Jargon buster Know your macro from your megapixel?
What does it all mean? We take a moment to talk about key phrases you’re likely to come across in photography
APERTURE
Aperture decides how much light is let into the camera, and is measured on a scale of f-numbers. This setting also dictates how much of the image is in or out of focus.
› Small aperture A small-sized aperture of f11, f16 or f22 keeps objects in the distance looking sharp.
› Large aperture Shooting with a large-sized aperture of f2, f2.8 or f4 will make objects in the distance appear out of focus, placing emphasis on the main subject closer to the lens.
› Aperture priority mode This lets you choose the aperture with which you need to shoot. The camera automatically controls other important settings during this process.
COLOUR CAST
Colour cast describes the tinting that an image may have due to the type of lighting used. This could be either due to wrong settings or for creative effect.
CONTRAST
Contrast is the vividness of the colours and tones in an image, and how much they stand out from subject to subject.
EXPOSURE
Exposure describes the amount of light that has entered the camera to form an image. This is dependent on camera settings being correctly balanced, so that enough light is captured for a perfect exposure.
› Overexpose If an image is overexposed, too much light has entered through the lens and the subject appears bleached out, or far too white.
› Underexpose Underexposure is when not enough light has entered the lens, and images look dull and lacklustre in their contrast and colour.
› Long exposure Light has been allowed to enter the camera for extended periods. This is usually used to create movement in landscape or sports photography.
FILTERS
Filters can be applied over the lens for replicating certain styles or effects. Some include colour, grain and lighting effects. A lot of compacts add in-camera filters.
FOCAL LENGTHS
Measured in millimetres, camera lenses have various focal lengths, used to zoom in or out on a subject. Focal lengths can be fixed, made to extend to huge distances, or to capture subjects close up. › Telephoto Lenses that are telephoto are used to capture subjects in the distance. These lenses are popular with sports and wildlife photographers, using a lens with a focal length of 200-400mm, for example.
› Wide-angle Lenses that have a wide angle cover a very broad field of view. Focal lengths include 15-30mm; these are useful for landscape photography.
› Fish-eye Lenses that distort the scene you are shooting, in order to produce a sometimes abstract composition, almost creating a bubble effect.
The focal lengths involved in fish-eye photography can be 10mm or less.
HDR
HDR stands for high dynamic range and describes an image that has strong details, lighting and colours throughout.
HISTOGRAM
A histogram such as the one shown below is used in photography to assess the lighting pattern through any given image. It shows which areas of the photograph are most inside the visible spectrum.
IMAGE STABILISATION
Either built into a lens or in-camera, image stabilisation counterbalances any unstable movement. This helps to reduce the amount of blur caused by hand movement.
ISO
This is how sensitive the camera sensor is to light, starting as low as ISO 64 (not very sensitive) and going up to ISO 3200 or above (very sensitive). Sensitive ISO ratings produce the most distortion.
JPG
JPG is used in all digital cameras to capture images in a compressed but high-resolution format. The images are portable, but they cannot be enlarged.
LIVE VIEW
Live View is available with DSLRS and allows you to use the camera screen to compose an image. This is instead of using the viewfinder.
MACRO
Macro is the art of capturing subjects at extreme closeness, creating heavy blurring in the process. Subjects can be larger than they are in real life.
MEGAPIXELS
The number of pixels in an image is measured in megapixels (mp). The more megapixels, the larger the resolution and printable size of the photograph.
METERING
Metering is the way in which the camera analyses the lighting of the scene to make the exposure, for example, using just the central part, or an average. Metering modes are altered according to the scene and also the subject.
› Spot or partial metering In this setting, the camera takes a light reading from the centre of the scene and calculates the exposure. Light in the background is not considered.
› Evaluative metering This takes the entire scene’s lighting into account to make the exposure. It’s also ideal if you’re not sure which setting to use, or the scene is constantly changing. › Centre-weighted metering This system of metering is where the camera uses the most central part of the scene to calculate the exposure, as well as some of the surrounding light. It’s halfway between spot and evaluative metering.
NOISE
Created by the lack of light in a scene, noise is the distortion of pixels mainly seen in the shadow areas of an image. Noise occurs with sensitive ISO ratings.
PRIME LENS
Lens with a single, ‘fixed’ focal length, with no zoom, for example 50mm. Popular for excellent build quality and advanced optics.
RAW
RAW images are uncompressed and high quality. They have a level of detail that is second-to-none in post-shoot editing. This is a standard feature of DSLRS.
SATURATION
The strength, or amount, of colour in an image is described as ‘saturation’. A highly saturated image has unusually strong colour, and can look unnatural.
SD/SDHC/SDXC
Common memory cards that many compact and DSLR cameras use to store images. Measured in gigabytes, the larger the card size, the more photos you can shoot.
SHUTTER SPEED
Shutter speed is the length of time that the camera sensor is exposed to light. Measured in fractions of a second, fast speeds prevent blurring.
WHITE BALANCE
White balance is used to keep the colour of light in an image looking natural (as if it has been shot in daylight). Different types of white balance include tungsten, flash and fluorescent.
‘The number of pixels in an image is measured in megapixels. The more megapixels, the larger the resolution and printable size of the photograph’