In this section I would like to define some of my words that I have used throughout my personal investigation.
SLR - Stands for Single Lens Reflex. A camera, usually with interchangeable lenses, where you can look through the lens giving you the most accurate focal and framing control.
Exposure - Is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the film (or electronic sensor in the case of digital photography) during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in exposure value (ev), with higher values denoting more light.
Shutter Speed - The camera's shutter speed is a measurement of how long its shutter remains open as the picture is taken. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time. When the shutter speed is set to 1/125 or simply 125, this means that the shutter will be open for exactly 1/125th of one second. The shutter speed and aperture together control the total amount of light reaching the sensor.
RAW - The RAW image format is the data as it comes directly off the CCD, with no in-camera processing is performed.
JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group, Is a standard image compression mechanism. JPEG compression is "lossy," meaning that the compression scheme sacrifices some image quality in exchange for a reduction in the file's size.
Compact Flash - A common type of digital camera memory card, about the size of a matchbook.
MB - Stands for "Megabyte," a unit for measuring the size of data. 1 MB = 1024 kilobytes.
GB - Stands for "gigabyte," a unit for measuring the size of data. 1 GB = 1024 Megabytes.
Layers - Layers are like transparencies stacked one on top of one another. Each layer can have different images and effects. When the layers are stacked, the images appear as if they are all a single image.
Levels – Is a tool in image editing programs which can move and stretch the brightness levels of an image histogram.
Download/Downloading - The process of moving computer data from one location to another. Though the term is normally used to describe the transfer, or downloading, of data from the Internet, it is also used to describe the transfer of photos from a camera memory card to the computer.