15 basic photography terminology every photographer needs to know
To begin with, a photographer must know about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
1) Aperture
This is present inside the lens and is the diameter of the hole. It helps to adjust the size of the hole and decides the amount of light that is to enter the camera that also affects the final image.
2) Shutter Speed
Shutter speed determines whether to take a photograph in motion or still mode. The mirror flips, if the shutter speed is slower, the more light enters capturing picture in motion. Whereas, if the shutter speed is faster, less light enters, capturing the still images.
3) ISO
The ISO controls the light captured by the sensor. The lower the ISO is, the less the sensitivity and hence less noise and vice versa for the higher ISO.
As we move ahead in the learning process, we come across some more features…
4) Exposure
Exposure is the stepping stone for everyone beginning photography. This is the setting to be adjusted according to how much light you need before taking a photograph. The exposure is the triangle of three elements mentioned above that is aperture, shutter speed, and ISO controlling depth of field, motion blur, and digital noise.
Exposure occurs in three steps, and we will begin with aperture...
APERTURE: It determines the amount of light that is to be entered by the lens. It works in a way when you widen the aperture, more light gets in, and vice versa.When the f/ number gets lower, the aperture widens, allowing more light into the camera. This is a master hack for low light but makes the depth of field shallow, which is not preferred while shooting landscapes.
You must memorize the f/stop scale to get an easy hand on exposure.
The scale is as follows: f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22.
Next in exposure comes the shutter speed, which determines the state of a photograph, still or in motion.
SHUTTER SPEED: After passing through the aperture of the lens, the light reaches the shutter. The next decision to make is the amount of light entering the camera. If we go by the rules, you only need a small fraction of a second to get rid of the motion blur. However, different shutter speed varies in different situations.
For example, sports photography requires very fast (1/4000), whereas night photography, a slow (30 seconds) shutter speed. Also, depending on the amount of light available and what you are shooting on.
Then comes the ISO that deals with setting the light.
ISO: Once the light is filtered by shutter speed after passing through the aperture, it reaches the sensor, where we decide the setting of ISO.Turning the ISO number up means, increasing the exposure, hence the digital noise or grain will also increase. But the image quality will degrade.
Once you have learned these three basic features, you will know how to use exposure, when to use exposure, and get yourself a picture-perfect.
As we dig deep, a photographer should know his/her camera inch by inch. You should explore your camera setting often. So, you know it at your fingertips.
Moving ahead we will learn about
5) Histograms
Histogram is related to exposure and lets you know after a photograph is taken, how evenly it is exposed. It is a mathematical representation of exposure of photos. This is why the histogram become an important tool for correct photography.
6) Depth of Field
It is the distance between the furthest and the nearest elements in a scene that appear to be extremely sharp in an image. This feature is generally operated while working in a low light area where you let your camera widen its aperture and let enough light in. But to keep in mind, it has one and only side effect that is shallow depth of field.
Do not limit your use of depth of field. It can be used in other creative ways as well, for example, while shooting a landscape where a narrower aperture is used to keep the whole scene in focus.
7) White Balance
White Balance is like a soul to your photography as it deals with the color cast of a photograph. It is the one determining whether your photograph is warm or cold, orange, or blue.
The version on the left is processed using the Auto White Balance setting.
The version on the right is processed using custom White Balance settings.
8) Focal Length
Focal length is the distance between the lens and the image sensor when the image is being focused. Here comes the bit of science in this artsy activity. The ‘mm’ mentioned on your camera lens is focal length. It is not just the zoom but also affects the perspective.
For example, the longer focal length is preferred for portraits.
9) Polarizing Filters
These are a type of lens filter placed in front of the camera lens. From a certain direction, this filter lets in light into the lens also helps in getting rid of glare and reflections from non-metallic objects. This is important to understand as it cannot be copied in post-production.
There are two types of polarizing filters, linear and circular. The linear one is used by photographers for film photography and circular filters for digital. When the circular polarizing filter is attached to the end of the camera lens, it can still be rotated. This allows the change of direction in which the light is polarized.
The right side of the above image is unpolarized.
10) Composition
The composition shows the arrangement of subjects and objects within your frame. It is a way to make the viewer focus on the important elements of your work. There are many techniques from which the composition of an image can be enhanced. These include the rule of thirds, eye lines, balance, framing, and many more. To decide on the composition, think about what will attract the viewer's attention, where you want them to focus, and apply these composition techniques to bring out your desired composition.
11) Rule of Thirds
For beginner photographers, this is the first compositional rule in photography and also very simple to apply. The basic idea is to divide the camera frame into horizontal or vertical thirds and to plant the key objects on intersections to make the photograph more visually pleasing. Placing points of interest at these intersection points brings balance in your image by making it more energetic and pleasant.
Once you know how it works you’ll notice the improvement in your photography.
12) Eye lines
Eye lines come in handy when taking pictures of people. It refers to the direction, the subject's eyes point towards. This can focus the viewer's attention on a definite part of the photograph. They are not the physical lines, but with strong and obvious eye lines, a photo is naturally enhanced.
13) Balance
Balance in a photograph is about the feeling the viewer gets while looking at it. An insufficient balance can make the viewer feel uncomfortable and uneasy while balancing a photo more at ease.
You must be aware of both balanced and unbalanced photography for an easily desirable production.
14) Fill the Frame
Leaving too much vacant space or zooming out can result in making your subject look smaller concerning the entire photograph.
This dominates the importance of the subject and makes it look complicated for the viewer to locate your subject. Cure this flaw by getting closer to the subject or by zooming in.
15) Tripod
A camera tripod, as its name suggests, is three-legged equipment that is generally made of aluminum, wood, plastic, or carbon fiber. This is used to support a camera and elevate it. It helps the Photographer to take better pictures when there is a lack of natural light
Obviously, there is a ton more to learn about photography, meanwhile practicing is very important. Practice with anything or everything around you. Find your muse and work on it.
Author: Maitree Rawat
Editor: Khushboo Shivdasani