographers, who need to be able to shoot rapidly to make sure they capture perfectly-timed images.

CROP

To remove or adust the outside edges of an image to improve framing of composition. This is usually to emphasize the subject or a certain aspect of the photo.

SATURATION

refers to the color intensity of an image. As their saturation increases, colors appear more vivid and are considered more pure. Decreasing saturation results in muted colors, with full desaturation giving a monochromatic version of the image.

MANUAL

the camera mode in which the photographer controls all exposure settings. Shooting manual offers complete creative control over the shot, and is therefore considered a "must" for professional photographers.

APERTURE

the opening through which light passes through the lens to enter the camera. Its size can be modified to control how much light reaches the sensor or negative film. The diameter of the aperture, also known as the F-stop, affects the exposure and depth of field.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization, represents the sensor's sensitivity to the light. The higher the number, the most information will be captured. Higher ISO numbers are used in low-light situations such as astrophotography. Digital cameras allow photographers to easily change the ISO, while each film roll has a predefined number.

OVEREXPOSURE

Overexposure occurs when the exposure value is higher than it should be, resulting in a loss of information over highlight areas.

ZOOM

Zoom lens are those whose focal length can be modified, allowing photographers to make the subject appear closer than it really is. This type of lenses is much more popular than prime lenses, as it offers more flexibility.

BULB

a camera setting that holds the shutter open for as long as the shutter release button is pressed. In some cases, the shutter release needs to be pressed once to open the shutter and once to close it, rather than remaining pushed down. This mode allows photographers to capture longer exposures than the ones offered by the camera (usually up to 30").

SCENE MODES

are automatic camera modes with pre-set exposure values based on different types of situations and subjects. These modes are aimed to help amateur photographers achieve the optimum exposure and DOF without having to control any of the settings.

CONTRAST

defines the range of tonal difference between the shadows and lights of an image. As the contrast becomes higher it emphasizes these variations, resulting in stronger textures and colors. Pictures with lower contrast may be perceived as dull, as a smaller difference between lights and shadows results in a muted appearance.

QUALITY

one of the most widely used and yet more vague photography terms. One way to consider the quality of an image is looking for aberrations or information loss. Another, more subjective, one is to evaluate its composition, sharpness, exposure, etc.

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)

technique that gives images a wider dynamic range than the one captured by the camera. The goal of this technique is representing a scene as close as possible to how it was seen by the human eye. HDR images are created by combining multiple photos with different exposure values.

BRACKETING

the action of capturing the same shot using different exposure values to make sure the whole scene is exposed properly. Bracketing can be done manually or using the auto exposure bracketing (AEB) function. In most cameras, AEB allows photographers to select the exposure compensation for the additional shots, which are taken automatically as you press the shutter release. For most compositions, a 1/3 exposure compensation is the way to go.

WHITE BALANCE

the adjustment done to an image in order to compensate for the temperature of the light illuminating the scene. Cameras offer a few pre-set values based on the most common types of illumination, but it can also be set manually during or after the shot.

EXPOSURE

the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor and it determines how light or dark an image is. The exposure of an image is determined by the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

DEPTH OF FIELD (DOF)

the distance between the closest and farthest object within the focused zone of an image. It is determined by focal distance, aperture, and distance to the subject. The higher these numbers are, the more shallow the DOF will be.

FOCAL LENGTH

the distance in millimeters between the center of a lens and the camera sensor. It determines the angle of view as well as the magnification of the subject. Focal length is the measure used to categorize the different type of lenses: wide angle (<35mm), standard (35mm - 70mm), medium telephoto (70mm - 135mm) and telephoto (>135mm).

UNDEREXPOSURE

the exposure value was lower than necessary, resulting in a photo that is too dark to produce normal contrast.

SHUTTER SPEED

the length of time a camera sensor is exposed to light when taking a photo. Slow shutter speeds capture the blur of subjects in motion, making it highly valuable for night and landscape photographers. On the other hand high speeds allow photographers to freeze a single millisecond in time, which is usually an absolute must in fields such as sport and pet

COMPOSITION

the manner in which elements are positioned within a photo. It is considered one of the most important components of an image, as it allows the photographer to guide the viewer's eye across the image towards the main subject. There are numerous photography composition rules that are proven to be successful.

DIAPHRAGM

the mechanical device inside a camera lens that controls the aperture. Modern DSLR cameras use what is known as an "iris diaphragm," which is made of overlapping blades that can be modified to increase or decrease the size of the aperture.

MACRO

the name given to extreme close up photography, usually capturing really small organisms or objects. In this kind of photos, the size at which the subject appears on the sensor is larger than it is in real life.

BURST RATE

the number of consecutive shots a camera can take in continuous shooting mode. When using this mode, images are stored in a high-speed buffer memory before being transferred to the memory card. Once the buffer is full, the camera will reduce the FPS to give it enough time to free space. Burst rate can be affected by image formats, as it depends on the file size, as well as by the speed of the memory card used.

DYNAMIC RANGE

the range of luminance of an image between its highest and lowest light intensities, usually pure white and pure black. The dynamic range of a digital sensor is slightly narrower than that of film photography, and both of them are significantly limited in comparison to what the human eye can perceive. Scenes with a wider dynamic range than that of the camera sensor will result in images that are either overexposed or underexposed.

BLUE HOUR

the short period of time before sunrise when the sun is just below the horizon. Indirect sunlight is evenly diffused and takes on a blue shade. The duration of the blue hour varies depending on the location, but generally lasts less than an hour.

TONAL RANGE

the total number of tones in an image, from its darkest to its brightest area. A wider tonal range allows for a higher variety of shades, which translates into more detail. In black and white photography, this translated into shades of gray. In digital photography, tonal range is directly affected by dynamic range.

HISTOGRAM

the visual representation of the luminance of an image. The left side of the graph represent the shadows, while the right side belongs to the highlights. The height of the histogram shows how many pixels there are for each specific luminance level.

NOISE

visual distortion that looks like tiny colored specs on a photo. It is especially visible in images shot at high ISO or very slow shutter speeds. Noise is the digital photography version of film grain.