Extended dynamic range movie mode introduced by Fujifilm to handle high-contrast lighting, extending dynamic range by 200% or 400%. Other higher-end movie cameras have a similar feature. It produces flat-looking footage but with extended data in the shadow and highlight areas and the idea is that you process the video later on a computer (grading) to achieve the finished look. It’s the video maker’s equivalent of shooting RAW files.
Definition
Flickr
Photo sharing website where you can publish pictures from your own portfolio and get comments from other people, as well as commenting on other photographer’s photos. It’s free to join and now owned by SmugMug.
Fixed focus
Some camera lenses have a fixed focus. They either have a small lens aperture which offers extensive near-to-far depth of field or a small sensor which offers the same characteristic. Fixed focus lenses are found on disposable cameras, some action cameras and a few vintage-style ‘body cap’ lenses.
Final Cut Pro
Professional video editing software from Apple that’s one of the ‘big three’ alongside Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve. It’s designed to be fast, efficient and intuitive and shares some of the same look, feel and operation of Apple’s free but basic iMovie software. It is, however, a Mac only application.
Filename/number
Digital cameras automatically give each photo a unique filename, usually consisting of a series of letters and then a number. There is one key option to be aware of – you can have the camera start renumbering from scratch each time you erase/format the memory card, or you can have it continue from the last number. This second option is the one to choose because it means that you won’t get duplicate filenames later on your computer.
FE mount (Sony)
Strictly, Sony uses just one mirrorless lens mount – the E-mount – but many lenses use the designation ‘FE’ in their names to indicate that they are for full frame cameras rather than ‘E’ lenses designed for Sony’s APS-C models.
External recorder
A device that typically combines a screen and a storage system for recording video, usually via the camera’s HDMI port. One of the best known examples is the Atomos Ninja. External recorders offer larger, better screens than the camera’s own with more advanced information displays, and can typically record at higher video quality settings, often capturing RAW video footage.
Extension (software)
Where regular image-editing tools use plug ins for additional effects and options or external editors, Apple Photos and Skylum Luminar use ‘extensions’. These do a similar job, extending the capabilities of the ‘host’ software but are less common because they are built for these specific programs.
Extension ring
A ‘spacer’ ring that fits between a lens and a camera body to allow it to focus closer for macro photography, for example. They are often sold in sets of three different sizes and can be used individually or in combination. They have gone out of fashion as lens design has become more complex and photographers have moved over to dedicated ‘macro’ lenses optimized for close-ups.
E mount (Sony)
This is the name of the lens mount used by Sony mirrorless cameras. Regular E-mount lenses fit its APS-C format cameras, like the Sony A6500, while FE lenses fit its full-frame mirrorless cameras, including the A7 series and Sony A9. Sony also makes A-mount lenses for its Alpha SLT cameras, but these are not the same.
EF-S mount (Canon)
A variation on Canon’s EF DSLR lens mount for its smaller format APC-S models. You can use both full frame EF and APS-C lenses on these cameras, but lenses designed for the EF-S mount can’t be fitted to Canon’s full frame DSLRs.
EF-M mount (Canon)
Canon designed a bespoke EF-M mount for its EOS M mirrorless camera range. This has now been supplanted by its EOS R mirrorless models, so the EF-M mount is effectively obsolete.
EF mount (Canon)
Lens mount used by Canon for its DSLR cameras. EF mount lenses can be used on both full frame and APS-C format Canon DSLRs, and also on Canon mirrorless cameras via an adapter.
Dynamic microphone
A microphone type designed for use at close range, particularly for speech. It’s less sensitive than a condenser mic and needs to be positioned close to the mouth or instrument being recorded, but is also less affected by ambient noise or ‘reverb’ from walls and hard surfaces, and gives a warm ‘radio DJ’ sound.
Duration (flash)
Flash duration is the length of time a flash is generating light. The flash duration is typically very short, often between 1/500sec and 1/1000sec, but often even faster than that. This is useful for freezing fast-moving objects, but it can make exposure settings, particularly the shutter speed, more complicated. Almost all cameras have a maximum flash sync speed which is much lower than the actual flash duration. Many flashguns offer a high speed sync mode to get round this. Flash duration depends on the model, its power setting and sometimes the mode it’s being used in.
