This document provides definitions and examples for various photography terminology including: - Shutter speed, which determines the length of time the camera's shutter is open and how movement is captured. - ISO, which is the camera's light sensitivity setting, with higher numbers providing better image quality. - Aperture and depth of field, which impact the area of the image that appears in focus. - Automatic and manual exposure settings that control light levels. - Composition, color balance, rule of thirds, and complementary/analogous colors which impact visual design elements. - Macro photography which allows for extremely close-up shots of small subjects.

1. Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology (P1, P2, M1, M2)
Term Explanation of term e.g. what it Examples
is used for / the effect it has on
your images
Shutter Speed The length of time a cameras
shutter is open. Halving the
shutter speed doubles the
exposure. It also determines
the amount of light that
reaches the sensor. Fast
shutter speed freezes things
and slow shutter speed shows
movement. As you can see in
the picture to the side it looks
to me like slow shutter speed
has been used as the lights like
on the road look as though they
are travelling and it gives a
better effect.

2. ISO ISO is an interchangeable
setting which are most used on
digital cameras. The standard
ISO that people use every day
is 100, if it was any less then
than 50 ISO, you’ll notice the
colour of the images become
more saturated. The higher the
ISO the better the quality. In
the picture to the side it shows
this. ISO 100 shows a blurred
image and looks like a lens is
out of focus.
Aperture & Depth This makes the image look
of field (F stop) different to how it actually
looks; it can make the
background in the picture look
a lot sharper. The smaller the
aperture, the more extensive
the depth of field.

3. Automatic A camera in automatic
Exposure exposure basically
automatically adjusts exposure
settings to match the subjects
mid tone to the mid tone of the
image. It brightens things up
and brings out the best
qualities in the picture.
Manual Exposure In manual exposure, the
photographer has to adjust
things themselves. For example
the lens aperture and the
shutter speed to get the
exposure they want. As you can
see in the picture it’s the little
button at the top of the camera
that you can turn to adjust. By
doing this you can make your
image the quality you prefer
instead of it automatically
being on a different setting.

4. Colour Balance Colour balance can intensify
the colours. For example
primary colours such as red,
green and blue. The main thing
to do when adjusting colour
balance is to know what you
want your image to look like.
This picture shows the colour
going from really sharp to a
little softer. The colours don’t
look as bold as they did. The
colours In the picture blend a
lot better and nothing looks like
it shouldn’t be there.

5. Composition Composition means putting
something in a specific place
on purpose so you have it the
way you want it. The picture
shows this as the rocks have
been placed in a certain
pattern on purpose and you
can tell they’ve not just been
put there without any thought
behind them. Composition can
be used to tell show a theme or
something obvious to the
audience.

6. Rule of thirds The rule of thirds basically
means making the most of your
captured image. For example
this picture shows that the
main object isn’t in the centre
of the shot, it’s to the side. This
is the rule of thirds. It means
there’s more than one thing to
focus on in the picture rather
than the object just being
plonked in the middle of the
camera. The rule of thirds
makes it more interesting.
Complementary To find complementary colours
Colours all you have to do is look at the
colour wheel and it explains it.
For example red and purple
would be the compliment of
yellow and green and orange
and red would be the
compliment of blue and green.

7. Analogous colours Analogous means colours that
go together and don’t stand out
from each other too much. The
colours in this photograph
relate to each other more. This
creates less contrast and a
more flowing looking
photograph.
Macro Macro means extremely close
up photography, usually of
small subjects and focusing on
one specific thing. This picture
is a good example of macro
photography. In real life the
insect is extremely small but
using macro photography
makes it look a much greater
size.