Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

Upscaling Post-Processing & Retouching × or MP Increasing an image's pixel dimensions beyond those captured, either by interpolation or by machine-learning reconstruction.

UV Filter Optics, Lenses & Filters A clear filter that blocks ultraviolet light, now used mainly as physical protection for the front element.

Vanishing Point Composition & Visual Design The point in an image at which receding parallel lines appear to meet.

Variable Contrast Paper Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes grade equivalent Paper carrying two emulsions of different contrast and colour sensitivity, whose grade is set by the colour of the enlarging light.

Variable ND Filter Optics, Lenses & Filters stops (EV) A filter made of two stacked polarisers whose relative rotation continuously varies the amount of light blocked.

Varifocal Lens Focus & Depth of Field A zoom lens that does not hold focus when the focal length changes, requiring refocusing after every zoom.

Vectorscope Motion, Video & Creative Techniques A circular display showing an image's colour information as hue by angle and saturation by distance from the centre.

Veiling Glare Optics, Lenses & Filters A diffuse haze of scattered light that lowers contrast across the whole frame without forming distinct shapes.

Vernacular Photography Genres, Movements & Theory Everyday photographs made for practical or personal purposes rather than artistic ones — family albums, passport photos, evidence shots.

Vibrance Colour & Colour Management % A saturation control that increases less-saturated colours more than already-saturated ones, and usually protects skin tones.

View Camera Cameras, Formats & Systems A large-format camera consisting of a lens board and film back joined by a flexible bellows, both adjustable in position and angle.

Viewfinder Coverage Cameras, Formats & Systems % The percentage of the recorded image that is visible through the viewfinder. Coverage = finder area / frame area × 100

Viewfinder Magnification Cameras, Formats & Systems × magnification How large the finder image appears compared with the naked eye, quoted for a 50 mm lens focused at infinity.

Viewing Booth Printing, Display & Output K, lux An enclosure providing standardised, controlled illumination for judging prints and proofs.

Viewing Distance Printing, Display & Output m The distance from which a print is normally seen, which determines how much resolution and sharpening it actually needs. Typical distance ≈ print diagonal

Virtual Copy Post-Processing & Retouching count An additional set of processing instructions attached to one source file, allowing several interpretations without duplicating data.

Visual Path Composition & Visual Design The route the eye takes through a photograph, determined by the arrangement of weights, lines and contrasts.

Visual Rhythm Composition & Visual Design The pace at which repeated elements carry the eye across a frame, set by their spacing and variation.

Visual Tension Composition & Visual Design A sense of unresolved energy created by elements that pull against each other or against the frame.

Visual Weight Composition & Visual Design The degree to which an element in the frame attracts and holds attention, independent of its physical size.

Warm and Cool Colours Colour & Colour Management The perceptual division of the spectrum into warm reds, oranges and yellows and cool blues, greens and violets.

Water Drop Photography Motion, Video & Creative Techniques ms High-speed macro photography of falling liquid, capturing splashes, crowns and colliding droplets.

Watermark Files, Metadata & Workflow % A visible mark overlaid on an image to identify its creator or deter unauthorised use.

Waveform Monitor Motion, Video & Creative Techniques IRE A display plotting the brightness of an image against its horizontal position, used to judge exposure precisely.

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