Scribd
Upload
55 views14 pages

Jargon Buster Download

The document provides definitions and explanations of common photography terms and concepts related to exposure, modes, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, depth of field, focal length, camera shake, and focus modes. It includes example images and diagrams to illustrate each term and how changing related settings can impact an image in technical and creative ways.

Uploaded by

patrick
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
55 views14 pages

Jargon Buster Download

The document provides definitions and explanations of common photography terms and concepts related to exposure, modes, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, depth of field, focal length, camera shake, and focus modes. It includes example images and diagrams to illustrate each term and how changing related settings can impact an image in technical and creative ways.

Uploaded by

patrick
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

Top 12 Photo-Jargon Buster

auto focus modes exposure


exposure modes

🤔
camera shake shutter speed

focal length apertures

white balance exposure compensation


depth of field ISO histogram

by Mike Browne
Exposure
Exposure is how light or dark an image is. An image is recorded when the camera sensor (or film strip) is exposed
to light—that’s where the term exposure comes from.

A photo that’s too dark is considered underexposed, or it wasn’t exposed to enough light; a photo that’s too bright
is overexposed, or exposed to too much light.

Exposure is controlled through combinations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity.

Under exposed Correctly exposed Over exposed


Exposure Modes
Different brands have slightly different names for their modes. Aperture Value is the
same as Aperture Priority for example. These are the basics:

M: Manual mode - you control exposure with shutter, aperture and ISO.

Av / A: Aperture Value / Aperture Priority - you set the aperture, camera sets a
shutter speed to give correct exposure.

Tv / S: Time Value / Shutter Priority - you set shutter speed, camera sets an aperture
to give correct exposure.

P: Program - Camera sets both shutter and aperture, but you can still adjust
exposure with exposure compensation (see main course).

AUTO: Camera sets exposure and chooses shutter speed, aperture and ISO for you.

B: Bulb mode - shutter stays open as long for as long as the button is pressed.

Scene Modes: Presets for different genres of photography


Shutter Speed
1/2000 sec 1 sec
Like a tap that lets in light. It’s measured in seconds (usually fractions of a second). The longer you leave the tap
open, on the more light you let in. Shutter speed is both a technical and creative control.

🛠 Technical Use: Adjusting the time the shutter (tap) is open for allows more or less light into the camera to
adjust exposure. Open and close it very fast (1/2000th second) and only a tiny bit of light enters the camera. Leave
it open for a longer time (1 complete second) and lots of light floods in.

🎨 Creative Use: Shutter speed also controls movement. Fast shutter speed freezes movement and a slow one
blurs it. To blur movement in one part of an image the camera must be on a tripod so it can’t move.

1/2000 sec 1 sec


Aperture f4 f22

An iris like an eye in your lens you can make larger or smaller. It’s measured in f numbers and is both a technical
and creative control. The bigger the f number, the smaller the aperture is.

🛠 Technical Use: Adjusting the size of the aperture allows more or less light into the camera to adjust exposure.
A big aperture lets in lots of light and a small one less light.

🎨 Creative Use: Aperture also controls front to back sharpness in an image, called ‘Depth Of Field’. A small
aperture = the most sharpness you can get and a big aperture = less sharpness.

f4 f22
ISO ⚖
ISO controls how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light and is used to balance creative choices of Shutter Speed
to freeze or blur movement - and Aperture to control how much front to back sharpness (depth of field) you want.

These creative choices may not result in correct exposure so you use ISO to compensate. ISO is similar to how
sensitive skin is to sunburn.

People who can stay in the sun a long time without getting burnt are like a low ISO. It takes a long time for their
skin to react.

People who quickly become sunburnt are like a high ISO. They’re very sensitive to sunlight and it take a very short
time for their skin to react to it.

100 iso = low sensitivity 2000 iso = high sensitivity


Exposure Compensation
Sometimes the camera’s light meter get’s it wrong, particularly with bright subjects. Exposure compensation is a
way to tell the camera to brighten or darken an exposure according to how you want your image to look, when
using semi Program, aperture priority / Av and shutter priority / Tv modes.

