Photography comes with its own set of terms, acronyms, and technical jargon. This glossary covers 280+ essential terms to help you understand the language of photography. For more, see our photography terms cheatsheet guide. Click any term to learn more.
Jump to: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Z
A
- Achromatic / Apochromatic (APO) Lens
- AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing)
- Aerial Photography
- AF Tracking
- Aliasing
- Ambient Light
- Aperture
- Aperture Priority Mode
- APS-C
- Artifacts
- Aspect Ratio
- Asymmetry
- Auto ISO
- Autofocus Points
B
- Back Button Focus
- Backlighting
- Balance
- Banding
- Barn Doors
- Bayer Filter
- Beauty Dish
- Binning
- Bit Depth
- Bitrate
- Black Point
- Blown Highlights
- Blue Hour
- Bokeh
- Bounce Flash
- Bracketing
- Buffer
- Bulb Mode
- Burst Mode
C
- C-Stand
- Camera Shake
- Catchlight
- Center-Weighted Metering
- Chimping
- Chromatic Aberration
- Circle of Confusion
- Clipping
- CMOS Sensor
- Color Cast
- Color Depth
- Color Grading
- Color Noise
- Color Profile
- Color Temperature
- Color Theory
- Color Wheel
- Composition
- Computational Photography
- Continuous Autofocus (AF-C)
- Continuous Lighting
- Contrast Detection Autofocus
- Crop Factor
- Crop Sensor
D
- Demosaicing
- Depth
- Depth of Field
- Diffraction
- Diffused Light
- Diffuser
- Distortion (Barrel / Pincushion)
- DNG (Digital Negative)
- Dodge and Burn
- Double Exposure
- DPI vs PPI
- Dragging the Shutter
- DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex)
- Dual Native ISO
- Dynamic Range
E
- Electronic Shutter
- Enlarge
- ETTR (Expose to the Right)
- Evaluative / Matrix Metering
- EVF Lag
- EXIF / Metadata
- Export
- Exposure
- Exposure Blending
- Exposure Compensation
- Exposure Triangle
- Extension Tube
- Eye Detection AF
F
- F-Stop
- Fast Lens vs Slow Lens
- Field of View (FOV)
- Fill Flash
- Fill Light
- Film Grain
- Filters
- Fisheye Lens
- Flag
- Flash And Slash
- Flash Sync Speed
- Focal Length
- Focal Plane
- Focus Breathing
- Focus Limiter
- Focus Modes (AF-S / One Shot)
- Focus Peaking
- Focus Pulling
- Focus Stacking
- Focus Throw
- Foreground, Midground, Background
- Framing
- Front Curtain Sync
- Full Frame
G
- Gamma
- Gel
- Gimbal
- Global Shutter
- Gobo
- Golden Hour
- Golden Ratio
- Graduated ND Filter
- Gray Card
- Grid (Lighting Modifier)
- Guide Number
H
- Halation
- Hand-Holding Rule
- Headroom / Lead Room
- HEIF / HEIC
- High Dynamic Range (HDR)
- High Key / Low Key
- High-Speed Sync (HSS)
- Highlight Recovery
- Histogram
- Hot Shoe
- Hyperfocal Distance
- Hyperlapse
I
- IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization)
- Image Circle
- Incandescent / Tungsten Lighting
- Incident Light Meter
- Infinity Focus
- Interpolation
- Intervalometer
- Inverse Square Law
- ISO
- ISO Invariance
J
K
L
- Leading Lines
- Lens
- Lens Element
- Lens Flare
- Lens Hood
- Lens Mount
- Lens Sharpness
- Light Meter
- Light Modifier
- Light Painting
- Light Trails
- Line
- Live View
- Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR)
- Lossless Compression
- Lossy Compression
- Luminance Noise
- LUT
M
- Magnification Ratio
- Manual Focus
- Manual Mode
- Masking
- Mechanical Shutter
- Metering
- Middle Gray (18% Gray)
- Mirror Lockup
- Mirrorless Camera
- Modeling Light
- Moiré
- Monochrome
- Monopod
- Motion Blur
N
- ND Filter (Neutral Density)
- Negative Space
- Noise
- Noise Reduction
- Non-Destructive Editing
- Normal Lens (50mm)
O
P
- Panning
- Panorama
- Parallax
- Perspective Distortion
- Phase Detection Autofocus
- Photogrammetry
- Pinhole Photography
- Pixel
- Pixel Peeping
- Pixel Pitch
- Pixel Shift
- Polarizing Filter (CPL)
- Portrait Lighting Patterns
- Preset
- Prime Lens
- Print / Printing
- Proofing
- Pulling Film / Pushing Film
Q
R
- Rangefinder
- RAW
- RAW vs JPEG
- Rear Curtain Sync
- Reciprocal Rule
- Reciprocity / Reciprocity Failure
- Red-Eye
- Reflection
- Reflective Metering
- Reflector
- Resolution
- Reticulation
- Retouching
- Rim Light
- Rolling Buffer
- Rolling Readout
- Rolling Shutter
- Rule of Odds
- Rule of Space
- Rule Of Thirds
S
- Saturation
- Scale
- Selective Focus
- Self-Timer
- Sensor
- Shallow Depth of Field
- Shape
- Sharpening
- Shutter Count
- Shutter Lag
- Shutter Speed
- Silhouette
- Simplicity
- Snoot
- Soft Proofing
- Softbox
- Speedlight / Speedlite
- Split Toning
- Spot Metering
- Stitching
- Stop
- Stop Down
- Strobe
- Sunny 16 Rule
- SuperResolution
- Sweet Spot (Lens)
- Symmetry
T
- T-Stop
- Teleconverters
- Telephoto Lens
- Tethering
- Texture
- Three-Point Lighting
- TIFF
- Tilt-Shift Lens
- Time-Lapse
- Tint
- Tonal Range
- Tone Curve
- Tone Mapping
- Tripod
- TTL (Through the Lens)
U
V
- Variable Aperture
- Variable ND
- Vibrance vs. Saturation
- View Camera
- Viewfinder (Optical vs Electronic)
- Vignetting
- Visual Weight
W
X
Z
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