Automatic: See 'Point-and-Shoot"

Digital: Cameras that do not use film. Images on a digital camera are saved to a memory card and transferred onto a computer to be printed/manipulated.

Emulsion: A mixture of two unmixable substances.

Exposure: Amount of light allowed to reach the film when the shutter is opened.

Film: Sheet of plastic coated with light-sensitive halide salts. When it is exposed to light, a negative is made. The negative is invisible until the film is developed.

Focus: To make certain images in a pictures sharper/clearer. Done by adjusting the lens.

Lens: Collects and directs light toward the film. There are many types for many different circumstances (Distance, low-light, etc.)

Negative: After developing, film becomes a negative. Colors in the negative appear at the opposite as they would appear in a (positive) picture. Ex: Black in in a picture would appear white. Blue would appear yellow.

Point-and-Shoot: An automatic camera designed for easy use. Most have systems to auto-focus and automatically change aperture.

Polaroid: "Instant" camera used to create a fully-developed picture in several minutes after taking the shot.

Shutter: Device in a camera that shields the film from light. When a picture is taken, the shutter opens for a set amount of time/size to reveal the film.

Shutter speed: How long the shutter remains open to reveal the film to light. Can be tiny fractions of a second to many hours in length.

SLR: Single-lens-reflex. In an SLR camera there is a single lens and a set of mirrors to reflect light through the viewfinder and onto the film itself.

Viewfinder: What the photographer looks through to compose and focus a picture. In an SLR camera you will see exactly what will appear on the film through the viewfinder.