It does not work in Manual Mode because you are in control - or in full auto because you have given all control to
the camera.

To brighten an exposure move the dial towards the + end of the scale. To darken move it towards the - end until
you reach the desired exposure. On some cameras it’s a dial, or a button with the +/- symbol or it might be
accessed through the menu.

Camera’s exposure +2 exposure compensation


Histograms
A histogram is a graph or chart of the tones within an image and are an extremely helpful tool to help you get the
correct exposure every time. People are often confused by histograms but they are really very simple to use. With
a bit of practise you’ll be able to pre-visualise what a correctly exposed histogram should look like for any image.
There is a myth that a correct histogram goes up in the middle. This is not true as you can see in the examples
below.

black - mid tones - white black - mid tones - white


White Balance
Different light sources emit different coloured light. White balance is where you tell the camera the colour of light
falling on the subject. Household bulbs usually emit yellow light. Sunrise and sunsets are red and orange. Cloudy
daylight is blue. Choosing an appropriate white balance setting will remove these colour casts by adding the
opposite colour.

Sunny WB siting Cloudy WB siting


Depth Of Field
The amount of sharpness that extends into an image. It is used to tell a viewer what the most important part of
your image is so they know where to look and what it’s about.

The image on the left has a shallow depth of field. The front boat is sharp against a blurry background, separating
it from the rest of the image. This works best for details and portraits. The second image of the lake has a deep
depth of field and is sharp from front to back. This works well for landscape and cityscape type images.

Depth of field is controlled by a combination of distance to subject, focal length and choice of aperture. Short focal
length lenses have the most depth of field and longer lenses have the least.

Shallow DOF Deep DOF


Focal Length (Lens Types)
The amount of magnification of a lens is called focal length and is measured in millimetres (mm). Zoom lenses
allow you to change focal length when you zoom in (long) and out (short). Lenses that cannot be zoomed and have
a fixed focal length (eg: 50mm) are called prime lenses. Long focal lengths make far off things closer.

Different focal lengths have different fields of view and depth of field characteristics which can be used as an aid to
composition. Below is a brief guide to how short, medium and long focal lengths affect an image.

(all images - aperture f5.6)

wide or short @ 10 / 25mm mid range @ 35 / 150mm long @ 150 or more mm


(low number) (middle number) (high number)
Camera Shake
When you get a picture where nothing is sharp, the most likely cause is camera shake. No one can hold a camera
100% still so tiny movements of the camera during an exposure where the shutter speed is not fast enough to
freeze those movements, will result in a blurred image.

To avoid it, ensure your shutter speed is at least as fast as focal length being used. For example, 50mm lens needs
1/50th sec shutter speed or more. 250mm lens needs at least 1/250th sec shutter speed or more etc…

You do this by increasing your ISO and / or widening your aperture until the shutter speed is fast enough. The best
way to avoid camera shake is to use a sturdy tripod that will not vibrate.
Focus Modes
Full auto focus does not know what you want to focus on and will sometimes miss the subject of your photo -
especially if you are using a shallow depth of field as in the example below.

There are many focus modes available to control the auto-focus of your camera. By combining them appropriately
you can ensure you always get pin sharp pictures, correctly focussed in the place you want the focus to be.

Full auto-focus mode Single point auto-focus mode


©Copyright 2020 Mike Browne / Picture This (Imaging) LTD
🙂
All concepts, methods, printed and digital material, images and films included in this webinar are intellectual property ©copyright of Mike Browne / Picture This (Imaging) LTD. UK Registered
company number 5724020

All rights reserved: Reproduction, sharing, copying and broadcast in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Mike Browne / Picture This (Imaging) LTD
is prohibited and strictly enforced.

PhotographyCourses.Biz is owned by PictureThis (Imaging) LTD of which Mike Browne is a director.

You might also like