Browse All 840 Photography Terms A–Z

Bit Rot Files, Metadata & Workflow The gradual, silent corruption of stored data over time, in which individual bits change without any error being reported.

Bitrate Motion, Video & Creative Techniques Mbps The quantity of data used per second of video, which largely determines its quality within a given codec. File size = bitrate × duration

Bits per Channel Files, Metadata & Workflow bits The number of bits used to record each colour channel of a pixel, determining how many tonal levels are available. Levels = 2^bits

Black and White Conversion Post-Processing & Retouching Turning a colour image into monochrome by mapping each colour to a chosen grey value.

Black and White Film Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes ISO Film with a single silver-based emulsion that records only luminance, producing a monochrome negative.

Black Level Sensors & Digital Capture ADU The numerical value a sensor reports for a completely unexposed photosite, subtracted during processing to establish true black.

Black Point Compensation Printing, Display & Output A conversion option that maps the source's darkest tone to the destination's darkest tone rather than clipping it.

Blend If Post-Processing & Retouching levels (0-255) A control that makes a layer's visibility depend on the brightness values of the layer itself or the layers below.

Blend Mode Post-Processing & Retouching A rule determining how a layer's pixels combine mathematically with those beneath it.

Blooming Sensors & Digital Capture The spilling of charge from a saturated photosite into its neighbours, spreading a bright highlight beyond its true boundaries.

Blown Highlights Exposure & Metering Bright areas recorded at maximum value across all channels, rendering as featureless white that no processing can restore.

Blue Hour Lighting & Flash degrees (sun elevation) The twilight period before sunrise and after sunset when the sun is below the horizon and the sky glows an even, saturated blue. Sun elevation ≈ −4° to −6°

Body of Work Genres, Movements & Theory count A sustained group of photographs unified by subject, approach or idea, developed over an extended period.

Bokeh Optics, Lenses & Filters The aesthetic character of the out-of-focus areas of an image, as distinct from how much of the image is out of focus.

Border Printing, Display & Output mm An area of unprinted paper deliberately left around an image.

Bounce Flash Lighting & Flash stops Aiming a flash at a ceiling or wall so the reflected light, not the direct beam, illuminates the subject.

Breaking the Pattern Composition & Visual Design Introducing a single element that interrupts an otherwise regular repetition, creating an immediate focal point.

Bridge Camera Cameras, Formats & Systems A fixed-lens camera styled like an SLR, offering a very long zoom range from a small sensor.

Broad Lighting Lighting & Flash A portrait approach in which the side of the face turned toward the camera is the lit side.

Bronzing Printing, Display & Output A metallic sheen visible in dark areas of a pigment print when viewed at an oblique angle.

Brush Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching px A local edit painted onto specific areas of an image with an adjustable brush.

Buffer Depth Cameras, Formats & Systems frames The number of consecutive frames a camera can shoot at full speed before its internal memory fills and the rate collapses.

Bulb Mode Exposure & Metering seconds A shutter setting, marked B, that keeps the shutter open for as long as the release is held down.

Burning Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes seconds Giving extra exposure to part of a print so that area comes out darker.

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