Glossary index – select a Letter…
| A | B | C | D | E |
| F | G | H | I | J |
| K | L | M | N | O |
| P | Q | R | S | T |
| U | V | W | X | Y Z |
The Visual Dictionary of Photography
The Visual Dictionary of Photography 
Good reference, good reading.
The Visual Dictionary of Photography
Digital photography terms: A
Aberration; Aberrations (of a lens); Lens aberration;
Absorption of light; Absorb; Absorbing surface; Black card
Definition: Light Absorbers; (light modifier)
Abstract Photography
Accent lighting
Add-in (addin); Add-on (addon) (software)
Adapter, Reverse ring mount
Adjustable Camera
Aesthetic; Aesthetics;
Aesthetics – Composition (photographic)
Algorithm (applies to computing and photography)
Ambient Light
Analysis, Deconvolution; Deconvolution
Aperture
APS-C lens designations; Lens designation; Lens Marques; Full Frame designation; Brand lens designation
Art. Principles of,
Art. Elements of,
Artifact
Aspect ratio
App; Application; Program; Computer program;
Auto-focus Hunting
Avant-garde; Avantgarde; Avant-garde photography; Avant-garde movement
Axis (optical)
Digital photography terms: B
Backdrop
Background
Backlight (also kicker or rim lighting)
Barn doors (light modifier)
Beauty Dish (light modifier)
Bellows, photographic
Bellows camera; View camera;
Berne Convention
Bipod
Bit depth
Bitmap image; also: Raster image
Bokeh
Black card; Black reflector; Absorption of light; Absorb; Absorbing surface;
Bulb Setting
Bridge Camera
Burn out; burnt out; blown out; blow out; burnt highlight; blown highlight
Digital photography terms: C
Camera, Bridge
Camera, View (view camera; Camera, Bellows (bellows camera)
Camera lens; Photographic Lens; Photographic objective; Lens
Catchlights; Catch Lights; Catch-lights;
Central shutter
Chimping
Chroma key; Green screen
Circle of Confusion
Cloning; To Clone; Cloned; Clone Tool;
Close up
Close-up photography; Macro photography; photomacrography; macrography
Cludge; Kludge
Cold shoe
Collage
Colour Depth; (color depth)
Colour temperature (color temperature)
Computer program; Program; App; Application;
Cookaloris, Cuco Loris, cucoloris, cuculoris, kookaloris or cucalorus
Composition (photographic aesthetics)
Copyright; Copyrights; Copyrighting;
CR2 files; NEF files; TIFF files; RAW format files; TIFF; DNG; NEF; CR2; CRW and others
Crop factor (Full Frame designation; APS-C designation)
Crop; Cropping; Cropped;
Cuco Loris, cuculoris, kookaloris, cookaloris or cucalorus
Digital photography terms: D
Darkness
Deconvolution; Deconvolution analysis
Depth of Field:
Depth of Focus
Designation of lens; Lens Marques; Full Frame designation; APS-C designation; Brand lens designation
Diffraction; Pinhole diffraction
Diaphragm; Iris Diaphragm; Iris
Diaphragm shutter
Diffuser; Diffusion Filter
Diffusion; Diffuse Reflection;
Digital Image Sensor; Sensor; Image Sensor;
Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera; DSLR
Digital Noise
Dioptre; Diopter (alternative spellings)
Diptych
DSLR; Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera
DNG files; TIFF files; RAW format files; TIFF; NEF; CR2; CRW and others
Digital photography terms: E
Element; Lens element;
Elements of Art
Emulsion
Ethics (photography)
Extension (software)
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format)
Exposure
Exposure triangle
Extension tubes; macro extension tubes
Eyeshine; Eyeshine Effect
Digital photography terms: F
Fast Lens
Fill-in Flash; Fill-in Light; Fill; Fill Light
Filter, Diffusion (diffusion filter); Diffuser; Diffusion;
Filters: Neutral Density; Graduated Neutral Density
Film Plane; Image Plane, Sensor plane; focal plane
Filter; Filters
Filter: Polariser; Polarizer, Polarizing filter; Polarising filter;
Fixed focus lens
Flag (lighting);
flare; Lens flare;
Flash, off-camera; Off-camera flash;
Flash (on camera); On-board Flash; Pop-up Flash; “Cobra” Flash; Flip-up Flash;
