Photography is not something that you can just jump into without any knowledge. You need to understand the language of photography in order to get creative with your shots. This post provides a beginner's guide for some of the most important terms that you'll need to know when it comes to photography.
Checkout this top selling Photography How-To Book
Exposure: The amount of light your camera captures
Aperture: The diameter of the aperture at the lens, which determines how large an area, or aperture stop, will be open to let light in
Shutter speed/exposure time: The length of time the shutter is open during an exposure, which controls how long light is allowed into your camera
ISO: The light sensitivity of your camera's image sensor. Higher ISO speeds allow you to take good photos in dim light, but come with a tradeoff: higher the speed, the more noise (grainy appearance) you will see.
White balance: Controls how much of your ambient blue/orange light is allowed in. Auto white balance (AWB) does this for you, but low-light conditions will result in an unrealistically orange hue if not set manually by the user. Picture Reference: wikiHow
Rule of Thirds: An artistic composition guideline that says you should imagine your image to be composed of nine equal parts using two vertical and two horizontal lines; don't place the main object at the center, but on one of the four points where these imaginary lines cross. Picture Reference : author's own
Depth of Field (DoF): The distance over which objects appear acceptably sharp in a photograph taken with a given aperture. DoF is determined by the focal length of the lens used (typically measured in mm), and by the focus distance (that is, how far away from the camera are your objects). The smaller your aperture, i.e., "faster" lenses with a larger number after the f/stop designation, or moving closer to your subject, will result in greater DoF. Picture Reference : author's own
Aperture Priority Mode: A semi-automatic shooting mode that prioritizes controls over depth of field. In this mode, you pick your desired aperture setting(s) and your camera calculates what shutter speed it needs to use.
Shutter Priority Mode: A semi-automatic shooting mode that prioritizes controls over shutter speed for action shots
Manual Mode: A fully-automatic shooting mode that gives you full control over both aperture and shutter speed settings. It requires the user to be familiar with all aspects of exposure, which is why it's recommended for experienced shooters.
Depth of Field Preview: A button on some lenses/cameras that stops down the lens' iris so you can preview how much of your photo will be in focus even when your camera is set to a wide aperture. Useful for fine adjustments to tough focusing situations.
Lens: A camera lens is what allows us to focus and capture images by refracting light to a focal point.
Lens Speed: The lowest f/stop of the lens, which determines how much light is allowed into your camera. "Faster" lenses with smaller numbers typically have larger maximum apertures that allow more light to reach your image sensor. They also help you take photos in low-light conditions.
Lens Aperture: The size of the opening when the lens is open and taking in light from outside
Zoom Lens: A camera lens that allows us to change its focal length for different types of shots
Prime Lens: A camera lens that does not zoom in or out, but has a fixed focal length instead. Prime lenses are generally faster than zoom lenses at their respective focal lengths and therefore produce a higher-quality image.
Camera Sensor: The part of a camera that detects light and converts it to an electronic signal to be recorded by your camera's flash or memory card
Sensor Size: Determines the size of the individual pixels on your camera's sensor, which controls how much detail can be captured in a given image. Larger cameras have larger sensors with bigger pixels able to capture more information, resulting in images that have less noise/graininess and richer color reproduction. Most modern DSLRs use full-frame sensors (24mm x 36mm). Most other digital cameras use smaller APS-C sensors (15mm x 23mmm), while compact point & shoot models feature even smaller 1/2.3" sensors (7.76mm x 12.75mm).
Depth of Field: How much of an image will appear to be in focus from front to back when your subject is focused on correctly; also known as bokeh.