Glossary
Photographer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential photographer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key photographer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in photographer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Aperture
- The lens opening that controls light and depth of field.
- Bokeh
- Blurred background quality.
- Composition
- Arranging elements in a frame.
- Depth of field
- How much of the image is in focus.
- Exposure triangle
- The balance of aperture, shutter and ISO.
- Golden hour
- Soft light after sunrise and before sunset.
- ISO
- Sensor sensitivity to light.
- Model release
- Permission to use a person’s image.
- RAW
- An unprocessed image file.
- Retouching
- Editing to improve images.
- Rule of thirds
- Placing subjects on grid lines.
- Second shooter
- An assistant photographer at events.
- Shutter speed
- How long the sensor is exposed.
- Strobe
- A studio flash.
- White balance
- Adjusting color temperature.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Photographer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Photographer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.