Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

Export Preset Files, Metadata & Workflow A saved combination of export settings applied in one action to ensure consistency and avoid errors.

Exposing to the Right (ETTR) Exposure & Metering stops (EV) The technique of exposing as brightly as possible without clipping, then darkening in processing to maximise signal-to-noise ratio.

Exposure Exposure & Metering lux-seconds (lx·s) The total amount of light that reaches the sensor or film, set by the combination of aperture, shutter speed and the scene's brightness. H = E × t

Exposure Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching stops (EV) A processing control that brightens or darkens the whole image in stops, mimicking a change in camera exposure.

Exposure Compensation Exposure & Metering stops (EV) A deliberate offset applied to the camera's metered reading, expressed in stops, to make an image brighter or darker than the meter suggests. Setting = Metered EV − Compensation

Exposure Fusion Post-Processing & Retouching count Blending bracketed frames directly into a normal-range image by selecting the best-exposed pixels, without building an HDR file first.

Exposure Latitude Exposure & Metering stops How far an exposure can miss the ideal and still produce an acceptable image after processing.

Exposure Simulation Exposure & Metering A live-view or electronic-viewfinder mode that displays the scene at the brightness the current settings will actually record.

Exposure Triangle Exposure & Metering stops The teaching model that links aperture, shutter speed and ISO as three interdependent controls, where changing one requires compensating with another. Aperture ↔ Shutter ↔ ISO

Exposure Value (EV) Exposure & Metering EV A single number describing every combination of aperture and shutter speed that produces the same exposure. EV = log₂(N² / t)

Extended ISO Exposure & Metering ISO ISO settings outside a sensor's native range, marked with an L or H prefix, that are produced by digital manipulation rather than analogue gain.

Extension Tube Optics, Lenses & Filters mm A hollow spacer placed between lens and camera that shortens the minimum focus distance and increases magnification. m_added = extension / f

Eye AF Focus & Depth of Field A refinement of face detection that locates and focuses on the eye itself, and usually lets the photographer choose which one.

F-number Exposure & Metering Dimensionless ratio The ratio of a lens's focal length to the diameter of its entrance pupil, written f/2.8, f/8 and so on, and the standard way of stating aperture. N = f / D

Face Detection Focus & Depth of Field A system that identifies human faces in the frame and prioritises them for focus and often for exposure.

False Colour Sensors & Digital Capture Coloured artefacts appearing on fine detail, caused by the colour filter array sampling different colours at different positions.

Farm Security Administration Genres, Movements & Theory count A United States government programme of the 1930s and 40s that commissioned photographers to document rural poverty during the Depression.

Fashion Photography Genres, Movements & Theory Photography made to present clothing and to construct a mood or identity around it.

Feathering Lighting & Flash Aiming a light so the subject is lit by the softer edge of its beam rather than its centre.

Fibre-based Paper Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes g/m² Photographic paper whose emulsion is coated directly onto a paper base with no plastic layer.

Field Camera Cameras, Formats & Systems A folding large-format camera built light enough to carry, trading some movement range for portability.

Field Curvature Optics, Lenses & Filters A defect in which a lens focuses a flat subject onto a curved surface rather than the flat plane of the sensor.

Figure-Ground Relationship Composition & Visual Design The perceptual separation of a subject from its background, which determines whether it reads clearly.

File Naming Convention Files, Metadata & Workflow A consistent rule for naming image files so they sort predictably and stay unique.

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