Dual Pixel CMOS AF
An autofocus technology developed by Canon that aims to deliver the speed and responsiveness of phase detection autofocus using only the camera sensor and not a separate phase detection sensor. This has many advantages for mirrorless cameras and DSLRs being used in live view mode. Effectively, the photosites on Canon’s sensor are split into two, and the two ‘halves’ can be used to measure the distance of the subject by how much the two halves are ‘out of phase’. Other makers have their own on-sensor phase-detection autofocus systems. This eliminates one of the few advantages of DSLR cameras over mirrorless models.
Dual card slot
Many more advanced/professional cameras have two memory card slots not one. This can provide extra security where photos and video are recorded to both cards at the same time, overflow capacity for when the first card fills up or the separation of one type of file from another, such as RAW files and JPEGs or photos and video.
Dropbox
An online storage system for your files and photos. You copy photos to a Dropbox folder on your computer and they are synchronized with the online Dropbox servers so that you can access them from anywhere. You can get a free account with a small amount of storage, but it’s essentially a subscription-based service.
DNG
A generic RAW format developed by Adobe and now used by some camera makers (Pentax) and some software publishers (DxO) and extensively within the Adobe software ecosystem. Uptake has not been universal and there are many flavors of DNG files which have led to occasional incompatibility issues.
Digital zoom
Zoom function that comes from blowing up the central part of a digital image, not by increasing the magnification of the lens. Digital zooms produce lower resolution and less detail, despite what the makers say.
DIGIC (Canon)
Canon’s brand name for the image processors in its digital cameras. These take the raw data captured by the sensor and process it into image files as well as handling many of the camera’s internal functions. Other makers have their own brands of processor.
Develop
A term used by some software companies, for example Serif in its Affinity Photo software, to describe the RAW conversion process, where a RAW file is processed into an editable image.
Drag (tripod head)
Controllable resistance built into video tripod heads to allow for smooth panning and tilting movements. More sophisticated video heads have drag controls which you can adjust to your preference and the size and weight of your kit.
DCI 4K
The same height as regular 4K UHD video (2160 pixels), but slightly ‘wider’ with a horizontal resolution of 4096 pixels rather than 3840. It’s not necessarily superior as such, but if your project or work calls for the DCI 4K resolution and aspect ratio rather than 4K UHD, then you need a camera that offers this. Some cameras offer both, but not all.
DaVinci Resolve
A powerful professional-level video editing tool from Blackmagic Design which can be used both with Blackmagic’s own cinema cameras and cameras from other makers. The Studio version is paid for, but there’s a free version which offers many of the same high end editing tools.
Darkroom
Room or laboratory set aside for film development and printing, typically equipped with a ‘wet’ area with running water, an enlarger for making prints and blackout materials to produce complete darkness.
Custom settings
Most advanced cameras offer a custom settings menu for changing the behavior of the camera’s controls to better suit the way you like to work. For example, you might want to change the direction of the control dials, or the order in which bracketed exposures are taken.
Counterbalance
A device built into more advanced video tripod heads to balance the weight of the camera and lens so that it remains balanced even as you tilt the camera, rather than drooping one way or the other. Balancing is important with video heads which are often used unlocked to allow free movement.
Control Line (DxO)
A specialized masking tool in DxO PhotoLab and Nik Collection plug-ins that combines a regular linear gradient mask with an eyedropper tool that can be used to select only those tones and colors that you want the mask to affect.
Control dial
A wheel on the camera body which you turn with a finger or your thumb to change one of the camera settings. The control wheel’s function will depend on the mode or function you’ve selected. More advanced cameras have two control wheels for quicker adjustments.
