Forum jargon and Acromyns

[Cricket]

Being relatively new to this forum and organised photography (meaning not just taking snaps of the family) I find it very difficult to follow some of the discussions and critiques as I do not know what a lot of these acronyms and jargon mean. I spend most of my time reading them with my Google opened on another screen searching for explanations.

Is there a list of explanations for jargon and acronyms in the library and if so can someone direct me to it as my lack of expertise in forums makes it very difficult for me to find things here?

[ricktas]

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...-_Dictionaries

[ameerat42]

Being relatively new to this forum and organised photography (meaning not just taking snaps of the family) I find it very difficult to follow some of the discussions and critiques as I do not know what a lot of these acronyms and jargon mean. I spend most of my time reading them with my Google opened on another screen searching for explanations.

Is there a list of explanations for jargon and acronyms in the library and if so can someone direct me to it as my lack of expertise in forums makes it very difficult for me to find things here?

This raises an interesting point especially for new users. It's good that you pointed out "forum jargon" as well as the likes of photographic acronyms.
I think it would be helpful (Wow! Even for everybody, now that I think about it.) if people begin with the full terminology if they introduce it in their post,
and then provide the usual abbreviation or acronym.

For example:
A thread is talking about "35mm equivalence in lenses between full frame and crop sensor cameras". At some point someone will introduce the term
"Field of View". The user could immediately put "FOV" after it and then everyone could just continue to use that abbreviation because it has been defined. Ie., as follows:

"...the Field of View (FOV) of the lens..."

This would help those unfamiliar with the term just coming across a bald FOV in a post. If that person is reading posts after the one where the full term was introduced,
then they can go back through the thread or look it up elsewhere. (A quick Ctrl-F and an upwards search will do that.)

[Cricket]

I have to admit that some posts here are like a foreign language to me and do not understand them at all. Things like BG had me stumped for a while until I worked out it meant Background so yes even something as simple as that can be very confusing. DOF is ok even for beginners as that is pretty much standard but there is a lot on the forum that I have not come across before as people do not speak in acronyms in person and if one does not have forum experience then

[ameerat42]

PS! BG is one I tend to use a lot. I will duly castigate myself and take a dose of my own advice.

- - - Updated - - -

From now on it will be "Background (BG)" if it's the first in any thread I see.

[ricktas]

I have to admit that some posts here are like a foreign language to me and do not understand them at all. Things like BG had me stumped for a while until I worked out it meant Background so yes even something as simple as that can be very confusing. DOF is ok even for beginners as that is pretty much standard but there is a lot on the forum that I have not come across before as people do not speak in acronyms in person and if one does not have forum experience then

You will find it is mostly the photography terms that people shorten. So hopefully the site dictionaries can assist there. But also, remember you can just ask in a thread if you do not know what something means. People are generally all-to-happy to tell others.

[Cricket]

Except I really don't want to look like a total dork

[ricktas]

Except I really don't want to look like a total dork

The only total dork is the person who does not ask. We learn by asking and getting answers.

[Mark L]

Except I really don't want to look like a total dork

"Sorry but this dork would like to know what SOOC means?"
"Sorry but can you explain to this dork what DPP is?"

I'd actually love to see the word dork used much more on AP.
And before any dork asks, AP means ....... mmmm , don't want to make it to easy (Mark's a dork).

[farmmax]

I didn't have a clue what DOF meant for ages. Probably not understanding the concept didn't help

[ricktas]

DORK : Dumbarse Operating Real Kamera ?

DOF : Slang for type of music ? DOF DOF

[Mark L]

I didn't have a clue what DOF meant for ages.

I used to think it meant Detail Outa Focus. Was so confused when people would comment that I could have used more DOF.
"f.../stop, what are they talking about More Detail Outa Fucus?" Took a while for my photos to start not looking abstract.

[ricktas]

I used to think it meant Detail Outa Focus. Was so confused when people would comment that I could have used more DOF.
"f.../stop, what are they talking about More Detail Outa Fucus?" Took a while for my photos to start not looking abstract.

would be great to start seeing some of these new photos Mark. I cannot wait to see how you have improved

[swifty]

Guilty as charged.
But perhaps Cricket was referring to common informal shorthand, many of which probably don't belong in a more formal photographic dictionary like the one Rick linked to.

