photography

slr

A camera that utilizes a prism and mirror system to project the image seen by the lens onto a focusing screen located below the prism housing.

lossy

A data-compression technique that can reduce the detail of a digital image file. Most video compression techniques utilize lossy compression.

hdslr

A digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) that can also capture high-definition video.

shutter

A mechanism in the camera that controls the duration of light transmitted to the film or sensor.

megapixel

A megapixel contains 1,000,000 pixels and is the unit of measure used to describe the size of the sensor in a digital camera.

inkjet

A printing method in which the printer sprays micro-jets of ionized ink at a sheet of paper in droplet sizes as small as 2 picoliters.

noise reduction

A process in a digital camera's image processor in which the artifacts caused by "pushed" ISO ratings or other electrical or heat-related artifacts are suppressed or eliminated in an image.

reflex

A reflex camera is one that utilizes a mirror system to reflect the light (or latent image) coming through the lens to a visible screen.

time lapse

A series of photographs captured over a period of time.

non lossy

A term that refers to data compression techniques that do not remove image data details, to achieve compression.

f stop

A term used to describe the aperture, or diaphragm opening of a lens.

lag time

Also known as shutter lag, lag time refers to the delay that sometimes occurs between the time the shutter button is pressed and the time the shutter fires.

PNG

Developed as a patent-free alternative to GIF, this format is used for lossless compression for purposes of displaying images on the World Wide Web.

exposure

Exposure is the phenomenon of light striking the surface of film or a digital imaging sensor.

sd card

Far smaller than CompactFlash (CF) cards, Secure Digital memory cards have enabled camera manufacturers to further reduce the size of digital cameras.

gif

Graphic Interface designed by CompuServe for using images online. This is a 256-color or 8-bit image.

rig

In HDSLR terms, this is a support and focus system designed especially for capturing video footage with an HDSLR camera.

memory card

In digital photography, a memory card is a removable device used in digital cameras to store the image data captured by the camera.

raw files

Many pro and semi-pro digital cameras include the option for capturing raw files, which—unlike JPEGs, TIFFs, and other file formats—contain all of the data captured during the exposure in an unedited format.

micro lens

Micro lenses are commonly mounted on the tops of the light-gathering portion of pixels (aka photons) and are often angled along the edges of camera sensors to capture and redirect light back into the pixel, as a method of reducing light falloff on the edges of the image and redirecting it for image processing.

red eye

Red-eye is the term used to describe the reddened pupils of a subject's eyes that sometimes occurs when photographing people or pets with an electronic flash.

resolution

Refers to the number of pixels, both horizontally and vertically, used to either capture or display an image.

saturation

Saturation is the depth of the colors within a photographic image.

pixel

Short for picture element, pixels are the tiny components that capture the digital image data recorded by your camera.

thumbnails

Small, contact sheet-sized image files used to reference or edit digital images.

spot metering

Spot metering is the measurement of very small portions of the total image area.

viewfinder

System used for composing and focusing on the subject being photographed.

remote capture

The ability to trip the camera shutter from a distance using a cable release or wireless transmitter / transceiver.

white balance

The camera's ability to correct color cast or tint under different lighting conditions including daylight, indoor, fluorescent lighting, and electronic flash

memory

The camera's file-storage medium.

jpeg

The de facto standard for image compression in digital imaging devices.

export

The process of sending a file out through a specialized mini-application or plug-in, so as to print or compress it.

under exposure

The result of recording too little light when taking a picture, which results in a dark image.

overexposure

The result of recording too much light when taking a picture, which results in a lighter image.

file format

The way an image is saved to a digital camera's memory.

watermark

Traditionally, a watermark is an image or icon that is embedded into paper for security purposes (American paper currency has a watermark).

tiff

flexible bitmap image files supported by virtually all paint, image editing, and page-layout applications.

lcd (Liquid Crystal Display)

usually found on the rear of digital cameras, allow you to preview and review photographs you are about to take or have taken.

megabyte

1,024 Kilobytes, written MB, is used to refer to the size of files or media, such as hard drives.