Glossary

aperture The adjustable lens opening that controls how much light enters the camera.

aperture mode Also called aperture priority and referred to as A in camera options, this is the mode, offered on some cameras, that automatically calculates shutter speed after you specify the aperture that you would like to use. Most of the less expensive compact digicams do not feature this option.

aperture priority See aperture mode

archiving The act of saving images (on storage devices other than the camera) for future use.

artifacts Bad effects seen in files that have been compressed too much. Also known as jaggies, these artifacts make the image look blocky and can cause continuous tones to look banded.

autoexposure Also called AE mode, this is a camera option in which the camera automatically sets the aperture and/or shutter speed to the setting it considers best for a particular lighting situation.

autofocus Also referred to as AF, this is the camera mode in which the camera focuses for you, as opposed to manual focus, for which you have to set the focus yourself.

autofocus lock A function that allows you to hold focus on a selected subject while you move the camera to recompose your photo. It also allows you to prefocus on a fast-moving subject as a way to help you catch the right moment when photographing action.

Av See aperture mode

backlight Also referred to as backlighting, this is the type of light that occurs when the light source (the sun, if you’re outside) is in front of you and behind your subjects, lighting them from behind.

B exposure mode A camera setting that lets you keep the shutter open as long as you like. This comes in handy when photographing special effects with things like fireworks, lightning, and streaking car break lights at night.

camera shake The problematic subtle movement of the camera that can occur when the shutter button is depressed and that can cause blurriness in the resulting photograph.

candid A picture of a person or a group of people that is less formal and staged-looking than a portrait.

card reader A device that you attach to your computer so that you can transfer digital images from a camera to the computer more easily.

catchlight The tiny reflection of light in the eyes of people or animals that you photograph.

CCD (charge-coupled device) The chip which records the image in a digital camera; the sensor.

CD burner A device that saves, or burns, images onto a CD for archiving, storage, safekeeping, and future retrieval.

CD-R, CD-ROM Compact disc storage media that allow you to store 650–700 MB of information.

cloning A technique used in Photoshop to cover up imperfections—such as dust spots or small scratches—in a photo.

close-focusing distance The minimum distance you can get to a subject before the lens can no longer focus properly.

close-ups See macro

compact digicam A point-and-shoot camera, as opposed to an SLR (single-lens-reflex) camera, this kind of digital camera is much smaller and often doesn’t feature the same kinds of creative controls that a digital SLR offers.

compact flash card One variety of memory card (a type of digital media) used by many digital cameras to store images.

composite A digital image combining two or more photos.

compression When image data are squeezed into a smaller package. This makes the image quicker to download but can reduce the its quality.

contact sheet An 8 × 10-inch print with thumbnails (small versions) of all the photographs in a particular folder or grouping. Photoshop offers an automated function for producing contact sheets so that you can more easily choose which photos you would like to print.

contrast Contrast refers to the difference in tone between the bright and dark areas of a photograph. High-contrast photographs have very dark and very light areas in the same image. Low-contrast photographs have a more even-toned look.

conversion The process of importing raw files and changing them into a format that you can work with in a program like Photoshop.

cropping Recomposing an image by cutting off its edges, either by changing the camera position while photographing (cropping in camera) or by trimming off the edges in a program like Photoshop (cropping in the computer).

Curves An application in the most recent, full version of Photoshop (not Elements) for correcting the color and brightness of an image.

depth of field (DOF) The range, plane, or area—from front to back—in an image that remains sharp. Shallow depth of field means that only a limited area is in focus. A deep depth of field means everything in the picture looks sharp, from the closest to the farthest objects.

diffuser An accessory that softens the light source. A diffuser can be anything—from a cloud to a piece of fabric—that can disperse light to reduce contrast in an image. When you’re using flash, your diffuser might be a little piece of semi-opaque plastic. You can also use your hand to block some of the light or, if you can change the angle of your flash, bounce the light off of the ceiling or a wall. Also, a diffuser may refer to a filter that softens focus.

digital imaging As opposed to digital photography, this term refers to the overall art of using a computer in your photographic workflow. This includes images shot with a film-based camera and later scanned into a digital format.

digital photography As opposed to digital imaging, this term refers to shooting techniques. Rather than including the art of scanning film, this term applies only to images created with a digital camera.

digital zoom As opposed to an optical zoom, the digital zoom feature artificially enlarges a portion of an image file by electronically cropping in on it. It is basically a simulated zoom. Generally, it’s best to stick with the optical zoom (which provides better quality), unless you absolutely need to zoom in more with the digital zoom.

