Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

Third Stop Exposure & Metering stops (EV) A one-third-stop increment, the fine adjustment step most digital cameras use for aperture, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation. ⅓ stop = ×2^(1/3) ≈ ×1.26

Three-point Lighting Lighting & Flash The standard setup of key, fill and rim lights that models a subject and separates it from the background.

TIFF Files, Metadata & Workflow MB A flexible, usually lossless raster format widely used for master files, scanning and print submission.

Tilt-shift Lens Optics, Lenses & Filters degrees, mm A lens that can be tilted or shifted relative to the sensor, controlling the plane of focus and correcting converging verticals. Scheimpflug: subject, lens and film planes meet on a line

Tilt-shift Miniature Effect Motion, Video & Creative Techniques An extreme selective focus that makes a full-size scene appear to be a scale model.

Time Mode Exposure & Metering seconds A shutter setting, marked T, that opens the shutter on one press of the release and closes it on a second.

Time-lapse Motion, Video & Creative Techniques seconds interval A sequence of frames captured at long intervals and played at normal speed, compressing hours into seconds. Clip length = frames / playback fps

Timecode Motion, Video & Creative Techniques hh:mm:ss:ff A frame-accurate time reference recorded with footage, used to synchronise multiple cameras and audio recorders. HH:MM:SS:FF

Tint Colour & Colour Management tint units The white balance axis running from green to magenta, correcting casts that colour temperature alone cannot address.

Tintype Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes A wet collodion positive made on a thin sheet of blackened iron, producing a cheap, durable, unique image.

TLCI Colour & Colour Management Qa score The Television Lighting Consistency Index, a scoring system that evaluates a light source using a model of a camera's response rather than the eye's.

Tonal Contrast Composition & Visual Design stops The difference in brightness between adjacent areas of an image, which controls separation and visual impact.

Tone Mapping Post-Processing & Retouching Compressing a high dynamic range image into the limited range a screen or print can show, while preserving apparent detail.

Tracking Sensitivity Focus & Depth of Field scale (−3 to +3 typically) A setting that controls how quickly continuous autofocus abandons its current subject when something else enters the frame.

Travel Photography Genres, Movements & Theory Photography of places, cultures and journeys, combining landscape, documentary and portrait approaches.

Triangular Composition Composition & Visual Design An arrangement in which the principal elements form a triangle, producing stability and a clear internal structure.

Tripod Cameras, Formats & Systems kg (load rating) A three-legged support that holds the camera rigid for long exposures, precise framing or heavy lenses.

TTL Flash Metering Lighting & Flash stops (EV) Automatic flash exposure in which the camera fires a brief preflash, measures the light returning through the lens, and sets the main burst accordingly.

Twin-lens Reflex (TLR) Cameras, Formats & Systems A medium-format camera with two stacked lenses, one for viewing through a waist-level ground glass and one for taking the picture.

Ultraviolet Photography Motion, Video & Creative Techniques nm Photography using ultraviolet light, either reflected from a subject or as induced visible fluorescence.

Umbrella Lighting & Flash cm A collapsible reflective or translucent modifier that spreads light quickly and cheaply over a wide area.

Underexposure Exposure & Metering stops (EV) An exposure that records less light than the scene needs, producing dark, noisy shadows and muddy colour.

Underwater Photography Genres, Movements & Theory m (depth) Photography made beneath the surface of water, using housings and dedicated lighting.

Unsharp Mask Post-Processing & Retouching amount, radius, threshold A sharpening method that subtracts a blurred copy of the image from the original to find and enhance edges. Sharpened = Original + Amount × (Original − Blurred)

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