Continuous lighting
This is photographic lighting which is, as the name suggests, on all the time. This is in contrast to flash, which fires in a very brief, bright burst at the moment the camera shutter opens. Continuous lighting is used for movie-making and video, and it’s also popular amongst photographers who prefer to see the light ‘live’ rather than checking the results of a flash exposure after it’s been taken. With the increased sensitivity of modern camera sensors, and the increasing number of fast prime lenses on sale, continuous lighting is making a comeback even in stills photography, aided by advances in the power and efficiency of LED lighting.
Continuous AF (autofocus)
In continuous AF (autofocus) mode, the camera continually refocuses all the time you have the shutter button half-pressed or fully-pressed. It’s used in continuous shooting mode to keep moving subjects in focus as you follow them with the camera. Continuous AF mode may include subject tracking or predictive autofocus capability.
Condenser microphone
The most common type of microphone, which uses a small but highly sensitive condenser type pickup in a variety of microphone styles, from desktop USB ‘podcasting’ mics, to wireless lavalier (lapel) mics and on-camera directional or shotgun microphones.
Color profile
A software file used in color management processes that describes the properties of a specific device so that your computer can correct or ‘normalize’ the way it displays or prints colors. If you don’t use color management in your workflow, you don’t need to worry about this.
Color fringing
Another term for chromatic aberration, where colored fringes appear around object outlines towards the edges of the frame. Regular ‘lateral’ chromatic aberration is easy enough to fix in-camera or in software, but longitudinal ‘bokeh’ fringing is much more difficult to deal with.
Collection
Lightroom’s name for its ‘virtual’ image containers. Some programs call them ‘albums‘, but the terms ‘album’ and ‘collection’ are generally interchangeable. You use Collections to bring together related images without actually changing their location on your hard disk.
Cold shoe
Most cameras have a hotshoe or accessory shoe for attaching flashguns and other accessories. These are ‘hot’ because they have the electrical contacts needed to connect with and trigger the accessory that’s been added. A cold shoe is simply the same kind of mounting plate but without the connections. For example, they’re used for attaching video lights (which need no connection to the camera) or microphones (which connect to the camera by cable or wirelessly) or simply as a holder for external flashguns fired remotely by the camera.
Codec
A combination word made up of the process of encoding and decoding video data, where the challenge is to compress large quantities of video capture data into a form that can be easily stored, transmitted and displayed. Many different codecs exist, though some are much more widely used than others, such as the H.264 and H.265 codecs.
Close up
This is a pretty vague term that describes any photography at closer than normal distances. Most camera lenses can shoot close-ups, but if you want to get closer still for true life-size ‘macro’ photography, which does have a proper definition, then you will need a dedicated macro lens.
Clean HDMI
Uncompressed, higher quality video carried over a camera’s HDMI port to an external recorder. ‘Clean HDMI’ is a kind of early precursor to today’s high-quality HDMI output, where cameras can record higher quality video to external storage devices than they can internally to memory cards.
CFexpress Type B
A new memory card format that combines the high speeds and high capacities needed for today’s high resolution video capture and high speed stills photography. They are physically identical to the short-lived XQD card format. Indeed, some cameras which used XQD cards have been updated to use CFexpress Type B. There is another, smaller CFexpress Type A variant used on some Sony cameras.
CFexpress Type A
A new memory card type designed for higher speeds and capacities, especially for video capture. It’s a smaller version of the CFexpress standard. Type A cards are smaller than the more common CFexpress Type B, but also slower and more expensive. They are currently used in Sony cameras, where they can fit into dual-format SD/CFexpress Type A memory card slots.
Cat’s eye bokeh
Where bokeh discs in out of focus areas become flattened out towards the edges of the frame into the shape of a cat’s eyes. It’s generally considered a bad thing but lens ‘flaws’ go in and out of fashion and one day it may be considered a highly desirable retro effect.
Cardioid microphone
Many microphones have a cardioid, or heart-shaped pickup pattern designed to pick up sound from in front of the mic and the sides, but not from the rear – though supercardioid mics may also have a small rear pickup pattern to allow for the narrator’s voice, for example.
