A crash course in photography so you don’t sound like an idiot
So, you are about halfway through your 1st date with someone and they casually say that they are a landscape photographer. You really like this person, and the only thing that you know about photographers is that they really love to talk technical and they don’t explain their lingo very well. So now that you have snuck to the restroom to brush up on your photography terms, I can help you out with this list of things you should know to understand your new photographer boyfriend.
20 Photography Terms Explained:
ISO: How bright things are.
Shutter Speed: How long the camera lets light in.
Lens cap: This is the thing that you will end up holding a lot when it is not on the end of a lense.
Foreground: The front of the picture. Usually, it’s the bottom part of the photo.
Background: It’s the stuff in the back. Obviously.
Sharpness: This is what your new boyfriend will obsess over. Did the tree blow in the wind slightly so that one of the branches is a little fuzzy? Take the photo again!
Telephoto: This lens allows you to stand really far away from a thing but make it look like it’s closer.
Macro: This lens lets you get up close and personal with the subject of the photo, much like how you will get up close and personal with your date later.
Medium format: This used to be just film cameras, but now it can be digital, too. It is essentially how big the sensor is that actually records the photo being taken.
Pano: Not as creepy as it sounds. This just means panorama. A wide photo made up of a bunch of smaller photos.
Aperture: This refers to the size of the hole that light travels through to make the photo.
Depth of field: How far it seems between objects in the photo.
Hyperfocal distance: Is everything in focus? Then the hyperfocal distance is good. Are somethings left blurry? Not so good.
Memory card: This holds all of the photos your date takes. Don’t lose it. They will cry.
PhotoPills: Not an actual drug! An app that lets the photographer know where things in the sky are. This is actually pretty neat.
Pixel peeping: Again, not as creepy as it sounds. This is when he zooms in on a photo he has already taken to make sure it’s a good one.
F mount: I’m going to stop your dirty mind right there and tell you that this just attaches the lens to stuff. Just like how you are getting attached to your date.
Mirrorless: This kind of camera has no mirror for the image to bounce off of. It’s smaller, which is good because a photographer’s stuff takes up a lot of room.
DSLR: Digital Single-Lens Reflex. It’s a type of camera. It has a mirror in it. It’s bigger. That’s bad. Don’t let them take this kind on vacation. They’ll look like an actual tourist.
Bellows: If your date says their camera has bellows, he is a time traveler from the 1800s and you should leave now. Or he is a hipster, so ask for the best craft brew and vegan restaurant recommendations. And then leave.