Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

File Size Files, Metadata & Workflow MB The storage a file occupies, determined by pixel count, bit depth, channel count and compression. Bytes ≈ px × channels × bits / 8

Fill Light Lighting & Flash f-stops (EV) A secondary, weaker light or reflector used to raise the shadows the key light casts, controlling contrast. Ratio = key / fill

Filling the Frame Composition & Visual Design Composing so the subject occupies most or all of the picture area, leaving little surrounding context.

Film Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes mm / format A flexible transparent base coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, which records an image chemically rather than electronically.

Film Base Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes µm The transparent support that carries the emulsion, historically nitrate or acetate and now usually polyester.

Film Grain Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes RMS granularity The visible texture produced by clumps of developed silver, which becomes more apparent with faster films and greater enlargement.

Film Simulation Post-Processing & Retouching A colour and tone rendering designed to imitate the response of a specific photographic film.

Film Speed Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes ISO A film's sensitivity to light, rated on the ISO scale and formerly as ASA or DIN. ISO arithmetic = 2^((DIN−1)/10)

Filter Factor Exposure & Metering stops (EV) The exposure increase, in stops or as a multiplier, needed to compensate for the light a filter absorbs. Stops = log₂(factor)

Fine Art Photography Genres, Movements & Theory Photography made primarily as an expressive work rather than to document, illustrate or sell a product.

Fisheye Lens Optics, Lenses & Filters mm An ultra-wide lens that deliberately abandons rectilinear projection, bending straight lines to squeeze 180° or more into the frame. r = f × θ (equidistant)

Fixed Pattern Noise Sensors & Digital Capture Noise that appears in the same places on every frame, caused by small manufacturing differences between photosites.

Fixer Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes minutes A solution that dissolves the undeveloped silver halide, making the image permanent and no longer light-sensitive.

Flag Lighting & Flash cm An opaque black panel placed to block light from reaching a specific area.

Flange Focal Distance Cameras, Formats & Systems mm The distance from a camera's lens mounting flange to the sensor or film plane.

Flash Duration Lighting & Flash seconds How long a flash's burst of light actually lasts, which sets its ability to freeze motion independently of shutter speed. t.1 ≈ 3 × t.5

Flash Exposure Compensation Lighting & Flash stops (EV) An offset applied to TTL flash output, in stops, independent of the ambient exposure compensation.

Flash Exposure Lock Lighting & Flash A control that fires the metering preflash in advance and holds the resulting power setting for subsequent frames.

Flash Sync Speed Lighting & Flash seconds The fastest shutter speed at which a focal-plane shutter is fully open, and therefore the fastest speed at which flash can light the whole frame.

Flat Field Correction Sensors & Digital Capture Dividing an image by a frame of evenly illuminated field to remove vignetting, dust shadows and photosite sensitivity variation. Corrected = (light − dark) / (flat − bias)

Flat Picture Profile Motion, Video & Creative Techniques A camera setting that reduces contrast and saturation to retain more information for later adjustment, without the full complexity of log.

Flicker Reduction Exposure & Metering Hz A camera function that times the shutter release to the peak of a pulsing artificial light source, preventing exposure and colour shifts between frames. Cycle = 2 × mains frequency

Fluorite Element Optics, Lenses & Filters count An element made of grown calcium fluoride crystal, which has exceptionally low dispersion and enables near-perfect colour correction.

Focal Length Optics, Lenses & Filters mm The distance from a lens's optical centre to the sensor when the lens is focused at infinity, which determines magnification and angle of view. 1/f = 1/u + 1/v

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