Capture One
All-in-one image capture (tethered shooting), cataloging and editing software originally from Danish company Phase One but now split out into a separate software company. Capture One is a professional image cataloguing, RAW processing and photo editing tool. It’s a premium product and its closest rival is probably Adobe Lightroom.
Cable release
The old-fashioned way of firing a camera remotely so that you don’t jog the camera by pressing the shutter button. The cable screws into a thread in the shutter release button and you push the plunger on the other end of the cable to fire the shutter. There’s a locking screw to keep the plunger pressed in for long exposures. Cable releases are rarely seen now – most cameras use wireless remote controls – though a few still have threaded shutter buttons.
C4K
A slightly ‘wider’ variant of 4K video (normally 4K UHD) which has a resolution of 4096×2160 pixels. Many cameras which can shoot conventional 4K UHD video may not be able to offer the same frame rates in the wider C4K format, or even offer C4K at all. C4K capture is sometimes used as a selling point, but is only relevant if you or your client has a specific requirement for this format.
Bulb (B) exposure
Usually, the camera’s exposure time is set by the shutter speed you’ve selected, so that the exposure ends automatically. But in Bulb mode the shutter stays open for as long as the shutter button is held down, so it’s used a lot for night photography or low light photography, where exposures can range from 30 seconds to 30 minutes (in moonlight). In the old days you’d use a cable release with a locking screw; these days you’d use a remote release with a bulb mode (using a remote release means you don’t risk moving the camera by keeping your finger on the button).
Brush
A simple manual tool for painting color on to an image to make local adjustments using a selection or a mask. You can change the size of the brush, its ‘hardness’ and its flow rate or opacity, all of which can help you adjust the effect and the way it’s built up.
Brolly
A brolly is a lighting modifier for professional flash systems. It’s designed to provide a much larger, softer light source than a naked flash head, and it’s one of the most popular lighting accessories. It’s just like a regular umbrella, but the inner surface is highly reflective. The flash is positioned to point directly into the inside of the brolly and this surface reflects the light back to the object or scene you’re photographing. The inner surface may be white or silvered, and the brolly has a metal shaft which slides into a clamp on the flash head.
Bridge (Adobe)
Image and file browsing tool from Adobe that’s used alongside its creative applications like InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. Many photographers find it perfectly adequate for organizing their photos. Also known as Adobe Bridge.
Border
Another word for frames, a digital effect that simulates the look of a real photographic border, such as a matte, the edge of a filmstrip, the borders on a snapshot or a Polaroid and so on. Some borders, like pretend wooden frames, wouldn’t fool anyone, but others, such as negative edges, slide frames or rough-edged black edges can be quite effective.
Boom
A boom is essentially a horizontal pole used to position a microphone or other accessory closer to the subject but just out of shot. It’s used widely when shooting movies or videos. But some tripods also offer a ‘boom’ mechanism for extending the camera horizontally from the tripod to photograph objects from above or those where it’s not possible to get the tripod close enough (because the tripod legs are getting in the way). Some tripods can take special horizontal booms where the tripod head (and the camera) is mounted on the end of the boom. Others have a design that allows the center column to be rotated into a horizontal position.
Bokeh fringing
A type of chromatic aberration that appears around defocused objects rather than around sharp outlines. Also called ‘longitudinal’ or ‘axial’ chromatic aberration, it’s difficult to edit out in software, so wide-aperture lenses designed for background blur also need to be well corrected for bokeh fringing.
Blackmagic RAW
A RAW format for video developed by BlackMagic Design and used by its cinema cameras and DaVinci Resolve video editing software. It’s a highly efficient RAW format that is supported by some cameras for use with external recorders such as Blackmagic’s VideoAssist models.
Blackmagic Design
Australian company that makes video equipment including cinema cameras and desktop mixing equipment. Products include a range of ‘Pocket Cinema Cameras’ of a similar size and cost to mainstream mirrorless cameras, but designed specifically for video, with professional filmmaking features and controls.
