Photography terms starting with W
Wide-angle lens: A lens with a shorter focal length, providing a wider field of view and capturing a broader scene.
White balance: The adjustment of colors in a photograph to accurately represent the true white point under different lighting conditions.
Watermark: A visible mark or logo placed on a photograph to protect the image’s copyright or to signify the photographer’s ownership.
Wide-format printing: The process of printing photographs or images in larger sizes, typically exceeding the standard print dimensions.
Workflow: The sequence of steps followed in the process of capturing, organizing, editing, and delivering photographs.
Wet plate collodion: An early photographic process that involves coating a glass plate with a collodion solution and sensitizing it in a darkroom before exposure.
Wide-open aperture: Refers to using the largest aperture setting available on a lens, resulting in a shallow depth of field and more background blur.
Warping: The distortion or bending of an image caused by lens aberrations or digital manipulations.
Warm colors: Colors on the red, orange, and yellow spectrum, often associated with warmth, energy, and a cozy atmosphere.
Wildlife photography: The genre of photography focused on capturing images of animals in their natural habitats.
Wide-angle perspective: A visual effect achieved by using a wide-angle lens, resulting in an expanded view and a sense of depth in the photograph.
Wide dynamic range (WDR): The ability of a camera or sensor to capture a wide range of tonal details in both highlight and shadow areas of a photograph.
Wind filter: An accessory placed over a microphone or camera lens to reduce or eliminate wind noise during recording.
Wedge prism: A prism used in cameras to split the light into separate color channels for accurate color reproduction.
Workflow software: Computer programs or applications designed to streamline and automate various tasks in the photographic workflow, such as organization, editing, and image management.
Wireframe: A simplified, skeletal representation of a three-dimensional object or scene, often used in computer-generated imagery and visual effects.
Washed-out: A term used to describe a photograph with low contrast, lacking depth, and appearing faded or overexposed.
Wide-area autofocus: A focusing system in cameras that uses multiple focus points spread across a wide area to track and maintain focus on moving subjects.
Wide-gamut display: A high-quality monitor or display capable of reproducing a wider range of colors, often used by photographers and graphic designers.
Wet-mounting: The process of mounting a photographic print by affixing it to a surface using a liquid adhesive.
Window light: Natural light that enters a room or space through a window, often used in portrait photography for its soft and flattering quality.
Workflow management: The organization and coordination of various tasks, files, and processes involved in the photographic workflow.
Wide-angle distortion: The visual distortion that occurs at the edges of an image when using a wide-angle lens, causing objects to appear stretched or exaggerated.
Wide-open shutter: Refers to using a slow shutter speed, often to capture motion blur or create long-exposure effects.
Wide dynamic range photography: A technique that involves capturing multiple exposures of a scene with different exposure settings and combining them to create an image with extended dynamic range.
Wide-aperture lens: A lens with a large maximum aperture, allowing for more light to enter the camera and providing the ability to achieve shallow depth of field.
Wavelength: The distance between two corresponding points on a wave of light, which determines its color in the electromagnetic spectrum.
White point: The reference point for white in an image, typically defined as the brightest area that contains no color cast.
Wide-angle macro: A type of lens that combines wide-angle and macro capabilities, allowing for close-up photography with an expanded field of view.
Wabi-sabi: A Japanese aesthetic philosophy that appreciates the beauty of imperfection, transience, and natural decay, often embraced in photography.
Wide-angle panorama: A panoramic photograph created by stitching multiple wide-angle images together to capture a wider field of view.
Wi-Fi connectivity: The ability of a camera to connect to a wireless network or device, enabling remote control, file transfer, and sharing of images.
Wide-area metering: A metering mode in cameras that analyzes the light intensity across a wide area of the frame to determine the exposure settings.
Wide-angle distortion correction: The process of digitally correcting the distortion caused by wide-angle lenses, often through lens profile corrections in post-processing software.
Water drop photography: A specialized genre that captures the beauty and dynamics of water droplets using techniques like high-speed photography and precise timing.
White vignette: A deliberate effect where the edges or corners of a photograph are intentionally brightened or whitened to draw attention to the center of the frame.
Wide-gamut color space: A color space that encompasses a broader range of colors, allowing for more accurate color reproduction in photography and printing.
Water-resistant: Refers to cameras or equipment designed to withstand exposure to water or moisture to a certain extent, offering increased durability and protection.
Wide-angle portraiture: The practice of capturing portraits using wide-angle lenses, which can introduce unique perspectives and include more of the subject’s surroundings.
Wratten filters: A series of color filters used in black and white photography to modify the tonal values of different colors in the scene.
Wirelessly triggered flash: A flash unit or system that can be triggered remotely without the need for physical connections, offering greater flexibility and control in lighting setups.
Warm-up filter: A color filter used in photography to add a warm or yellowish cast to the image, often employed to enhance sunrise or sunset scenes.
Whitespace: The empty or blank areas surrounding the main subject or objects in a photograph, used for compositional balance and visual breathing room.
Wide-angle prime lens: A fixed focal length lens with a wide-angle perspective, providing a fixed field of view and typically offering superior image quality compared to zoom lenses.
Wide-angle distortion effect: The intentional use of wide-angle lenses to create a distorted or exaggerated perspective, often employed for artistic or creative purposes.
Water reflection: The reflection of light and objects on the surface of water, often used to create visually compelling compositions in landscape photography.
Wide-format camera: A type of camera designed to capture images on larger format film or digital sensors, allowing for higher resolution and greater detail.
Wide-aperture prime lens: A fixed focal length lens with a wide maximum aperture, enabling excellent low-light performance and shallow depth of field control.
Wide-angle street photography: The genre of street photography that utilizes wide-angle lenses to capture the energy, essence, and surroundings of urban environments.
Weather sealing: The feature of cameras or lenses that provides protection against dust, moisture, and adverse weather conditions, allowing photographers to work in challenging environments.