Photography terms starting with L

L-bracket Cameras, Formats & Systems An L-shaped plate that lets a camera be mounted on a tripod head in either horizontal or vertical orientation without tilting the head.

Landscape Photography Genres, Movements & Theory Photography of natural or altered land, sea and sky, often concerned with light, weather and a sense of place.

Large Format Cameras, Formats & Systems inches Sheet-film photography at 4×5 inches and above, using individually loaded sheets and a camera with full movements.

Laser Exposure Print Printing, Display & Output ppi A chromogenic print exposed by red, green and blue lasers or LEDs scanning across photographic paper under digital control.

Latent Image Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes The invisible record formed in an emulsion by exposure, before development makes it visible.

Lateral Chromatic Aberration Optics, Lenses & Filters pixels Colour fringing caused by different wavelengths being magnified by slightly different amounts, appearing as coloured edges toward the frame corners.

Law of Closure Composition & Visual Design The gestalt principle that the mind completes incomplete shapes, perceiving a whole where only parts are shown.

Law of Continuity Composition & Visual Design The gestalt principle that the eye follows a line or curve and continues along it even where it is interrupted.

Law of Proximity Composition & Visual Design The gestalt principle that elements placed close together are perceived as belonging to one group.

Law of Similarity Composition & Visual Design The gestalt principle that elements sharing shape, colour, size or texture are perceived as related.

Layer Post-Processing & Retouching count A stacked element in an image document that can hold pixels, adjustments or effects independently of the layers below it.

Layer Mask Post-Processing & Retouching A greyscale channel attached to a layer that controls where that layer is visible, with white revealing and black concealing.

Layering Composition & Visual Design Building a composition from distinct planes at different distances, so the eye moves through the frame from near to far.

Lead Room Composition & Visual Design The space left in front of a subject in the direction they face or move.

Leading Lines Composition & Visual Design Lines within a scene that guide the viewer's eye from one part of the frame toward the subject.

Leaf Shutter Cameras, Formats & Systems seconds A shutter built into the lens from overlapping blades that open from the centre outward and close the same way.

LED Panel Lighting & Flash lux at 1 m A flat array of light-emitting diodes providing continuous, dimmable and often colour-adjustable illumination.

Lens Adapter Cameras, Formats & Systems mm A ring or unit that lets a lens designed for one mount be fitted to a body with a different one.

Lens Coating Optics, Lenses & Filters nm Microscopically thin layers deposited on glass surfaces to reduce reflection and increase light transmission. Optimal thickness = λ / 4n

Lens Correction Profile Post-Processing & Retouching A stored description of a lens's distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration, applied automatically during processing.

Lens Element Optics, Lenses & Filters count A single piece of shaped optical glass within a lens assembly.

Lens Flare Optics, Lenses & Filters Stray light scattered inside a lens by a bright source, appearing as streaks, polygons or a general wash across the image.

Lens Group Optics, Lenses & Filters count One or more elements cemented or fixed together that move as a single unit inside a lens.

Lens Hood Optics, Lenses & Filters A shade fitted to the front of a lens to block light from outside the angle of view before it can strike the front element.

Terms starting with L