The words that turn up in spot captions — aviation and ATC jargon, photography vocabulary, and spotter slang. Terms found in a caption link straight here.
All Aviation Photography Slang 133 terms
A ADS-B Aviation A system in which an aircraft continually broadcasts its own position, derived from satellite navigation. airside Aviation The part of an airport beyond security, where aircraft operate. aperture Photography The adjustable opening in a lens that controls how much light reaches the sensor, expressed as an f-number. aperture priority Photography An exposure mode in which you set the aperture and the camera chooses the shutter speed. apron Aviation The paved area where aircraft park, load, refuel and are serviced. APU Aviation A small turbine engine, usually in the tail, that supplies electrical power and bleed air on the ground. ATIS Aviation A looped broadcast of an airport's current weather, runway in use and other essential information. autofocus Photography Automatic focusing, driven by the camera's detection of contrast or phase differences in the scene. AvGeek Slang A self-applied label for an aviation enthusiast, popularised as a hashtag. B back-lit Photography Lit from behind, with the light source on the far side of the subject from the camera. belly shot Slang A photograph of an aircraft's underside, taken as it passes overhead. bizjet Slang A business or corporate jet. blocked Slang Spotter slang for a photograph ruined by something in front of the subject — another aircraft, a ground vehicle, a light mast. blue hour Photography The twilight period before sunrise and after sunset when the sky is deeply and evenly blue. bokeh Photography The visual quality of the out-of-focus parts of an image, as distinct from how much of it is out of focus. bracketing Photography Shooting the same frame at several exposures so at least one is right, or so they can be combined. burst mode Photography Shooting a rapid sequence of frames while the shutter button is held. C callsign Aviation The name a flight uses on the radio, usually an airline telephony name plus a flight number. catch Slang An aircraft successfully seen or photographed, especially an unexpected or rare one. chromatic aberration Photography Coloured fringing caused by a lens focusing different wavelengths at slightly different points. clipping Photography Loss of detail where tones exceed what the sensor or file can record, leaving pure white or pure black. crop factor Photography The ratio between a sensor's diagonal and that of a 35mm frame, used to compare fields of view across formats. crop sensor Photography A sensor smaller than a 35mm frame, most commonly APS-C at around 24 by 16 millimetres. crosswind Aviation A wind blowing across the runway rather than along it. D de-icing Aviation Spraying an aircraft with heated fluid to remove frost, ice or snow before departure, and to delay its return. deadhead Aviation A crew member travelling as a passenger to get into position for a duty. depth of field Photography The range of distances that appear acceptably sharp in an image. displaced threshold Aviation A runway threshold moved down the paved surface, so the pavement before it may be taxied on but not landed on. diversion Aviation A flight that lands somewhere other than its planned destination. DME Aviation A radio system that tells an aircraft its slant distance from a ground beacon. dynamic range Photography The span between the darkest and brightest tones a sensor can record in one exposure. E ETOPS Aviation The approval that allows a twin-engined airliner to fly a route far from any suitable diversion airport. F f-stop Photography The aperture expressed as the ratio of focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil. ferry flight Aviation A flight with no revenue payload, flown to reposition an aircraft. final approach Aviation The last leg of an approach, flown aligned with the runway and descending towards it. flaps Aviation Hinged panels at the trailing edge of the wing that extend to increase lift and drag for takeoff and landing. flare Aviation The nose-up check just before touchdown that arrests the descent and sets the aircraft onto its main wheels. flight level Aviation An altitude expressed in hundreds of feet on the standard altimeter setting, used above the transition altitude. focal length Photography The optical property, in millimetres, that determines a lens's angle of view and magnification. frame Slang An individual aircraft, short for airframe — and, confusingly, also a single photograph. freighter Aviation An aircraft configured to carry cargo rather than passengers. full frame Photography A sensor the size of a 35mm film frame, around 36 by 24 millimetres. G gate Aviation The terminal door a flight boards from, and by