Billingham
A prestige camera bag maker in the UK’s West Midlands. It produces traditionally-styled canvas or FibreNyte material bags with brass fittings, leather straps and great attention to detail. Despite the traditional appearance, Billingham bags are designed for modern cameras and users, and owners hold them in high regard.
AVCHD
A video file format commonly used by Sony and Panasonic cameras for HD and FHD video. It’s an efficient file format for high-definition video, keeping file sizes relatively small while keeping the quality high. It uses a complicated directory structure, though, so that you don’t get simple self-contained video files in the way you do with other video formats. The MP4 and MOV formats are more commonly used these days for 4K video.
Aurora HDR (Skylum)
HDR software developed in conjunction with HDR specialist Trey Ratcliff. It can work with single images or merge a series of bracketed exposures. You can apply one of many different preset effects or create your own with the manual controls. Aurora HDR does now seem to have been rolled into Skylum Luminar Neo, as one of the Extensions for that program.
Audio monitoring
Using headphones or earbuds to monitor audio directly when recording video. This will give you a better idea of how the video sounds, the intrusiveness of any background noise and whether speech is clear and audible. Many cameras have headphone sockets for this, even some microphones.
Articulating LCD
A rear LCD screen that can be flipped out and swiveled to face in any direction. This can be especially useful for filming video clips and for composing still images in confined spaces or at awkward angles. Some cameras offer tilting LCDs instead. These have a more restricted range of movements (up and down) but are still more versatile than regular fixed screens. An ‘articulating’ screen is essentially the same as a ‘vari-angle’ screen.
Anamorphic lens
A lens which compresses the scene horizontally to capture a wider angle of view which is then ‘decompressed’ to produce regular proportions again in a very wide aspect ratio. It’s effective for producing very wide cinematic footage using regular digital sensors. Anamorphic video also has some visual quirks and effects which are currently fashionable.
Analog Efex (Nik Collection)
Analog Efex Pro is part of the Nik Collection, now published by DxO. It’s a plug in which offers a selection of ‘analog‘ film styles which mimic a variety of film types, darkroom processes and aging effects. It’s also possible to choose these effects manually and build your own preset styles.
Album
A kind of ‘virtual’ container for photographs you want to keep together. When you use an album (or ‘collection’) in photo editing software, it keeps the images together without actually moving them on your hard disk.
Adobe Stock
A new service offered by Adobe where users can download and buy stock photography at attractive prices from within their Adobe apps. Photographers can also upload their images to the Adobe Stock library in the hope of earning money from image sales.
Round filters
These are the filters most people think of for camera lenses. They screw directly into the lens filter thread. Common round filters include black and white contrast filters, polarizing filters, soft focus and black mist filters, plus UV filters and plain protection filters for those who like to keep their lenses safe.
Magnetic filters
Traditionally, filters are attached by screwing them into the filter thread at the front on the lens. This applies both to round filters and to square filter systems, where the filter holder screws on to the lens via an adapter ring. Magnetic filter holders attempt to speed up the whole process using magnets rather than screw threads.
Filter factor
This is a calculation used to work out the effect of different filters on the exposure needed, but it’s largely fallen out of use with the arrival of digital cameras and especially mirrorless cameras. For example, a red filter, a contrast filter used in black and white photography, might have a filter factor of 3, so that you would measure the exposure without the filter attached, put on the filter and then increase the exposure by 3 stops. to compensate for the filter.
Revoring
This is the name of a filter range created by filter maker H&Y filters. Instead of using a filter thread of a fixed size, it houses a spring-loaded mechanism that can adapt to a wider range of filter sizes, making it possible to use one filter with a different number of lenses. You still have to choose different Revoring sizes to handle small, medium and larger lens sizes.
Black mist filter
This is a kind of modern-day soft focus filter that takes a different approach. Black mist filters are designed to reduce contrast and soften harsh highlights in portrait shots, and at the same time soften wrinkles, spots and other unwanted facial blemishes.
Step up ring
Step up rings are used to fit a larger filter on to a smaller lens filter thread. They are a useful way to reduce the number of different filter sizes you need to get. They are inexpensive to buy and they are available in just about any combination of lens filter thread and filter size.