DVD A storage medium that stores about 4 GB of information.

DVD burner A device that saves, or burns, images onto a DVD for archiving, storage, safekeeping, and future retrieval.

EXIF data Also called metadata, this is information electronically attached to each image file, such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens length, white balance, and other settings used when taking the picture.

exposure The amount of light that is allowed to hit the sensor. Balance is key to making a good exposure. Too much light results in overexposed (too bright) images; too little light results in underexposed (too dark) images.

exposure compensation A camera function that lets you slightly adjust exposure levels to compensate for things that might trick the camera meter, such as extremely dark or bright objects in a scene.

exposure meter See light meter

fast ISO An ISO with a higher ISO number, such as 800 or 1600. Faster ISOs are more appropriate in dimmer lighting conditions or when you are trying to freeze action. See also ISO

file format The way (or format in which) you store your image data (for example, JPEG, TIFF, raw, etc.).

fill flash Refers to the flash you use during somewhat bright conditions to fill in shadows.

filter A circular piece of glass placed over the lens that filters out certain kinds of light. Filters can wash an entire scene in a certain tone, correct bad lighting conditions, make skies brighter, and more. Also, the term can refer to software functions that make an image look softer, sharper, or creatively manipulated—all at the touch of a button.

fixed lens A lens that cannot be zoomed in or out; it is permanently fixed at one focal length, stuck with the fate of being wide-angle, telephoto, or something in between. Also called a fixed focal length lens.

flare An unwanted burst of light in an image that is the result of beams of light directly hitting the glass of the lens.

flash A camera function or accessory that provides additional, artificial light to a scene.

focal length A way of measuring the magnifying power of a lens. A 50mm lens has a focal length of 50mm and sees things at roughly the same size as the unaided human eye. A 400mm telephoto focal length is like looking through a pair of binoculars—things far away are greatly magnified. A 20mm wide-angle lens squeezes in an expansive vista. Note that many digital SLR cameras have a magnification factor that increases this number when compared to traditional film cameras. For example, a 400mm lens on a digital SLR camera might be more like a 560mm lens on a traditional film camera.

focal plane The point in your photo that is in focus, along with everything else at that same distance from your camera.

focus-ready lamp Sometimes called the focus-OK lamp, this is a little light, usually in the viewfinder, that tells you when the camera thinks it has achieved sharp focus.

frame The view through the camera’s viewfinder. Also, framing can refer to the compositional technique of using an element within the image, such as tree branches or a window, to frame the main subject of the composition.

frontlight Also referred to as frontlighting, this is the type of light that occurs when the light source (the sun, if you’re outside) is behind you and in front of your subjects, lighting them from their front.

f-stop The numbers used to indicate the size of the aperture (the adjustable opening in a lens). The size of the opening, combined with the shutter speed and ISO, serves to expose each photo with the correct amount of light.

GIF A file format that uses a limited palette of colors. GIF is better for flat color graphics, such as cartoons, than it is for photographs.

glossy A shiny surface finish (for example, of photographic paper) as opposed to a matte finish. A glossy photographic print accentuates nice, bright colors but it also shows fingerprints more than matte.

grayscale A range of tones from black to white through intermediary shades of gray. Also, an image composed only of gray tones. Commonly used to refer to black-and-white images, as opposed to color ones.

healing brush A Photoshop software tool used to cover up imperfections—such as dust spots or small scratches—in a photo.

highlights The extremely bright parts of an image.

image management The art of keeping your digital photos organized. As it is often easy to shoot a great number of digital photos, figuring out a good image-management system will help you be more time efficient when it comes to working with your image collection as it grows.

infinity lock A setting that locks focus on objects in the scene that are at the farthest distance from the camera sensors; can come in handy when taking pictures through a window.

interchangeable lens A lens that can be removed from one camera body and placed onto another.

interpolation An artificial way of increasing or decreasing a file’s dimensions by either adding or removing pixels in an imaging program. Used when you want to print an image at a different size than the current resolution allows, interpolation often results in lower-quality images.

ISO The abbreviation for International Organization for Standardization, more commonly referred to as International Standards Organization. Based on 35mm film light-sensitivity ratings, this refers to how sensitive the CCD is to light. More sensitive or fast ISOs react more quickly to light, and less sensitive or slow ISOs react more slowly. A fast ISO, such as 1600, will capture images more quickly and is better in dim lighting conditions. A slow ISO of 50, on the other hand, reacts much less quickly to light, is much less sensitive to it, and works best in bright light or when combined with the use of a tripod.

isolated focus Shallow depth of field, when one object is in focus while the other areas (in both the foreground and background) are out of focus. Same as selective focus.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) An image file format that compresses an image, allowing you to fit more pictures onto the digital storage media. However, repeatedly resaving JPEG images (sometimes called “JPEGing,” “jaypegging,” or “JPEGGing”) can lead to a reduction in image quality.