extension the parking stand it is attached to. glideslope Aviation The ILS component that defines the descent angle to the runway, usually three degrees. go-around Aviation An approach abandoned before landing, with the aircraft climbing away to try again. golden hour Photography The period after sunrise and before sunset when low sun gives warm, soft, strongly directional light. H hangar Aviation A building for storing and maintaining aircraft. headwind Aviation A wind blowing along the runway towards the aircraft, which shortens the takeoff and landing distance needed. heat haze Photography The shimmering distortion caused by light passing through air of varying temperature. heavy Aviation An ATC wake-turbulence category for aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass above 136 tonnes, appended to the callsign on first contact. histogram Photography A graph of how many pixels fall at each brightness level in an image. hold short Aviation An instruction to stop before a runway or other boundary and wait. holding pattern Aviation A published racetrack circuit an aircraft flies to wait, usually for its turn to approach. hunting Slang Actively seeking out a particular aircraft, livery or type rather than photographing whatever appears. I IATA Aviation The airline trade body whose three-letter codes appear on tickets and baggage tags. ICAO Aviation The United Nations agency that sets international aviation standards, and the source of the four-letter airport codes. ILS Aviation A ground-based radio system that guides an aircraft down to the runway on both centreline and descent path. image stabilisation Photography Optical or sensor-shift compensation for camera shake, allowing sharp handheld frames at slower shutter speeds. ISO Photography The setting that controls how strongly a sensor's signal is amplified, and so how much light an exposure needs. J JPEG Photography A compressed, already-rendered image format, and the usual out-of-camera output. L landside Aviation The part of an airport before security, open to anyone. lens flare Photography Stray light scattered inside a lens, appearing as haze, streaks or a chain of coloured ghosts. line up and wait Aviation A clearance to enter the runway and hold in the takeoff position without a takeoff clearance. livery Aviation The paint scheme and markings an aircraft wears. localizer Aviation The ILS component that defines the extended centreline of the runway. logbook Slang A spotter's personal record of the aircraft they have seen, kept by registration. long exposure Photography An exposure long enough for movement to record as a trail or a smear. M METAR Aviation The routine coded weather observation issued for an aerodrome, normally every half hour or hour. metering Photography The camera's measurement of scene brightness, used to choose an exposure. missed approach Aviation The published procedure flown when an approach cannot be continued to a landing. Mode S Aviation A transponder mode in which each aircraft has a unique 24-bit address, allowing it to be interrogated individually. monopod Photography A single-legged camera support that carries a lens's weight while leaving it free to swing. MTOW Aviation The heaviest an aircraft is certified to be at the start of its takeoff roll. mudflap Slang The deflector fitted behind a nose landing gear wheel to stop water and debris being thrown up into the engines. N narrowbody Aviation An airliner with a single-aisle cabin, typically three to four metres across. neutral density filter Photography A filter that cuts light evenly across the spectrum, without altering colour. noise Photography Random variation in an image that is not part of the scene, seen as grain or coloured speckle. nose-on Slang A photograph taken from close to the aircraft's centreline, looking straight at the nose. NOTAM Aviation A notice telling crews about a temporary hazard or change — a closed runway, unserviceable lighting, an airspace restriction. P panning Photography Following a moving subject with the camera at a slow shutter speed, so the subject stays sharp while the background blurs. pixel peeping Photography Judging an image by inspecting it at 100% magnification or beyond. polariser Photography A filter that blocks light of one polarisation, cutting reflections and deepening a blue sky. prime lens Photography A lens with a single fixed focal length rather than a zoom. prop Slang A propeller, and by extension a propeller-driven aircraft. pushback Aviation Moving an aircraft backwards off its stand with a tug, because airliners cannot reverse under their own power. Q QNH Aviation The altimeter setting that makes an altimeter read height above mean sea level. R rarity Slang How unusual an aircraft is at a given place, and the main thing that makes