Random common terms that I can think of:

AP: Ausphotography
TS or OP: Thread Starter or Original Poster/Original Post
SOOC: Straight out of camera
DPP or PP: Digital post processing or post processing. But note DPP is also the name of a Canon post processing software too.
PS: Photoshop
LR: Lightroom
BG: Background
IQ: image quality
DR: dynamic range
BIF: brid in flight
BBF: back button focusing (AF-ON)
OOF: out of focus
HDR: High Dynamic Range
MBP/rMBP: MacBook Pro/retina MacBook Pro
WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get
EVF: electronic viewfinder
OVF: optical viewfiner
ILC: interchangeable lens camera
IS/IBIS: image stabilisation/in-body image stabilisation
TTL: through the lens
FF: full frame

etc. etc.

[Cricket]

lol well yes and there are a few there I had no idea about

[Mary Anne]

This one got me when I first started shooting the Birds.. BOP Bird of Prey..
And not to be confused with Bird of Paradise plant and there is a Bird of Paradise Bird also.

[tandeejay]

Here is a list I compiled elsewhere on the web

AF	Auto Focus	When you let the camera decide when the subject is in focus. Depending on the focusing system of your camera and lens this could be quite fast or slow if the lens decides to hunt around to try and lock onto a subject
Aperture		The hole in the lens that controls how much light gets to the sensor/film while the shutter is open - Smaller number = bigger hole, bigger number = smaller hole... Refer to this article in wikipedia
BIF	Bird/Bee In Flight
BG	Background
bokeh	Blury background	From wikipedia: is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".
BOP	Bird of Prey
CC	Construstive critique / Comments and Critique (usually written as C&C)	When someone provides you with their idea on how you could improve your photograph. Photography can be very subjective so what someone says may not agree with what you think. This is ok, you are not expected to take on the critique of anyone who comments on your photos. After all it is only someone else's opinion, and they do not have all the contextual details about your photo, so it is entirely up to you whether you take on board the critique.
CPL	Circular Polarizing Filter
DOF	Depth of Field	That part of a photograph that is acceptably sharp. (Controlled by Aperture)
ETTL	Expose Through the Lens or Expose to the Left
ETTR	Expose to the Right
GND	Graduated Neutral Density filter	A neutral density filter that filters different amounts of light across different parts of the filter. Useful for reducing dynamic range of a scene, e.g. when you need to balance exposure between the sky and the foreground.
HDR	High Dynamic Range
IQ	Image Quality	Use of this term has no relation to anyone's intelligence...
ISO	International Standards Organization - digital camera's (or film's) light-sensitivity	Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to measure the sensitivity of digital imaging systems. See this linkin wikipedia for more details
MF	Manual focus	When you don't let the camera do the focusing and you manually try to get the optics to focus on your subject by turning the focus ring
ND	Neutral Density Filter	A filter that cuts down on the amount of light entering the lens. The use of an ND filter allows for slower shutter speed and/or larger aperture when lighting conditions would normally be too bright for the settings you want.
OOF	Out of focus	Usually when referring to a part of an image that is not in focus (not necessarily the main subject) e.g "The OOF tree on the right is distracting..."
OP	Original Post(er)	The person who started a particular thread (or the first post in that thread) Context is always relative to the thread that "OP" appears in.
OT	Off Topic fftopic:	Comments in a thread that have nothing to do with the OP (Original Post)
OTT	Over The Top
PM	Private Message or Premium Member	you will need to rely on context to decipher this one
PP	Post Processing or Previous Post(er)	Dependent on context
RF	Range Finder (camera)
shutter		A device that opens for a specific length of time (SS) to allow light to fall on the sensor while open
SLR	Single Lens Reflex (Camera)
SOOC	Straight out of Camera	A shot that has had no post-processing
SS	Shutter speed	length of time between when the shutter opens and when it closes when you press the shutter release.
TC	Teleconverter
TFS	Thanks for sharing
TOG	PhoTOGrapher
TTL	Through The Lens
USM	Ultra Sonic Motor
UWA	Ultra-wide angle
WA	Wide-angle lens
WB	White Balance
YMMV	Your Mileage may Vary

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mark L]

would be great to start seeing some of these new photos Mark. I cannot wait to see how you have improved

Well I got this photo yesterday morning. I think it shows the huge steps I've made in coming to grips with Detail Outa Focus (DOF).
I didn't even have to sharpen the photo.

IMG_4803.jpg

[arthurking83]

.....
I didn't even have to sharpen the photo.

....

But you should'a!

[ricktas]

Apply some vignetting, add a levels adjustment, adjust the kelvin and and you will reach beginner level sometime in 2018, well done @markl;