Photography has a unique language filled with phrases and terms that can be unfamiliar to beginners. Here’s a guide to some of the most common photography lingo and what each phrase or term means, helping you better understand the language of photography.
Essential Photography Phrases and Terms
- Chimping
Checking each shot on the camera’s LCD immediately after taking it. While it helps verify exposure and focus, it can also distract you from capturing spontaneous moments. - Spray and Pray
Taking a rapid series of shots and hoping one turns out well. Often used in fast-action photography but leads to many images to review later. - Pixel Peeping
Zooming in to check every pixel for sharpness, noise, or detail. Useful for image quality checks but can detract from assessing overall composition. - Nifty Fifty
Refers to a 50mm prime lens known for its versatility, affordability, and natural perspective. - Blown Out
Parts of a photo that are overly bright and lack detail, appearing pure white. This happens when exposure is too high and details cannot be recovered in editing. - Catchlight
The small light reflection in a subject’s eyes, which adds life and depth to portraits. Positioning a light source correctly enhances catchlights. - Golden Hour
The period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the light is soft and warm, perfect for portraits and landscapes. - Blue Hour
The time just before sunrise and after sunset when the sky takes on a blue hue, offering cool, even lighting for atmospheric photos. - Stopping Down
Narrowing the aperture to reduce light intake and increase depth of field, making more of the scene appear in focus. - Shooting Wide Open
Using the lens’s widest aperture to let in the most light, creating a shallow depth of field for blurred backgrounds. - Dead Cat
A furry microphone cover used to reduce wind noise in outdoor audio recording, commonly used in videography. - Exposure Triangle
Refers to the three core elements of exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Adjusting any affects the final exposure of an image. - Hard Light
Light that creates sharp shadows and high contrast, usually from a direct light source like the sun or a flash, often adding drama. - Soft Light
Light that produces gentle, diffused shadows and is ideal for flattering portraits. Achieved with cloud cover, diffusion panels, or bounced light. - Lens Flare
An effect caused by light scattering within the lens, creating streaks or spots. It can be an unintended issue or used creatively for atmospheric shots. - Leading Lines
Visual lines within an image that guide the viewer’s eye toward the main subject, often adding depth. Created by paths, roads, or architectural elements. - Rule of Thirds
A composition guideline dividing the frame into nine parts. Placing subjects along these lines or intersections creates a balanced, visually engaging photo. - Back Button Focus
Setting focus to a button on the back of the camera instead of the shutter button, improving control and speed in action photography. - Prime Lens
A lens with a fixed focal length, like 35mm or 85mm, often sharper and with a wider maximum aperture than zoom lenses. - Zoom Lens
A lens with a variable focal length, like 24-70mm, offering versatility without the need to change lenses. - Compression
The effect created by telephoto lenses that makes background elements appear closer to the subject, often used for portraits and wildlife. - Leading Room
The space left in front of a moving subject or where a subject is looking, providing balance and direction in the composition. - Panning
A technique where the camera follows a moving subject, keeping it in focus while blurring the background for a sense of motion. - Diffraction
A reduction in sharpness that occurs when using very small apertures, such as f/22, which can soften fine details in high-resolution images. - Aspect Ratio
The relationship between width and height in an image, like 4:3 or 16:9. Aspect ratio affects the composition and presentation of a photo. - Reticulation
A film photography term describing a cracked or wrinkled effect from rapid temperature changes during processing, giving images a textured look. - Histogram
A graph showing the distribution of tones in an image, from shadows (left) to highlights (right), helpful for assessing exposure accuracy. - Chimping
The act of checking each shot immediately on the LCD screen after shooting, useful for exposure checks but may lead to missed moments. - Zone Focusing
A focusing technique where you preset a focus range, allowing for faster reaction times, especially in street or action photography.
Getting familiar with photography lingo can help you understand technical aspects of the craft more deeply and connect with other photographers. Keep this guide handy, and soon you’ll be fluent in the language of photography!
See also Photography Glossary