a spot noteworthy. RAW Photography A file holding the sensor's minimally processed data, rather than a rendered image. registration Aviation The unique alphanumeric identity painted on an airframe, allocated by its country of registry. retro livery Aviation A historic paint scheme reapplied to a current aircraft, usually for an anniversary. rotate Aviation Raising the nose at VR to lift the aircraft off the runway. rule of thirds Photography A composition guide that places key elements along lines dividing the frame into thirds. runway Aviation The prepared strip an aircraft takes off from and lands on, numbered by its magnetic heading rounded to the nearest ten degrees. S scanner Slang A radio receiver used to listen to air traffic control and airport frequencies. short final Aviation The last part of final approach, close in to the runway threshold. shutter priority Photography An exposure mode in which you set the shutter speed and the camera chooses the aperture. shutter speed Photography How long the sensor is exposed to light for a single frame. silhouette Photography A subject rendered as a dark shape against a bright background. slats Aviation Movable surfaces at the leading edge of the wing that extend to let the wing fly at a higher angle of attack. special livery Aviation A one-off or limited paint scheme applied to a single aircraft rather than the whole fleet. spoilers Aviation Panels on the upper wing that rise to destroy lift and add drag, in flight for descent and on touchdown to plant the aircraft. spot metering Photography Metering from a small area of the frame rather than the whole scene. spotter Slang Someone who watches, logs or photographs aircraft as a hobby. spotting Slang The hobby of observing, identifying, logging and photographing aircraft. squawk Aviation The four-digit transponder code a controller assigns an aircraft so its radar return can be identified. stall Aviation The loss of lift that occurs when a wing exceeds its critical angle of attack. T TAF Aviation A coded forecast of the weather expected at an aerodrome, typically covering the next 24 to 30 hours. tail Slang Spotter shorthand for an individual airframe, taken from its tail number. tailwind Aviation A wind blowing along the runway from behind, which lengthens the distance needed on the ground. tarmac Slang Popular but imprecise word for the paved areas of an airport; the correct terms are apron, ramp and taxiway. taxi Aviation An aircraft moving under its own power on the ground. taxiway Aviation A paved route connecting runways, aprons and stands, on which aircraft move under their own power. TCAS Aviation An onboard system that watches nearby transponder-equipped traffic and tells the crew how to avoid a collision. teleconverter Photography A supplementary optic between lens and body that multiplies the focal length. the fence Slang The airport perimeter fence, and by extension the standard spotting position outside it. thrust reverser Aviation A mechanism that redirects engine thrust forward to help slow an aircraft after landing. touch-and-go Aviation A landing immediately followed by a takeoff, without stopping. traffic pattern Aviation The standard rectangular path aircraft fly around a runway when operating visually. transponder Aviation An onboard radio that replies to radar interrogation with the aircraft's code and, usually, its altitude. tripod Photography A three-legged support that holds a camera steady. turboprop Aviation An aircraft whose propeller is driven by a gas turbine through a reduction gearbox. V V1 Aviation The takeoff decision speed: past it, the takeoff is continued even if an engine fails. V2 Aviation The takeoff safety speed — the minimum speed to be held on the initial climb after an engine failure. vignetting Photography A darkening of the image towards its corners. visual approach Aviation An approach flown by reference to the runway and terrain rather than by following an instrument procedure. VOR Aviation A ground beacon that lets an aircraft determine its bearing to or from the station. VR Aviation The speed at which the pilot begins to raise the nose for takeoff. W wake turbulence Aviation The pair of counter-rotating vortices trailing from an aircraft's wingtips, strong enough to upset a following aircraft. wet lease Aviation A lease in which one airline provides another with an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. white balance Photography The adjustment that makes neutral tones in a scene render as neutral, compensating for the colour of the light. widebody Aviation An airliner with a fuselage wide enough for two aisles, typically five metres across or more. winglet Aviation An upturned surface at the wingtip that recovers some of the energy otherwise lost to the tip vortex. 
