Photography terms starting with L

Lens Mount Cameras, Formats & Systems The mechanical and electronic interface that couples a lens to a camera body.

Levels Post-Processing & Retouching levels (0-255) A tonal adjustment that sets the black point, white point and midtone gamma of an image or channel.

Levitation Photography Motion, Video & Creative Techniques count A composite technique creating the appearance of a subject floating, by combining a supported pose with a clean background frame.

Light Falloff Lighting & Flash stops (EV) The rate at which illumination decreases with distance from the source, across the subject or into the background. E ∝ 1 / d²

Light Painting Motion, Video & Creative Techniques seconds Illuminating a scene, or drawing in the air, with a moving light source during a long exposure.

Light Trails Motion, Video & Creative Techniques seconds Continuous streaks recorded when a moving light source crosses the frame during a long exposure.

Lighting Ratio Lighting & Flash ratio / stops The relationship between the illumination on the lit side of a subject and that on the shadow side, expressed as a ratio or in stops. Ratio = (key + fill) : fill

Lightness Colour & Colour Management L* The perceived brightness of a colour on a scale from black to white, independent of its hue and chroma. L* = 0 (black) to 100 (white)

Line Skipping Sensors & Digital Capture Reading only a fraction of a sensor's rows to produce a lower-resolution image quickly, discarding the rest.

Linear Perspective Composition & Visual Design The geometric effect by which parallel lines receding from the viewer appear to converge toward a point.

Linear Response Sensors & Digital Capture The property of a digital sensor that its output is directly proportional to the number of photons received. Signal ∝ photons

Liquify Post-Processing & Retouching px A tool that pushes, pulls, expands or contracts image areas as though the pixels were fluid.

Live View Cameras, Formats & Systems A mode that shows a continuous sensor feed on the rear screen instead of, or as well as, the viewfinder.

Local Contrast Post-Processing & Retouching % Contrast measured between neighbouring areas rather than across the whole tonal range, which strongly affects perceived depth and clarity.

Log Profile Motion, Video & Creative Techniques stops A recording curve that stores tonal information logarithmically to preserve maximum dynamic range for grading.

Long Exposure Motion, Video & Creative Techniques seconds An exposure lasting long enough that moving elements record as blur or streaks while static ones stay sharp.

Long Exposure Noise Reduction Sensors & Digital Capture A camera function that records a second, unexposed frame of equal duration and subtracts its noise pattern from the image.

Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration Optics, Lenses & Filters Colour fringing caused by different wavelengths focusing at different distances, producing purple in front of focus and green behind it.

Look-up Table (LUT) Colour & Colour Management A table mapping input colour values to output values, used to apply a colour transformation quickly and repeatably.

Looney 11 Rule Exposure & Metering stops (EV) The lunar counterpart to Sunny 16: a full moon is correctly exposed at f/11 with a shutter speed of one over the ISO. t = 1/ISO at f/11

Loop Lighting Lighting & Flash A portrait pattern in which the nose casts a small loop-shaped shadow onto the cheek without touching the cheek shadow.

Lossless Compression Files, Metadata & Workflow ratio Compression that reduces file size while allowing the original data to be reconstructed exactly.

Lossy Compression Files, Metadata & Workflow ratio Compression that permanently discards image information judged least perceptible, in exchange for much smaller files.

Low Angle Composition & Visual Design degrees A viewpoint below the subject, looking upward.

Terms starting with L