Photography is associated with a seemingly endless and ever-changing list of jargon and technical terms. A glossary is an essential reference for someone new to photography, and also for those like myself who have both forgotten old meanings and are bewildered by new definitions.
Anastigmatic – To have been publicly disgraced for using an automatic camera.
Anti-halation layer – A chicken used to reduce flare on an image.
ASA – As Slow As. See box speed.
Bokeh – The part of a photograph that no-one looks at.
Box speed – The time taken from ordering to delivery, always too slow. See ASA.
Burning – Analogue delete button.
Camera – A period in history when photography was the pursuit of eccentrics.
Data back – Vertebral discomfort from intensive captioning and keywording.
DOF – The sound made on seeing a photograph with nothing in focus.
Flashbulb – Illegal planting of daffodils in a public space, not a photographic term at all.
Folding camera – To sit on ones iPhone.
F-stop – Stop whatever it is you’re doing right now and don’t start again.
Metadata – To give away copyright to a billionaire.
Ortho-Chromatique – Pioneering early 20th Century French street photographer. Painted cameras red to make them less conspicuous.
Pop – The sound of a film canister opening.
Screw mount – Xx xxxx x xxxxx (term censored).
Security camera – A camera carried as a protection against anxiety.
Sheet film – A film that turned out really badly.
Slōgas – Type of photographic paper, ideal for contact printing negatives by gaslight.
Viewfinder – Instagram.
Wide-angle – When it is better to use a shorter strap instead.
X-synch – To load photos automatically onto the internet site formerly known as Twitter.
Please feel free to suggest more in the comments…
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