Photography
The art of drawing with light. From the Greek 'phos' (light) and 'graph' (to draw).
Color Grading
Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Aperture | The variable opening in the lens through which light passes to the sensor. Measured in f-stops. |
| Bracketing | Taking a series of images at different exposures. Often used for HDR or difficult lighting. AEB = auto exposure bracketing. |
| Bulb | The "B" setting where the shutter remains open as long as the button or cable release is pressed. |
| DSLR | Digital single-lens reflex camera. Interchangeable lenses, mirror and prism viewfinder — what you see is what the lens sees. |
| EV | Exposure Value — a number representing combinations of aperture and shutter speed that produce the same exposure. |
| Exposure compensation | Modifying shutter speed or aperture from the camera's recommended exposure (+/- button). The camera meters for 18% grey, so adjust for lighter or darker subjects. |
| Exposure | Total light reaching the sensor, controlled by aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. |
| F-stop | Focal length divided by aperture diameter. Each step doubles the light: 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22. |
| ISO | Sensor sensitivity to light. Lower (100) = less sensitive, higher (3200) = more sensitive. Higher allows shooting in low light. |
| Shutter speed | How long the shutter is open. Fast (1/2000s) freezes motion, slow (1/4s+) blurs it. |
| Vignette | Reduction of brightness or saturation toward the edges of the frame. |
| Fiducial marker | An object in the field of view used as a reference point or measure. |
Lenses
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Zoom | Variable focal length (e.g. 24-70mm, 18-55mm). Rotate the barrel to zoom. |
| Prime / fixed | Single focal length (e.g. 50mm). No zoom. |
| Macro | Focuses very close, allowing 1:1 reproduction or larger. |
| Normal | ~50mm on full frame (~35mm on crop sensor). Closest to human eye perspective. |
| Telephoto | Longer than normal (e.g. 70-300mm). Narrow field of view, magnified image. Super telephoto: 300mm+. |
| Wide-angle | Wider field of view than normal. May have edge distortion; extreme wide becomes fish-eye. |
| Tilt-shift | Allows tilting the front element (realign plane of focus) and shifting (keep parallel lines from converging). Popular for architecture and landscape. |
Camera
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Resolution | Sensor dimensions in megapixels. Larger = bigger prints without quality loss. |
| JPG vs RAW | JPG: camera processes and compresses in-camera. RAW: larger file, more information, requires post-processing software, more control. |
| Full frame vs crop | Full frame ≈ 35mm film. Crop sensor captures a portion (1.5x or 1.6x factor), so a 50mm lens behaves like ~75mm. |
| Manual mode | User sets ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. |
| Shutter priority | User sets ISO + shutter speed, camera picks aperture. (Tv on Canon, S on Nikon) |
| Aperture priority | User sets ISO + aperture, camera picks shutter speed. (Av on Canon, A on Nikon) |