Photography Terminology Explained

Zoom lens – lens with a changeable focal length. E.g. you can zoom in and out with a zoom lens.

Yellow filter – one of the most popular types of colour filters on black and white photos. Can now be added to black and white images in post-processing. Yashika – A Japanese camera brand known for producing a wide range of 35mm film cameras, medium format cameras, and digital cameras…

X-Sync – The fastest flash sync speed of your camera. It’s the faster shutter speed at which the whole image sensor is exposed to allow in a burst of flash. X-Ray Photography – Also known as radiography or medical imaging, is a specialized imaging technique that uses X-rays to capture…

Watermark – text or image added to a photo to identify the ownership of the picture. Learn how to turn your own signature into a watermark here. White balance – An adjustment that compensates for the colour temperature of the scene. Cameras have certain white balance modes such as daylight,…

Vibrance – post-processing setting that allows you to target and adapt the dull, muted colours of an image. Click here for our video on the difference between Saturation and Vibrance. Vignetting – where the corners of an image are made darker or lighter. Used to draw the viewers eye into…

Underexposure – when the picture is too dark. Not enough light has entered the camera. Ultra-wide Angle Lens – A type of camera lens with an exceptionally short focal length and a wide field of view, allowing photographers to capture expansive scenes and dramatic perspectives with exaggerated depth and spatial…

Tonal range – Tonal range is 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 grey. In digital photography, the…

Saturation – Saturation refers to the colour intensity of an image. As their saturation increases, colours appear more vivid and are considered purer. Decreasing saturation results in muted colours, with full desaturation giving a monochromatic version of the image. Scene modes – Scene modes are automatic camera modes with pre-set…

RAW file – a RAW file preserves most of the information from the camera, it doesn’t process it or compress it. You can’t see or print a RAW file until you process it through a computer programme. Raw files are approximately 3-5 times the size of a Jpeg file. Resolution…

Quality – Quality is one of the most widely used and yet more vague photography terms. One way to consider the quality of an image is by looking for aberrations or information loss. Another, more subjective, one is to evaluate its composition, sharpness, exposure, etc. Quick-release plate – A quick-release…