Photography terms
Learning photography can be intimidating because it has so many unfamiliar terms. Sometimes I think that like most professions it does this just to be mysterious. lol. I mean, why say "ambient light" when you mean "natural light"?
It is how it is, and just think, once you pick up the terms you will seem all the more impressive yourself to mere snapshot mortals!!!
In the meantime, here are some places online you can look up terms to find out what they mean. My recommendation is that if you are feeling a little overwhelmed, only look up the term you want to find, and avoid reading photography dictionaries - they are full of stuff you probably don't need now, and might not ever need.
Digital Photography Glossary - a basic list of terms, good if you don't want to overwhelm yourself totally.
Kodak Glossary of Photography Terms - a much more extensive list
Or - Google "photography terms" or "definition _________" (insert term you want to know) - sometimes this second way can be better, you might find a more in-depth article. There is a TON of stuff out there on photography.
I keep a small handful of bits of paper in my backpack on which I have written things to remember. I just went to a site that mentioned white balance settings and thought "Oh shoot, I haven't checked what mine is even set to!" I have been taking indoor shots in ambient light and artificial lights of all sorts, and outdoor shots on cloudy days and sunny... I bet a lot of those pics could have been a heap better. When I first got the camera and learned about white balance I was changing it all the time. I just forgot. I'll probably forget again, remember again, etc. One day the knowledge will just stick though, and I will change it all the time without even thinking. Same with fill-in flash. I forget it all the time, I'm desperately trying to remember... I write it on sharpie pen on my hand every time I go out to shoot something that I think might need it, just to remind me.
The other pieces of paper just contain things I want to remember, or that I need to look up sometime or buttons I have just noticed on my camera or things in my camera menu that I have no idea what they do anymore. Things I intend to look up, anyhow. Truthfully, I hardly ever look at them.... but every once in a while I do, and they help.
