The world of photography is full of terms and phrases that can be confusing for new photographers, so PetaPixel has put together a complete glossary of everything you may want to know the meaning of if you’re just getting started.
E
Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). A type of camera viewfinder that uses a small electronic display to help photographers compose photos, adjust settings, and review images. While the downside is that photographers are not looking at the real world through viewfinder optics, the electronic viewfinder’s advantages over the optical viewfinder include real-time exposure previews and useful information overlays.
Enlarger. Also called a projection printer, this is a darkroom device that allows photographers to produce a photographic print that is larger in physical dimensions than the original film negative or transparency by projecting the image downward onto photo-sensitive paper below.
ETTL. Exposing to the left. Underexposing a photo so that the histogram is pushed toward the left in an effort to avoid clipped shadows. This technique was commonly used in film photography due to negative film having greater recovery potential in highlights than in shadows. With digital photography, however, there is more latitude in the shadows and photographers typically expose to the right (ETTR).
E-TTL. Evaluative though-the-lens. Automatic flash metering that fires a pre-flash, measures the resulting light that comes into the camera, and then uses that information to calculate the proper flash exposure time.
ETTR. Expose to the right. Overexposing a photo so that the histogram is pushed toward the right in an effort to avoid blown highlights. This technique is commonly used in digital photography due to the greater recovery potential in shadows than in highlights. With negative film, however, there is more latitude in the highlights and photographers typically expose to the left (ETTL).
EV. Exposure value. A number that represents an equivalent exposure based on a combination of shutter speed and aperture. Combinations that produce the same exposure of a scene will have the same EV. Each 1 EV change corresponds to a power-of-2 exposure step, or stop, so increasing by 1 EV doubles the exposure, and decreasing by 1 EV halves the exposure.
Exhibition. When photographs and other artworks are displayed in a public place such as a museum, art gallery, or photo club so that the public can view them in person. Exhibits are generally on display for a limited amount of time, after which they are replaced by new artworks, but there are also permanent exhibitions.
EXIF. Exchangeable Image File Format. Officially stylized as Exif (without all caps), this is the dominant metadata standard that specifies formats for information recorded when photos or other types of media are captured by a digital camera. Supported by virtually all camera manufacturers, metadata included in Exif include things like camera settings when a photo is captured (e.g. aperture, shutter speed, focal length, etc.), technical metrics of an image, date/time/location info, thumbnail previews, copyright details, and more.
Exposure. The amount of light per unit area recorded by photographic film or a digital image sensor as a result of the combination of aperture, shutter speed, and light in the scene. Different camera settings can have equivalent exposures. The term is also used generally to refer to a single open-and-close cycle of the shutter in the creation of a photograph, though more than one exposure can be combined to create a “multiple exposure” photo.
Exposure Bracketing The capturing of multiple photos of the same scene with the only difference being varying exposure settings. This can be used to ensure that one of the exposures is optimal, or the multiple exposures can be combined in post-processing to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photo since the images span a wider dynamic range than a single exposure can.
Exposure Compensation. A camera feature that allows photographers to override the exposure calculated by the built-in light meter by increasing or decreasing the exposure value (EV). Often used when the scene is dominated either by light tones (e.g. a snowy landscape) that can normally lead to underexposed photos or by dark tones (e.g. a close-up ninja portrait) that can normally result in overexposed photos.
Exposure Triangle. A visual representation of the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO in creating a photographic exposure.
Extension Tube. A lens add-on that increases the distance between the lens and the imaging plane (e.g. film or sensor) in the camera. Lacking any glass elements, the hollow tube reduces minimum focus distance and increases magnification, allowing non-macro lenses to be used for close-up macro photography.