Photography Vocabulary

Ambient Light: Light that already exists in a scene, either natural (sunlight) or manmade (artificial).
Back Lighting: Light from behind the subject, heading toward the camera
Bracket: To make multiple exposures, some overexposed and some underexposed according to the indicated meter reading, used to control brightness, contrast, color and to ensure accurate exposure.
Color Temperature: Numerical measurement of the color of light, measured in degrees Kelvin. Warm is low, cool is high. Normal daylight is approximately 5500 degrees Kelvin.
Convergence: Lines that are parallel in reality appear non-parallel in an image because of the picture-taking perspective.
Diffuse: Light that is scattered, spread out and not coming from a single point. For example, light on a cloudy day is diffuse.
EV: Exposure Value. Developed in order to simplify numbers used in exposure calculations. Currently used to describe the range of exposure in which equipment can successfully operate.
Exposure: The amount of light falling on a sensitive material. Controlled with aperture and shutter speed settings.
Factor: Frequently called Filter Factor. A numerical rating indicating how many times exposure must be increased to compensate for loss of light caused by the density of the filter.
Focal Length: A measurement of the size of a lens, usually in millimeters. Larger lenses produce increased image magnification.
Hot Shoe: A mounting bracket on top of a camera that is used to attach and establish electrical connection with a flash.