Flash radio trigger; Radio flash trigger; Remote trigger;
Flash Sync Speed;
Flash, Zoom flash
F number; F stop
Focal Length
Focal plane; Image plane; film plane; sensor plane;
Focal Plane Mark
Focal-plane shutter; Shutter
Focal point; point of focus; principle focus; point of interest
Front element
F stop; F number;
Focus, Plane of (this is not “focal plane”)
Full frame lens designations; Lens designation; Lens Marques; Full Frame designation; Brand lens designation
Full frame sensor
Digital photography terms: G
Gel; Diffusion Gel; Filter Gel; Color Gel; Lighting Gel;
“Glass” (lens)
Gobo (lighting);
Golden Hour; Magic Hour
Graduated Neutral Density Filters; Neutral Density Filters;
Green screen; Chroma key;
Grid (light modifier)
Digital photography terms: H
Hard Light
High Key lighting/photography
Highlight; Highlights
highlight (blown out or burnt out); Burn out; burnt out; blown out; blow out;
Highlights, Specular
Hit Rate (Photographic)
Honeycomb grid (light modifier)
Hood; Lens hood
Hot shoe; Hotshoe; Hot-shoe
Hunting, Auto-focus
Digital photography terms: I
Image – Bitmap or Raster image
Image Circle; Circle of Illumination; Circle of Good Definition
Image plane; film plane; sensor plane; Focal plane
Image – Raster or Bitmap image
Image Sensor; Digital Image Sensor; Sensor;
Image stabiliser; Image stabilisation
Definition: Interchangeable photographic lens
Intervalometer
Inverse Square Law; Light intensity
IPTC Core & Extension Metadata Standard
Iris; Iris Diaphragm; Diaphragm; Iris
ISO
Digital photography terms: J
JPG files; JPEG Format
Also see: JPG – Important File formats
Digital photography terms: K
Kelvin; Kelvin Scale
Key – High Key lighting/photography
Key light
Kicker light; Backlight (also rim lighting)
Cludge; Kludge
Kookaloris. See: Cucoloris, cookaloris, cuculoris or cucalorus
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Digital photography terms: L
Lag time; Shutter delay; Processing lag; Shutter lag;
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
Lens aberration; Aberration; Aberrations (of a lens)
Lens Body
Lens designation; Lens Marques; Full Frame designation; APS-C designation; Brand lens designation
Lens element; Element
Lens, Fast
Lens; fixed focus lens
Lens flare; flare
Lens front element
Lens – “Glass”
Lens hood
Lens, Macro
Lens Mount; Mount
Lens, Normal
Lens (optical); Optical lens;
Lens; Photographic Lens; Camera Lens; Photographic objective; Lens
Lens, Prime
Lens, Telephoto
Lens, Zoom Lens
Light; words for light; the vocabulary of light; language of light
Lighting, Accent
Light intensity; Inverse square law
Light modifier
Light source
Light – Wrap; To Finish; wrap Light Type
Long Focus Lens
Lossless compression; Lossless format
Lossy compression; lossy format; lossy
Digital photography terms: M
Macro Extension tubes
Macro Lens
Macro photography; Close-up photography; photomacrography; macrography
Macrography; photomacrography; Macro photography; Close-up photography;
Magic Hour; Golden Hour
Metadata
Minimalism
Mirror lock up
Modifier; Light modifier
Monochrome
Monopod
Mount (Lens mount)
Mount adapter, Reverse ring
Digital photography terms: N
NEF files; TIFF files; RAW format files; TIFF; DNG; NEF; CR2; CRW and others
Negative
Negative space (composition)
Neutral Density Filters; Graduated Neutral Density Filters
Noise (in an image)
Normal Lens
Digital photography terms: O
Off-camera flash; Flash, off-camera
Open Face Light; Un-diffused Light; Open Light
Optical Axis
Optical lens; Lens (optical);
Optical Path
Optical stabilisation; Stabilisation; Image stabiliser; Image stabilisation;
Orphan Work
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Digital photography terms: P
Path (optical)
Panning; To pan;
Perspective
Pinhole diffraction; Diffraction;
Photoblog
Photog