Drop in (rear) filter
Some lenses have very large or protruding front elements that make it impossible or impractical to use regular filters or filter systems. Instead, they may offer a slot towards the rear of the lens for inserting drop in filters, though the types available and what you can do with them are much more limited that regular filter systems.
Protection filter
This is a clear glass filter that has no optical function at all but is simply designed to protect the front element of the lens from dust, smears, scratches and moisture, even impacts. Protection filters screw directly into the lens’s filter thread, so you will need to get one the right size. You can also use UV filters as protection filters, although the UV filtering is hardly relevant today.
Square filter
Square filters are designed to be used with filter systems, slotting into a filter holder which attaches to the front of the camera lens. This system of holders, slots and square filters means that filters can be used in combination, and filters that need to be positioned vertically – notably graduated filters – can be moved up and down the slot for precise positioning.
Filter holder
This is a mounting system for filters which attaches to the front of the camera lens via its filter thread and has slots for inserting two or more filters. Often there will be a slot closest to the camera lens for inserting a dedicated polarizing filter which can be rotated independently of the rest. The other slots accept square filters such as graduated filters or neutral density filters like the Lee Big Stopper.
Big Stopper (Lee filters)
The Big Stopper is a powerful 10-stop neutral density filter from Lee filters. The name has caught on and many now refer to high powered ND filters as ‘big stoppers’. The point of an ND filter is that it reduces the light passing through the lens and allows long exposures even in bright daylight. This is the technique used to create blurred water and cloud effects in landscapes.
Yellow filter
Yellow filters were a popular choice for black and white landscape photography. Like other contrast filters, they pass through the filter color but hold back complementary colours. In landscape photography, that means blue skies are made darker while yellow tones, including most foliage, keep their brightness. A yellow filter is one of the most popular black and white filters, along with the red filter.
Variable ND filter
Variable ND filters are useful in video because here it’s often important to maintain the same aperture (iris) setting and shutter speed (or ‘shutter angle’) to keep a consistent visual effect even in changing lighting – you can adapt to different light levels by adjusting the ND effect.
Topaz Labs
Software company which publishes the Topaz Studio plug-in effects collection where you can try basic versions of each tool and upgrade to the full versions of those you want individually.
Style (Capture One)
Capture One offers two kinds of one-click adjustment and a slightly different terminology to other programs. In Capture One you can create custom settings for each of its tools and save this as a ‘Preset’. Capture One Presets use a single tool. But you can also combine multiple Preset adjustments to save a ‘Style’. Phase One sells a number of different Styles packs designed by professional photographers and for use with Capture One.
Stock photography
Generic images offered for sale to anyone who wants to license them for use on websites or in publications. Stock images are generally submitted to a searchable stock library by individual photographers. When a client pays to use an image, the photographer gets a percentage of the fee.
SSD
A solid state storage device that uses memory chips rather than a hard disk. SSDs offer much faster data transfer rates than regular hard disks, they’re smaller and have no moving parts. They are, however, much more expensive, so while an SSD is ideal add-on storage for desktops and laptop computers, especially if you want to take your data with you on the move, they are a substantial investment.
RAID drive
RAID drives are a high-end desktop storage system that offers extra speed and security, but in larger drive units that are also considerably more expensive (and noisier) than regular types. They use two or more hard disk drives working in unison to offer data ‘redundancy’, so that if one drive fails your data is still stored across the others. They can also offer much faster data transfer rates than regular hard drives, which can be especially useful for video editing.
Lightroom Classic (Adobe)
Lightroom is an all-in-one photo cataloging, organizing and editing tool that also synchronizes with a mobile app so that you can browse and share your images while you’re on the move. It uses the same RAW conversion engine and tools as Adobe Camera Raw, which comes with Photoshop, but comes in two versions: Lightroom Classic CC uses the same desktop-based storage system and tools as the ‘old’ Lightroom, while Lightroom CC is a new stripped-down version with a simpler interface which uses paid-for cloud storage.
