This document defines key photography terminology including: - Shutter speed refers to the time the camera shutter is open when taking a photo. - ISO refers to the film speed, with lower numbers indicating slower speeds. - Aperture controls the amount of light entering the camera lens and is measured in F-stops. - Automatic and manual exposure modes control how the camera sets exposure settings. - Other terms covered include colour balance, composition, the rule of thirds, complementary and analogous colours, and macro photography.

1. Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice Terminology (P1, P2, M1, M2)
Term Explanation of term e.g. what Examples
it is used for / the effect it has
on your images
Shutter Speed It is the most popular word used to
discuss exposure time. It represents
the time that the shutter remains
open when taking a photograph.
ISO Refers to the film speed. The most
common ISO camera speed
settings are: 100, 200, 400 and 800.
The lower the ISO number, the
slower the speed. The higher the
ISO number, for example 1600 the
faster the speed.
Aperture & Depth of Aperture describes an adjustable
field (F stop) opening inside your camera lens
that controls the amount of light
striking the film. As the size of the
aperture changes, the angle of
light striking the film also changes.
Aperture is measured by F-Stop on
your camera controls. F-Stop
settings represent a ratio derived
from the size of the lens opening
and focal length.
Automatic Exposure A camera in automatic exposure
mode automatically calculates
and adjusts the exposure settings to
match the subjects mid-tone to
mid-tone of the photograph.
Manual Exposure In manual mode you can set both
the shutter speed and aperture to
give you full control over the
exposure of your photo. This can be

2. used to ensure the same exposure
is used in a number of your photos.
Colour Balance This is the global adjustment of the
intensities of the colours
used. For example red, blue
and green, which are
primary colours. An
important goal of this
adjustment is to render
specific colours particularly
neutral colours.
Composition This is the placement or
arrangement of visual effects.
Rule of thirds Also known as the rule of thumb. Or
guideline which applies to the
composition of photographs.
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 These are a pair of colours that are
Colours of opposite hue in some colour
models. For example blue and
yellow.
Analogous colours Analogous colours are colours that
are adjacent to each other on the
colour wheel. Some examples are
green, yellow green, and yellow or
red, red violet and violet. These are
often found in nature and are nice
to look at.

3. Macro This is extremely close up
photography usually of very small
objects. In which the size of the
object in the photo is bigger than
the actual life size object.