Photographic aesthetics – Composition
Photographic Bellows
Photographic Hit Rate
Photographic Lens; Camera Lens; Photographic objective; Lens
Photographic lens, Interchangeable
Photographic Umbrella
Photography
Photography and Ethics
Photomacrography; Macro photography; Close-up photography; macrography
Photomontage
Photomosaic
Photosite; Photosites; Photo-site; (occ. pixelsite)
Pixel depth
Pixel; Pixels
Pixelsite
Plane of Focus
Point of focus; principle focus; point of interest
Plug-in (software)
Polariser; Polarizer, Polarizing filter; Polarising filter;
Polyptych
Pop-up Flash; Flash (on camera); On-board Flash; “Cobra” Flash; Flip-up Flash;
Portraiture
Positive space
Post-Production; Processing; Post-Processing
Previsualisation; Visualisation;
Prime Lens
Post-Production; Processing; Post-Processing; Post-Production;
Processing :: Sharpen; Sharpen Tool; Sharpening; Unsharp Mask; High-Pass sharpen
Principles of Art (poss. Principles of Design)
Program; Computer program; App; Application;
Processing lag; Lag time; Shutter delay; Shutter lag;
Props; Properties; Theatrical Props;
Digital photography terms: Q
Digital photography terms: R
Radio trigger; Radio flash trigger; Remote trigger; Flash radio trigger;
Rangefinder camera; Viewfinder; Viewfinder camera;
Raster image; Bitmap image
Raster image/graphics compared to Vector image/graphics
RAW format files; TIFF; DNG; NEF; CR2; CRW and others
Record Shot
Red-Eye Effect; Red Eye; Red-Eye
Reflection, Diffuse
Reflection, Specular
Reflex camera
Refraction (optics)
Release, Shutter button; shutter release;
Remote shutter release, remote release; Remote controls
Remote radio trigger; Flash radio trigger; Radio flash trigger;
Reverse ring mount adapter
Rim light (also kicker or backlight)
Ring Flash
Digital photography terms: S
Sensor; Image Sensor; Digital Image Sensor
Sensor Plane; Film Plane; Image Plane; focal plane
Sepia
Shadow
Sharpen; Sharpen Tool; Sharpening; Unsharp Mask; High-Pass sharpen
Shoe, Cold (cold shoe)
Shoe, Hot; Hot shoe; Hotshoe; Hot-shoe
Shutter
Shutter button; shutter release, ‘release’
Shutter; Central shutter
Shutter delay; Lag time; Processing lag; Shutter lag;
Shutter, diaphragm shutter
Shutter (focal-plane shutter)
Shutter lag; Shutter delay; Lag time; Processing lag;
Shutter Speed (S); Shutter Value (Sv); Time Value (Tv)
Single Lens Reflex Camera; SLR;
Silhouette (photographic)
Skin (software)
SLR; Single Lens Reflex Camera;
Snap-in (software)
Snoot
Soft Light
Softbox; soft box; soft-box
Source; Light source
Space, Negative (composition)
Specular Highlights
Specular Reflection
Stabilisation; Image stabiliser; Image stabilisation; Optical stabilisation;
Stop (photographic); f number; f stop; Stop
Stopping down
Street Photography
Sync Speed (flash);
Digital photography terms: T
Temperature; Colour temperature
Texture (fine art; photographic composition)
Theme (software)
TIFF files; RAW format files; TIFF; DNG; NEF; CR2; CRW and others
Telephoto Lens
Theatrical Props; Props; Properties;
Triangle; Exposure triangle
Tripod
Triptych
True Colour (24 bit)
Digital photography terms: U
Umbrella, Photographic
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)
Digital photography terms: V
Vector Image; vector graphics
Vector image/graphics compared to Raster image/graphics
VGA (Video Graphics Array)
View camera; Bellows camera
Viewfinder; Viewfinder camera; Rangefinder camera;
Vignette; Vignetting
Visualisation; Previsualisation;
Digital photography terms: W
Wrap; To Finish; Light Type
Wide Angle Lens; Wide-angle lens; Wide angle
Digital photography terms: X
XGA (Extended Video Graphics)
X-ray (digital)
Digital photography terms: Y
More definitions coming soon!
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Digital photography terms: Z
Zone of acceptable sharpness; (Depth of field)
Zone System
Zoom flash
Zoom Lens