This document defines key photography terminology including shutter speed, ISO, aperture, depth of field, exposure modes, color balance, composition, the rule of thirds, complementary colors, analogous colors, and macro photography. It provides explanations of what each term is and examples of how it relates to and affects photographs.

1. Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology (P1, P2, M1, M2)
Term Explanation of term e.g. Examples
what it is used for / the
effect it has on your
images
Shutter Speed
In still cameras, the term
shutter speed represents the
time that the shutter remains
open when taking a
photograph.

2. ISO ISO sensitivity expresses the
speed of photographic negative
materials. What ISO denotes is
how sensitive the image sensor
is to the amount of light
present
Aperture & Depth of Depth of field refers to the
field (F stop) range of distance that appears
acceptably sharp. It varies
depending on camera type,
aperture and focusing distance,
although print size and viewing
distance can also influence our
perception of depth of field.
Automatic Exposure A camera in automatic
exposure mode automatically
calculates and adjusts exposure
settings to match the subject's
mid-tone to the mid-tone of
the photograph
Manual Exposure In manual mode, the

3. photographer adjusts the lens
aperture and/or shutter speed
to achieve the desired
exposure.
Colour Balance In photography and image
processing, colour balance is
the global adjustment of the
intensities of the colours
(typically red, green, and blue
primary colours
Composition Composition is the placement
or arrangement of visual
elements or ingredients in a
work of art or a photograph, as
distinct from the subject of a
work. It can also be thought of
as the organization of the
elements of art according to
the principles of art.

4. Rule of thirds The rule of thirds is a guideline
which applies to the process of
composing visual images such
as paintings, photographs and
designs. The guideline
proposes that an image should
be imagined as divided into
nine equal parts by two
equally-spaced horizontal lines
and two equally-spaced vertical
lines, and that important
compositional elements should
be placed along these lines or
their intersections
Complementary Complementary colors are
Colours pairs of colours that are of
opposite hue in some color
model.
Analogous colours
Analogous colours are colours
that are adjacent to each other
on the color wheel. Some
examples are green, yellow
green, and yellow or red, red
violet and violet. Analogous
colour schemes are often
found in nature and are
pleasing to the eye.

5. Macro Macro photography is extreme
close-up photography, usually
of very small subjects, in which
the size of the subject in the
photograph is greater than life
size