terms and definitions

So here I am, blogging away, thinking "this is my photo blog and if my visitors come to see the pictures, I'll be thrilled!!" Of course, while I'm blogging away, I'm not thinking about people actually reading it and trying to understand what I'm saying. My buddy, Kim pointed out that some of my lingo is like a foreign language to people who haven't had any formal photography instruction (not that I have - I've taken two photography workshops - Karen Russell rocks every house!!!). I guess it's time to have a few terms defined. (some of these definitions are in my own words...anything marked with an asterisk is taken straight from the PhotoNotes.org dictionary)

1. SOOC - Straight out of the camera - a completely unedited photo.

2. OOF - Out of focus - could be the whole picture or just a part of a picture - blurry.


3. Vignette - darken the edges and corners of a photo - this can be done a number of ways, but I do it with PSE6. Example: the photo on the right is vignetted.















4. PSE6 - stands for Photoshop Elements 6.0 - the lastest Adobe version of a really good photo editing software that's still affordable (my parents got it for me last Christmas making it even more affordable for me...hee hee).

5. Composition - what your shot is made out of - ***The art of arranging elements of a scene or image in such a way that they are visually pleasing, emotionally moving, etc. Good and bad composition are utterly subjective concepts, about which get photographers very excited. (I only get excited about good composition...I get agita from bad composition).

6. AV mode - Aperture Priority mode on your camera - this setting allows you to adjust the aperture - the how wide your lens is open to light - while the camera will choose the ISO and shutter speed to get the correct exposure.

7. backlighting - light coming from behind your subject.

8. front lighting - light coming from in front of your subject.

9. Emotionally Perfect Photos - this is a completely subjective phrase. A photo is emotionally perfect for you if you can say, I love this picture because... It doesn't have to fall into the definition of #10.

10. Technically Perfect Photos - Everything that you did to take this picture, is technically perfect.

11. ISO - In digital photography, ISO is the measurement of how sensitive your camera's light meter is to light. ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization who regulates the coordination of every kind of international standard. In film photography, it was a measurement of the speed of your film.

12. Noise - **In digital photography, noise is the appearance of random dots or changes in colour value in an image - much akin to the “snow” that would appear on old analogue televisions. Digital cameras use sophisticated error correction systems to minimize the appearance of noise, but most are increasingly vulnerable to noise at slower shutter speeds or high simulated ISO film speeds. (eg: at ISO 100 most cameras can take fairly clean photographs, but at ISO 800 or 1600 most digital cameras suffer from noticeable noise).

13. Shutter speed - how long your lens stays open to let light into your camera - you can control this in shutter priority mode on your camera; your camera will choose ISO and aperture for you.