Photographer Lingo

The following list should help you understand other photographers as they ramble on about their profession.

Equipment

Shooting Wide Open – Every lens has a maximum and minimum aperture opening. When you shoot wide open, you’re allowing the most light the lens will allow to pass through. Shooting wide open narrows your depth of field and give you bokeh. Don’t shoot groups of people or landscapes wide open.

Drag the Shutter – By slowing down the shutter speed, you introduce motion blur which can convey movement in your photo.

Hit it with a Strobe – You have on-camera and off-camera (rim lighting, hair light, key lights, fill light, soft light, hard light…). Hitting it with a strobe means adding some light, usually from a flash unit.

Lens Short Names – When a photographer says “85 one two,” most likely, they are referring to a lens. The first number is the focal length, and the second is the aperture  For example, if I said “24… 70… two eight”, I’m talking about the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8.

Bokeh – This is a Japanese word used for background or foreground blur.

Gorilla Pod – Made by Joby, these makeshift tripods are a great substitute when needing to pack light. The are also great for gorilla mounting a flash head.

Software

Brushing – Think of it like you would a paint brush, but instead of paint, your brushing on brightness, saturation, or many different digital alterations. You can use your mouse or a wacom tablet to brush.

Culling – The process of sorting and deleting images. One of the first steps in processing a wedding is culling it.

RAW – The only other option is JPG and we STRONGLY advise not using it. When you shoot RAW, you have more photo data allowing you more wiggle room when editing.