K (Kelvin) The unit of measurement for light temperatures.

landscape An outdoor scene. In photography, a landscape image is usually made with a somewhat wide-angle lens. Nature scenes make up the bulk of landscape subjects, although sometimes people shoot cityscapes and seascapes, too. This term is also used to refer to images that are horizontal in orientation, as opposed to vertical (or “portrait”) images.

Layers A Photoshop function in which one element is placed on top of another. Like acetate pages in an atlas or encyclopedia, the Layers function allows you to work on one element in a picture without affecting other parts of the photo.

LCD (liquid crystal display) A monitor on a digital camera that allows you to review images immediately after shooting them.

LED (light emitter diode) Refers to an electronic display that tells you things like how many exposures you have left, whether your flash is on, and other information.

Levels A feature in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements for correcting the color and brightness of an image.

light meter A device that measures the brightness (the amount of light) in a scene to help the camera get the proper exposure. Most cameras have built in light meters, but some photographers use special, handheld light meters.

long lens See telephoto lens

lossy The term lossy refers to a type of file format that results in a reduction in image quality each time the file is resaved. A JPEG is a lossy file format. A lossless file format, on the other hand, is one that reduces file size without lowering image quality. TIFF and raw files are examples of lossless file formats.

macro Another term for close-up photography. A macro mode or macro lens is great for taking pictures of flowers, bugs, stamps, and other tiny objects.

manual focus The camera function that allows the photographer to adjust the focus. So, you focus the camera on your chosen subject, as opposed to autofocus, for which the camera automatically does the focusing.

master file Your original image file that you should back up/archive to CD-ROM, DVD, or other media for safekeeping before you make major changes to it.

matte A matte surface finish, as opposed to glossy. Matte photographic paper has a protective finish that hides fingerprints and is less shiny than glossy paper.

megapixel One million pixels; also, a unit of measurement used to indicate the pixel dimensions of a digital camera’s sensor and, therefore, the camera’s resolution. An 8 megapixel camera, for example, has a resolution of 8,000,000 pixels.

memory Where your photos are stored. Usually this consists of a removable card on which memory is measured in megabytes. The more megabytes, the more storage room, meaning the more images you will be able to store on your card before having to download them to your computer to free up more space on the card.

memory card See compact flash card

Memory Stick A brand of memory card.

mm The abbreviation for millimeter; used when referring to lens focal lengths (for example, a 100–400mm zoom lens). It is also used to specify filter sizes on some lenses. For example, you may have a 50mm lens that accepts 52mm filters. The “2” is the clue that 52mm refers to a filter: Common filter sizes include 48mm, 52mm, 58mm, 62mm, 72mm, and so on, while common lens sizes include 16mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 80mm, 100mm, and up.

muddy A term often used to describe underexposed images and pictures in which it is hard to make out the subject. Muddy images often look dull and brownish.

noise Texture (in an image) that is made up of tiny dots. A noisy image looks kind of fuzzy or grainy, and the colors are dull. This is a side effect of using fast ISOs and is especially noticeable in extreme photo enlargements.

normal lens A normal lens “sees” things at about the same size or magnification level as the unaided human eye. Telephoto and wide-angle lenses, on the other hand, make subjects appear bigger or smaller than they really are.

optical viewfinder The little window you look through when taking a picture, usually located top center on the back of the camera. This is not the same thing as the LCD screen.

optical zoom As opposed to digital zoom, the optical zoom is achieved with mechanical lens adjustments that alter the focal length of the lens, rather than with digital enhancement. Optical zoom usually results in higher-quality images.

overexposure When an image looks too bright.

