Photography terminology starting with F
Flash – a burst of light. This can come from a pop-up flash built-in to the camera, a flash gun, or flash lights in a studio. Check out our 5 Pro Portrait Lighting Setups tutorial here.
Flash Sync speeds – the shutter speed at which the camera must be set whilst using flash lighting. Not using this will cause banding in an image.
Focal length – distance in millimetres where light rays converge in your lens to form a sharp image, and the camera sensor. In short, it controls your field of view. A low number will give you a wide field of view and a high number will give you a narrow field of view. Focal length determines whether a lens is categorised as being wide-angle, standard, or telephoto.
Focusing – the action where you focus your lens to get an area of your frame sharp.
Flat Lay – Flat Lay Photography is a photograph taken from directly above looking down on usually products or food. Click here for our flat-lay photography tutorial.
Fashion Photography – Fashion photography is a genre of photography that focuses on capturing clothing, accessories, and fashion trends in a visually appealing and artistic manner. Fashion photographers work closely with models, stylists, makeup artists, and designers to create images for editorial spreads, advertising campaigns, and fashion publications.
F-Stop/F-Number – The F-stop, also known as the F-number or aperture value, is a numerical scale used to indicate the size of the aperture opening in a camera lens. Each F-stop represents a specific ratio of the lens’s focal length to the diameter of the aperture opening, controlling the amount of light entering the camera and the depth of field in the resulting image. Need an F-Stop bootcamp? Check out our beginners course!
FPS – FPS stands for frames per second and 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.
Full Frame – Full frame refers to a digital camera sensor size that is equivalent in dimensions to a traditional 35mm film frame. Full-frame sensors offer larger surface areas and higher resolutions compared to smaller sensor formats, resulting in superior image quality, dynamic range, and low-light performance in digital photography.
Flags – Opaque or translucent panels or accessories used to block, shape, or control the direction of light in a scene. Flags are commonly used in studio photography and lighting setups to prevent unwanted light spills, create shadows, or shape the quality and direction of light sources.
Fisheye Lens – An ultra-wide-angle lens that produces extreme distortion and a hemispherical perspective, creating a characteristic “fisheye” effect in images. Fisheye lenses have a very short focal length and a wide field of view, capturing a vast expanse of the scene with exaggerated curvature and distortion around the edges.
Fixed-lens camera – Also known as a compact camera or point-and-shoot camera, is a digital camera with a built-in, non-interchangeable lens. Fixed-lens cameras are compact, lightweight, and easy to use, making them ideal for casual photography, travel, and everyday use.
Focus – Focus refers to the sharpness and clarity of the subject in an image. Achieving proper focus involves adjusting the camera lens to ensure that the subject appears sharp and well-defined in the final image.
Filter – A transparent or translucent accessory that attaches to the front of a camera lens to modify or enhance the appearance of the image. Filters can be used to control exposure, adjust colour balance, reduce glare, enhance contrast, or create special effects such as softening or blurring.
Film – The light-sensitive material used in traditional film photography to capture and record images. The photographic film consists of a flexible base coated with a layer of light-sensitive emulsion containing silver halide crystals, which react chemically to light exposure to form a latent or visible image that can be developed and fixed to create photographic prints.
Fine Art Photography – Fine art photography is a genre of photography that emphasizes aesthetic expression, creativity, and personal vision, rather than commercial or documentary purposes. Fine art photographers often create images with artistic intent, exploring themes, concepts, and emotions through visual storytelling and creative interpretation.
Fast Lens – A fast lens is a camera lens with a large maximum aperture, allowing for faster shutter speeds and greater control over depth of field. Fast lenses are ideal for low-light photography, portrait photography, and capturing fast-moving subjects, providing enhanced light-gathering capabilities and creative flexibility in challenging shooting conditions.
Field of View – Field of view (FOV) refers to the extent of the scene or subject visible through a camera lens at a given focal length. A wider field of view captures more of the scene in the frame, while a narrower field of view focuses on a smaller area with greater magnification and detail.
Fill Flash – Fill flash is a lighting technique used to supplement or fill in shadows and reduce contrast in a scene by adding additional light to the subject. Fill flash is typically used in outdoor or backlit situations where the primary light source creates harsh shadows or underexposure on the subject.
Flash Sync -Also known as flash synchronization, refers to the coordination of the camera’s shutter release with the firing of an external flash unit. Flash sync ensures that the flash fires at the precise moment when the camera’s shutter is fully open, synchronizing the exposure and preventing the flash from being cut off or partially obscured by the closing shutter.
Focus Stacking -A technique used to increase the depth of field in a photograph by combining multiple images taken at different focus distances. Focus stacking aligns and merges the images, selectively blending sharp areas from each image to create a final composite image with extended depth of field and sharpness.
Film Speed- Film speed, also known as ISO sensitivity, refers to the sensitivity of photographic film to light. A higher film speed indicates greater sensitivity to light, allowing for faster shutter speeds and improved performance in low-light conditions. Film speed is expressed using standardized ISO (International Organization for Standardization) ratings, such as ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, and so on.
Flare – Flare is a photographic phenomenon characterized by unwanted light reflections or artefacts caused by internal lens reflections, stray light sources, or bright light sources entering the camera lens at oblique angles. Flare can manifest as streaks, spots, or veiling glare in images, reducing contrast, saturation, and overall image quality.
Fix – Fix, also known as fixing or hypo, is a chemical solution used in traditional film photography to stabilize and permanently preserve developed photographic prints or negatives. Fixer removes unexposed and undeveloped silver halide crystals from the emulsion, preventing further light sensitivity and ensuring the longevity of the final image.
Film Leader Retriever – A tool used in traditional film photography to extract the leader or end of a roll of film from a film canister or cartridge.
Feathering – Feathering softens the edges of a selection or adjustment, gradually blending it into the surrounding pixels to create a seamless and natural-looking transition without harsh or visible boundaries.
Focal length – Focal length is the distance in millimetres between the centre 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 types of lenses: wide angle (<35mm), standard (35mm – 70mm), medium telephoto (70mm – 135mm) and telephoto (>135mm).
Four-Thirds – Four-Thirds is a digital camera system and lens mount standard developed by Olympus and Kodak for digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) and mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. Four-Thirds cameras feature a sensor size with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a lens mount optimized for compact size and compatibility with a wide range of interchangeable lenses.
