Plain-English dictionary
Glossary
16 everyday terms explained simply, no jargon.
A
- Aperture
- The adjustable opening in a lens that controls how much light reaches the camera and how much of the scene stays in focus.
B
- Bokeh
- The soft, blurred quality of the out-of-focus areas in a photo, often seen as smooth circles of light in the background.
C
- Composition
- The way elements are arranged within the frame to make a photo balanced and pleasing to look at.
- Crop sensor
- A camera image sensor smaller than full frame, which captures a tighter view and makes lenses appear more zoomed in.
D
- Depth of field
- The range of distance in a photo that appears sharp, from a thin sliver to nearly the whole scene.
E
- Exposure
- The overall brightness of a photo, set by how much light the camera captures.
F
- Focal length
- A lens measurement in millimeters that determines how zoomed in the view is and how wide the scene appears.
G
- Golden hour
- The short period soon after sunrise or before sunset when sunlight is warm, soft, and flattering.
H
- Histogram
- A graph on the camera that shows the spread of dark and bright tones in a photo to help you judge exposure.
I
- ISO
- A setting that controls how sensitive the camera is to light, where higher values brighten dark scenes but can add grain.
M
- Metering
- The camera's way of measuring the light in a scene to suggest settings for a balanced exposure.
P
- Prime lens
- A lens with a single fixed focal length that cannot zoom, often prized for sharpness and low-light performance.
R
- RAW
- An image file that keeps all the data the camera captured, giving more flexibility to edit than a compressed JPEG.
- Rule of thirds
- A guideline that divides the frame into a three-by-three grid and places key subjects along the lines or their crossings.
S
- Shutter speed
- How long the camera's shutter stays open, which controls motion blur and how much light is let in.
W
- White balance
- A setting that adjusts colors so that whites look truly white under different kinds of light.
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