PhotoLab (DxO)
DxO PhotoLab is the replacement for the old DxO Optics Pro, adding in local adjustment tools when DxO bought the Nik Collection and its technologies from Google. PhotoLab is now a powerful all image browsing, raw processing, lens correction and editing tool, and is renowned for the image quality it can create.
DxO
Paris-based software company famous for its optical research, testing systems and software. It publishes DxO PhotoLab (previously known as DxO Optics Pro), FilmPack and ViewPoint, and has recently acquired the Nik Collection from Google.
Dodge and burn
Dodging and burning is an old black and white technique for darkening or lightening different areas of a print while it’s being developed. It is a creative technique that’s just as relevant with digital images. It’s done to enhance the tones, the composition and the balance of a picture to create a visually satisfying image.
DNG Converter (Adobe)
This is a handy free tool you can download from the Adobe website for converting digital camera RAW files into Adobe’s generic DNG format. It’s useful if you have a new camera but an older version of Photoshop, Elements or Lightroom that won’t open its RAW files.
Dfine (Nik Collection)
Software plug in for reducing noise in images and part of the Nik Collection. Like many other noise reduction programs, Dfine analyzes the image and calculates a noise reduction profile. It’s also possible to define the areas used for analysis manually.
Dehaze
This is a relatively new tool in Lightroom and other programs. What the Dehaze effect does is to split the image up into different tonal areas – such as the sky and the foreground in a landscape photo – and then maximise the contrast within these areas. The effect is strongest in areas which are quite pale and washed out, such as weak skies or distant hazy horizons.
Cutout
Where an object in a photo is cut out from its surroundings using a selection or a mask so that it can be added to another image or placed against a plain (usually white) background.
Curves
Curves are one of the most fundamental image adjustment tools in photo editing software. They’re used to shift different parts of the picture’s tonal range to make them darker or lighter, though they can also be used for color adjustments.
Creative Cloud (Adobe)
Adobe’s online image sharing, storage, synchronization and collaboration service. Many of Adobe’s workflow tools now rely on its Creative Cloud services.
Copyright
You own the copyright in any photo you take, though if you photograph a model or an important building, you may not have the right to use your photos commercially without their permission (or ‘release’). Some cameras can embed copyright information.
Control Point (DxO)
A special selection and adjustment tool used by the Nik Collection plug-ins and DxO PhotoLab, control points operate over an adjustable circular radius and select only tones similar to the area under the central target. You can use them to adjust Brightness, Contrast, Structure, Saturation and more.
Contrast
Contrast, in its simplest sense, is the difference in brightness between two tones. In photography it’s usually taken to mean the brightness range of a picture – the difference in brightness between the brightest and darkest parts of a picture.
Content aware
Adobe image repair tools that can ‘intelligently’ paint over unwanted objects and blemishes using surrounding image data matched to the area being covered up. Photoshop has content-aware repair tools, Affinity Photo offers an Inpainting brush.
Compression
A software process that reduces the storage space taken up by photo or video image files. It comes in two type: ‘lossless’ and ‘lossy’ compression. Lossless compression is used by TIFF files, for example and retains all the image data but does not produce the biggest savings. Lossy compression is used for the JPEG format and produces much smaller files, but some data is lost in the process – though this may not be visible in real-world viewing conditions.
Composition
This is the art, or skill, of arranging the objects, perspective and framing of a photograph to achieve the desired visual effect. There are a number of ‘rules’ of composition, including the rule of thirds, the Golden Mean and various other photographic truisms that may or may not prove useful.
Color sensitivity
This is a property sometimes used in black and white conversions from a color image. You’ll find it in programs like Silver Efex Pro, Capture One and others, and it changes the way different colors are converted into shades of gray. For example, you can use it to mimic the effect of a red filter in black and white photography, by reducing the strength (sensitivity) of the blue/cyan colors in the image and increasing the strength of the red/orange tones. In the old days, you’d use the Channel Mixer in Photoshop to achieve the same thing in a cruder fashion; these days, black and white conversion tools offer a wider range of colors.