CREDIT: ALLISON PEARCE
The photo exhibits the bokeh technique because the lights are out of focus but still being picked up.

Ever try to listen in on a conversation between two photographers? I'm sure you must have been pretty lost in the sea of words like aperture and colour fringing. Well, worry no longer because this article will give you the inside scoop on the secret language spoken exclusively in the photography industry and get you talking like a professional in no time.

Bokeh photography

Bokeh (BOH-kay) is a Japanese term that refers to how a camera captures light that is out of focus. Often times, photographers will do this on purpose for aesthetic reasons.

Chimping

Chimping is a term photographers have picked up to describe the act of checking every picture on your camera's LCD screen right after you capture it. This action gained this term due to the similarity between a photographer constantly flipping their camera back and forth and a Chimpanzee playing with a new toy.

Dragging the shutter

Dragging the shutter is when you slow your shutter speed down, often blurring your image for artistic reasons such as showing movement. Optionally, a hot shoe flash can be used to freeze your subject in the foreground.

Fast lens

A fast lens is a lens with a wide aperture — f/2.8 or wider. They are called fast because the wide aperture allows more light onto the sensor, allowing you to use a faster shutter speed.

Grain

A term from back in the film days that is used to describe the clumps of silver found on film. Today, it is used to describe the textured appearance of high-ISO photographs.

Hot shoe

The hot shoe is a mount on the top of the camera, usually above the viewfinder, where you can mount accessories such as flashes and microphones.

ISO

ISO, which stands for International Standards Organization, is the term used to describe the sensitivity of either the film, or in today's terms, the sensitivity of the image sensor to light.

Raw file

A raw file is an unprocessed image file. These are handy because the unprocessed file allows you to be able to make easier adjustments in post-production.

Resolution

The resolution of an image refers to the amount of detail or pixels it holds. The higher the resolution, the larger and clearer the image is.

Spray and pray

Spray and pray refers to a shooting technique many new photographers use. The technique is taking a lot of low quality, unplanned photos in the hope that a couple good ones will turn out of the batch. Most professional photographers are skilled at capturing the moment, and thus do not need to rely on the spray and pray technique as it only takes up space on a memory card.