P See program mode

panorama An expansive, very wide view of a scene. A panoramic photograph is very long and thin. Panoramics can be either superwide (when horizontal in format) or supertall (when vertical in format).

parallax A problem in which the viewfinder no longer accurately represents the scene to be photographed when you get too close to your subject.

point-and-shoot camera A fully automatic or semiautomatic digital camera. Point-and-shoots are usually less expensive and more compact than digital SLR cameras.

point of view The place and position from which you shoot.

polarizer A kind of filter used to make skies deep blue and clouds ultrawhite.

portrait A picture of a person or a group of people. The term also refers to pictures that are vertical in format.

prefocusing See autofocus lock

previsualization The art of imagining ahead of time what you intend to photograph.

program mode The mode, on some cameras, that automatically calculates both aperture and shutter speed for you. Most compact digicams only offer this mode.

raw A proprietary file format that offers great latitude and control over the final image. Raw files are much larger than JPEG files, and therefore, less of them will fit onto a given memory card.

red-eye The red glare effect in a subject’s eyes; can be reduced or eliminated with pre-flash.

S See shutter priority

Selection A technique in Photoshop for isolating one part of a photo from the rest.

selective focusing The art of limiting depth of field so that only the subject is in sharp focus. The same as isolated focus.

self-timer A feature that delays the moment when the camera takes the picture. A self-timer allows you to get into the picture yourself or to shoot without actually moving the camera (the camera depressed the shutter for you), thus avoiding the camera shake problem.

sensitive A term used to describe ISO. A sensitive ISO is one that makes the CCD react more quickly to light than other ISOs. The higher the number, the more sensitive the ISO. For example, ISO 1600 is very sensitive.

sensor See CCD

sepia A brownish-gold tone. A sepia print looks just like an extremely old photograph.

sharpness The degree of clarity and crispness in an image.

short lens See wide-angle lens

shutter The mechanism that opens and closes to control how much light is allowed into the camera.

shutter button The button you press to take the picture. It operates the shutter.

shutter priority Also called shutter mode, this represents the mode, available on some cameras, that automatically calculates aperture after you specify the shutter speed. Many compact digicams don’t offer this feature.

shutter speed The amount of time the shutter stays open (letting light into the picture), or how long the camera takes to make the picture. A longer/slower shutter speed will allow more light into the camera, while a shorter/faster shutter speed will allow less light into the camera.

slow ISO An ISO with a lower ISO number, such as 50 or 100. The opposite of fast ISOs, slow ISOs generally produce brighter, less noisy pictures but can be more difficult to shoot, especially in low-light situations. See also ISO

SLR (single-lens reflex) camera An SLR camera allows you to use interchangeable lenses; features sophisticated focus, exposure, and flash systems; and requires users to look through the lens itself to see the scene, as opposed to most other cameras, which use a separate window as the viewfinder. When compared to a compact digicam, a digital SLR is bulkier but offers greater (and/or easier-to-use) creative controls.

SmartMedia A brand of memory card.

soft Term used to refer to photographs that are slightly blurry and out of focus. Can also refer to a diffused, gentle kind of light, like that of a bright, overcast day.

telephoto lens A lens that magnifies, enabling you to photograph things that are very far away. Telephoto lenses usually have a focal length of 80mm or above.

thumbnail A tiny version of a picture.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) An image-file format that retains maximum quality but takes up more space than JPEG format.

tv (time value) This refers to the shutter-priority exposure mode. See also shutter priority

underexposure When an image looks too dark.

Unsharp Mask A filter function in Photoshop that’s used to hide, or mask, unsharpness. This feature makes digital images appear sharper.

xD-Picture Card A brand of memory card.

viewfinder See optical viewfinder

viewpoint See point of view

white balance The camera settings used to correct any subtle color shifts in an image that sometimes occur in different kinds of light. The white balance setting can be set by either the camera or the photographer, depending on the camera model.

wide-angle lens A lens that gives a wide, expansive view of a scene. Because more of the scene is squeezed into the picture, objects look smaller through such a lens than they do in real life.

workflow The step-by-step system a photographer has for capturing, archiving, cataloging, manipulating, and sharing images. Photographers develop their own workflow as best suits their way of working.

WYSIWYG Pronounced wizzy-wig, this acronym stands for “what you see is what you get.” Compact digital cameras (as opposed to digital SLR cameras) often only show you an approximate view of your scene. SLR cameras, on the other hand, let you see exactly what the CCD sees, giving you a much more accurate idea of how the final image will look.

zoom lens A zoom lens gives you more flexibility by allowing you to easily change the amount of magnification just before you shoot. You can either zoom in to make faraway things appear closer, or you can zoom out to make more things fit into the picture. On compact digicams, zooms are usually electronic and controlled by a toggle on the camera itself. On more expensive cameras, you often move through the range of focal lengths by twisting the lens or switching it with another lens altogether. See also interchangeable lens.

1/180 SEC. AT f/6.7, ISO 100, 100–400MM LENS at 300MM