1. Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology
P1, P2, M1, M2
Photographic Terminology
Emily Davis
2. Shutter Speed
Fast shutter speed
• This is how long the cameras
shutter stays open when you
take a picture. If the shutter
speed is slow you will get it
can cause over exposure, but
it makes the image more
blurred into each other to
make it smoother looking. Fast Slow shutter speed
shutter speed captures
everything and makes it look
as close to real life as it can
be.
3. ISO
• This setting on a camera
has the same functions as
an older camera. It
determines how sensitive
the image sensor is to
light. It’s chosen so that
wherever you are you can
choose the right amount of
light you need in each
shot. In this picture the
people are made to look
like silhouettes and then
the part of the image the
photographer wants to
capture stands out because
of the ISO setting sorting
the right light needed to
capture it.
4. Aperture & Depth of Field
• This is how large the iris
or the eye of your
camera lens opens up.
The larger it is the more
light that gets through.
Depth of field is how
much area away from
your camera is in focus.
It either makes things in
the background blurred
so it can focus on the
foreground or makes if
it’s a larger depth of
field can bring
everything into perfect
focus.
5. Manual Exposure
• This is where you’re in
charge; most professionals
use this though because
they want a certain exact
settings for each shot.
This is a way to learn all
the settings yourself
rather than relying on the
camera to do it for you.
You use this if your
somewhere that the
automatic setting wouldn’t
be able to get the right
settings for. This makes
your pictures more unique
to you.
6. Automatic Exposure
• This is where the camera
chooses the right settings for
scene you want to capture
rather than you having to
choose them yourself.
Automatic settings set both
lens and shutter speed. Like
in this picture on the left the
exposure of it is dull and
makes the picture look
lifeless. Whereas when the
camera gets the settings
right it can make it look like
its been taking on a different
day in a different place.
Everything colour in the
picture becomes more
defined, especially the
yellow.
7. Colour Balance
• This is about getting the
right amount of each
of the three colours
used (red, blue and
green). It changes the
overall mixture of
colours in the image.
Colour balance
doesn’t just effect the
neutrals though, it
changes the image to
This picture shows However in this
a mix instead of the the original which picture the three
normal picture which is more blue. colours have mixed
and made the
just shifts to one colour
flower brighter and
more. balanced.
8. White Balance Colour contrast
• White balance is the process of
removing unrealistic colour
casts, so that objects which
appear white in person are
rendered white in your photo.
Proper camera white balance
has to take into account the
colour temperature of a light
source, which refers to the Daylight white balance
relative warmth or coolness of
white light in an image. Our
eyes are very good at judging
what is white under different
light sources, but digital
cameras often cant adjust to
auto white balance and can
create blue, orange, or even
green colour casts.
9. Composition
• This is an organized method.
It’s to make sure you have
good positioning of the
subject. It makes sure it
leaves out everything
irrelevant. It accentuates
the main subject and
organizes all the elements in
the shot. It basically means
everything in the shot. The
composition in this picture is
that there are rocks floating
in the air and we see their
shadows on the ground.
There are clouds in the sky
and the sky is light blue.
Composition is what's in the
picture.
10. Rule of thirds
• It’s where you divide your shot
into lines two equally spaced
horizontal and two equally
spaced vertical lines. Then if you
put your subject on one of the
spaces where the lines cross
your shot will be more interesting
and dynamic. Most picture
showing this have three layers
visible on the picture for
example sky trees and then
ground. Each layer goes in to
each rectangle in each third.
Like in this picture we see the
photo split up, the little girl then
the back of her dress and the
sun and then the rest of the sea
clouds and sky in the last third.
12. Analogous colours
• Analogous colour schemes
use colours that are next to
each other on the colour
wheel. They usually match
well and blend together.
• They are often found in
nature and are harmonious.
• Make sure you have
enough contrast when
choosing an analogous
colour scheme.
• The first colour is to
dominate, the second to
support. The third colour is
used along with
black, white or grey as an
accent.
13. Complementary Colours
• This style of
photography shows to
different colours that
are very dominant but
work together. For
example like flowers
and nature they
shouldn’t go together
but nature makes them
look good, like the
green stems with the
bright flowers on the
ends.
14. Macro
• This is extremely close up
photography. Usually of
very small objects or insects
mostly. It shows the
definition up close. The
object looks a lot bigger in
the photo than in real life.
Its not just close up
photography though its
about the ratio of the object
showing the relationship
between the actual size of
the object and it on camera.
It can go from life size to ten
times bigger.
