Aberration = The ability of the lens to produce a perfect sharp image especially towards the edge of the image or the end of the lens field. Generally, expensive lenses tend to perform better in this category. You can reduce the faults in a lens by using small apertures sometimes or you’re able to adjust that in a photo editing software.
AF Lock = Refers to Auto Focus Lock. It’s useful when you shooting a subject outside the focus area in the viewfinder. The photographer looks at the subject, locks the focus, and then recomposes.
Ambient Light = The available light surrounding the subject. The light that already exists in a setting not created by or supplied by the photographer.
Angle of View = The maximum angle of a little lens will capture an image and how wide it is captured on the sensor. Your human eye has basically a 35-degree angle of view.
Aperture = A circular hole or opening inside the camera that controls the amount of light allowed to pass through to the sensor. When we speak of aperture, we also speak of shooting “wide open,” which means the aperture is opened up to its largest diameter. “Stopping down” refers to closing down the aperture to its smallest opening.
Aperture Priority= When the photographer sets the size of the aperture and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed for the best possible exposure.
Back Focus = The distance between the back surface of the lens in an imaginary plane when the lens is focused to infinity.
Back Lighting= Light coming from behind the subject.
Blur = Unsharp image areas created by a subject or camera movement or by selective, inaccurate focusing.
Bracketing = Technique used for shooting a number of pictures of the same viewpoint at different levels of exposure. We also could call that “exposure bracketing.
Broad Lighting = A portrait lighting term that describes the main light source illuminating the side of the face closest to the camera, so it has shadows or darkness on the opposite side which creates a dramatic image.
Cable Release = A flexible cable used for firing a camera shutter, particularly useful for slow shutter speeds so you don’t create any camera shake with your hand touching the shutter release button. Almost entirely used when the camera is mounted to a tripod.
Cropping = Omitting parts of an image when making a print or editing your photos in your photo editing software. You crop to improve the composition of the final image.
Depth of Field = Between the nearest point and the farthest point in the subject which is perceived as acceptably sharp along a common image plane. That is the technical definition. When we speak of depth of field, we’re in a more general description as how sharp the background is; typically with portrait photography when your background is blurred. Especially in shooting outdoor portraits, if the background is blurred, it tends to make the image more striking and the subjects stand out in the image.
Dodging = When you reduce the exposure in specific areas in the image. “Burning” is the opposite where you increase the level of exposure on certain areas. You’re able to do this in photographic image editing software. The term comes from the old film days when they would do it on the paper.
Exposure = The product of the intensity of the light and the time the light is allowed to act on the sensor.
Fisheye = Describes a distorted fisheye view of a lens that’s used a lot in sports and skating photography. Basically, it just distorts the edges of the photograph and makes the image look wider than normal like looking at a fishbowl.
Flare or Lens Flare = Light that’s randomly scattered across the image from the sun or an artificial light. Lens hoods reduce lens flare in shading the front of the lens from that light that scatters across it. Artistically speaking, lens flare isn’t always bad, so experiment with it.
Flash Synchronization = The method of synchronizing the light from your external flash, and the duration of that light with the maximum time the shutter can stay open. If the speed of the shutter exceeds the maximum amount, then one of the curtains is going to show in the image. Let’s say your maximum flash sync speed is 1/250 of a second, if you shoot at 1/500 of a second, it’s going to capture the curtain closing in the image.
F Numbers or F-Stop = The numbers that are on the lens barrel or inside of your camera that indicate the size of the aperture relative to the focal length. F-stops can be calculated in thirds as well possibly inside your camera, but when we refer to F numbers or F-stop, it’s basically just referring to the size of the aperture opening. A more technical definition of F-stop is the number that equals the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the aperture.
Hot Shoe = The fitting on the top of many cameras designed to hold the accessories, such as an external flash. This would be the next step to creating more striking photography, to add the flash to the hot shoe so you’ll have more control and a greater amount of light that you could project to your subject.
IS or Image Stabilizer Or Image Stabilization = Refers to a feature that minimizes the effects of camera shake due to an improper technique or vibrations through the camera.
ISO = Refers to the ISO settings on your camera. Digital cameras don’t use film, but it was originally created as an international standard. The acronym that stands for International Standards Organization. They replaced the old ASA as a prefix to film speeds, so it’s a term that they carried over from film photography to just refer to the amount of light sensitivity that the sensor is capable of producing. A low ISO of 100 is less sensitive to light than an ISO setting of 1600.
JPEG = A format for compressed graphic files. JPEG graphics are commonly used as a part of the World Wide Web. It’s the standard for compression. Most cameras shoot in JPEG.
Macro Photography = Extreme close-up photography. Some lenses will come with a macro setting and that will allow you to take images from a very close perspective, up to less than 6 inches or more. Technically, the technical definition for macro photography is photography which produces an image larger than the original subject size without the use of a microscope.
Neutral Density Filter = Describes a gray camera filter that has an equal opacity to all the colors in the spectrum so it does not affect the colors in the final image. Photographers use it to reduce the amount of light entering the camera when the aperture is wide open, or when the aperture and shutter settings must remain constant. It’s generally used for trying to blur motion during the day when you need to use a long exposure to blur motion but you don’t want to let too much light into the sensor so that the image isn’t overexposed.
Polarizing Filter = Another colorless gray filter made from stressed glass. Polarizing filters, or circular polarizers for digital cameras, are used to reduce or remove specular reflection from certain types of surfaces. In other words, on a hazy day with bright sunlight you’d use a circular polarizer where it would reduce the amount of glare just as your sunglasses do reduce glare and produce a higher level of contrast in the image.
Saturation = The degree to which color is undiluted by white light. If a color is 100% saturated, it contains no white light or if it has not saturation or de-saturated, it’s a shade of gray.
UV Filter = A filter that’s used to absorb ultraviolet radiation. A UV filter can also be used to protect the front of your lens. It does nothing to distort or hurt the image in any way. It actually improves your image. Some people don’t use UV filters but it’s recommended. It’s a lot cheaper to replace a UV filter than it is the lens if it gets scratched.
Wide-angle Lens = A lens that has a wide covering range. It has a focal length that’s less than a diagonal on format which is being used. This is the technical term. Wide-angle lenses have a wide angle of view.
Zoom lens = A variable focal length lens, whereas at fixed focal length lens you wouldn’t be able to change the focal length. With a zoom lens, you’ll have a range of focal length.