Technical terms of photography

For beginners of photography, there are many skills in some professional photography terms. Let's take a look at the application skills of light and portrait terms.

Terms of light and portrait

Ambient light: Also known as available light, it is the light that appears in the scene without any flash or light adjuster. This may be daylight, or artificial light, such as tungsten lamp or fluorescent light.

Main light: it is the main light source of photos. It may be the sun, studio flash, flash, reflector or something. But it is the source of light.

Supplementary light: it is the light source second only to the main light. It is mainly used to "fill" shadows. This can be achieved by using a flash lamp, a reflector, etc.

Lighting mode: This is the way that light shines on the subject's face, creating a specific light and shadow mode.

Illumination ratio: the ratio of the intensity (brightness) of the main light and the supplementary light is the difference between the bright shadow and the shadow edge of the subject's face.

Flash: A small portable flash that can be connected to the camera's hot shoes or used alone when activated remotely.

Reflector: a device used to reflect light, usually facing the subject. It can be a reflector made by a special factory (I suggest using 5-in 1) or a white cardboard.

Exposure meter: a device that measures the amount of light in a scene. It can be external or built in. Your digital SLR camera has a built-in, which uses the display reading (the object light reflected by the lens).

Wireless flash: external flash.

Subtractive lighting: as the name implies, it is to eliminate the influence of light. Usually, it involves placing a reflector or opaque panel above the subject's head to block the light from above and deepen the deep eye shadow caused by top lighting. You can also put a black reflector on the opposite side of the main light to produce a deeper shadow, which essentially reflects black to the object instead of light.