Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

Golden Spiral Composition & Visual Design A logarithmic spiral constructed from golden-ratio rectangles, sometimes overlaid on a frame as a compositional guide. r = ae^(bθ)

Golden Triangle Composition & Visual Design A compositional grid formed by a diagonal across the frame and two perpendicular lines from the remaining corners.

Gradient Mask Post-Processing & Retouching A mask that fades an adjustment smoothly along a linear direction, digitally imitating a graduated filter.

Graduated Neutral Density Filter Optics, Lenses & Filters stops (EV) A filter that is dark at one end and clear at the other, used to hold back a bright sky while leaving the land unaffected.

Grey Card Exposure & Metering % reflectance A physical card of known neutral 18 per cent reflectance, held in the subject's light to give both a reliable exposure reading and a white balance reference.

Group f/64 Genres, Movements & Theory A short-lived association of West Coast American photographers formed in 1932 to advocate sharp, unmanipulated photography.

Guide Number Lighting & Flash m at ISO 100 A measure of a flash's power, equal to the product of the correct aperture and the subject distance at a stated ISO. GN = N × d

Half-frame Format Cameras, Formats & Systems mm A 35 mm format using an 18 by 24 millimetre vertical frame, doubling the number of exposures on a roll.

Halftone Printing, Display & Output lpi The reproduction of continuous tone by a grid of dots that vary in size, creating the impression of shades from a single ink.

Handheld Light Meter Exposure & Metering EV, f-stops A separate instrument for measuring incident, reflected or flash light independently of the camera.

Hard Light Lighting & Flash Light from a source that is small relative to the subject, producing sharply defined shadows with abrupt edges.

Hard Proof Printing, Display & Output A physical test print made to verify colour and tone before committing to a final print run.

HDR Display Printing, Display & Output cd/m² A screen capable of much higher peak brightness and contrast than conventional displays, showing a wider range of tones.

HDR Merge Post-Processing & Retouching stops Combining bracketed exposures into one file holding a greater dynamic range than any single frame could.

Headroom Composition & Visual Design The space between the top of a subject's head and the upper edge of the frame.

Headshot Genres, Movements & Theory A tightly framed portrait of the head and shoulders, made for professional identification and representation.

Healing Brush Post-Processing & Retouching px (brush size) A retouching tool that copies texture from a source area while blending its tone and colour into the destination.

HEIF Files, Metadata & Workflow MB A modern container format using video-derived compression to store images at roughly half the size of JPEG for equivalent quality.

High Angle Composition & Visual Design degrees A viewpoint above the subject, looking downward.

High ISO Noise Reduction Sensors & Digital Capture levels In-camera processing that smooths noise in high-sensitivity images before writing the JPEG.

High-key Lighting Lighting & Flash A lighting approach in which most tones sit in the upper half of the range, with few dark shadows and a bright background.

High-speed Photography Motion, Video & Creative Techniques µs Capturing events too fast for the eye, using very brief flash durations or specialised high-frame-rate cameras.

High-speed Sync Lighting & Flash stops lost A flash mode that fires a rapid train of pulses during the whole travel of the shutter slit, allowing flash above the normal sync speed.

Highlight Alert Exposure & Metering A playback warning, often called blinkies, that flashes any area of the image where the brightest tones have clipped.

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