|
35 mm Film
|
Standard film giving negative
size about 2.5cm by 3.5 cm.
|
Oskar Barnack, Leica
|
|
Ambient Light
|
The available light without any
artificial light sources in it
|
|
|
Angle of view
|
This is the angle across the film
diagonal to show how much the lens can pull in; telephotos have narrow
angles of view; wide angle lenses have very large angles of view
|
Wikipedia Reference
Leica I image
|
|
Aperture
|
A measurement of the effective opening
of a lens. It is defined so that it lets in a constant amount of
light no matter what the focal length of a lens is.
Values: f/1, f/1.4, f2, f2.8, f/4 etc. These go up by a factor of about
1.4 each time.
f2.8 lets in 2* as much light as f/4.
|
Depth of field, depth of focus, focal
length, shutter speed, aperture priority exposure, Exposure Value
Silverlight
notes
Photonhead.com
|
|
Aperture Priority Exposure
|
You set the aperture on the
lens, the camera sets the exposure automatically
|
Shutter priority, program, depth of
field
|
|
ASA/DIN
|
A combined measurement of film speed.
i.e. sensitivity to light. ASA is the easier to understand, running
from:
25, 50,100,200,400,800,1600,3200 etc.
As each of the readings doubles, so does the sensitivity to light.
|
Film Speed
|
|
Backlighting |
when a studio light is hidden behind a model's head the backlight can
produce a rim of flaring light through the hair and around the head,
giving a very dramatic look. Very easily overdone. |
Example
|
|
Barrel distortion
|
Common on wide angle lenses, the edges
of flat objects bow outwards. Can be corrected digitally
|
Pin hole distortion
|
|
Bellows
|
Sit between the lens and a camera,
increasing the close focusing of a lens into macro region. Causes loss
of light
|
Minolta bellows
etc.
|
|
Bleaching
|
Using a mixture of chemicals to remove
part or all of a photographic image. Chemicals used are
sometimes iodine dissolved in potassium iodide, or sodium
thiosulphate mixed with sodium bromide.
|
comments
|
|
Blue Toning
|
Toning an image blue. This gives
the image a cold blue overall colour.
|
example
|
|
Bounce Flash
|
When a flash is bounced of a ceiling,
wall or white card to soften (diffuse) flash. Can make for more
attractive images. A lot of light is lost. Coloured walls or ceilings
can give the image an unwanted colour cast.
Good rule of thumb - 400 ASA film, reasonably powerful flash, off
ceiling, set f5.6
|
General Notes on
Flash
|
|
Bracketing |
A
useful technique when exposure settings are in doubt is to take three
or more photographs of the same subject but setting the exposure to
different amounts either side of the apparent correct setting. Usually
about +/- 1 stop either side. |
Examples
(DPReview)
|
|
Burning in
|
If part of print is too pale, you can
direct extra light onto that part to make it darker. Care needed to
avoid obvious lines and patches.
|
Scphoto on burning
in
|
|
C-41 Process
|
The colour negative process which
works at 42oC. Initial black and white development, followed
by the formation of coloured dyes. The silver is then bleached out
leaving only dyes behind.
|
Complementary colours, primary colours
|
|
Camera Shake
|
When a picture is blurred to
hands moving during exposure. Often see
double exposure. Avoid by shutter speed over 1/60s
|
Silverlight
Notes Photonhead
notes
Panning
|
|
Catchlight |
The
bright light in an eye when taking a portrait. Particularly good for
emphasizing brightness and intelligence. |
Example
|
|
Close-up lens
|
Basically it is a magnifying lens
which fits on to the camera lens.
|
Diopter
|
|
Colour Blindness
|
An inability to see clearly
certain colours which is most common amongst men, and transmitted along
the female line. A colour blind person may confuse shades of green with
red. Yellow green is very rare, and total colour blindness - all grays
- extremely so.
|
RGB, primary colours Wikipedia Vischeck
|
|
Colour Film
|
A film with 3 light sensitive layers
which react to different colours of light, specifically blue, red and
green.
|
Color
film structure
Transparency, colour negative, primary colours, complementary colours
|
|
Colour Negative
|
Colour film which produces a negative
image designed purely for printing. Has a distinct pink tinge to the
celluloid backing.
|
C-41 process
|
|
Colour Temperature
|
A means of measuring the colour of the
light source. Candles are about 2000K,
household lights about 3000K, daylight 5600K and blue sky 12000K.
Colour film and digital sensors are very sensitive to the colour of the
light source
|
Wikipedia entry
Apogee
Colour Temp chart
|
|
Colour Transparency
|
Colour film which produces a normal
colour image designed purely for projecting. They are also very popular
for prints.
|
Wikipedia
entry
|
|
Colour wheel
|
Shows the relationship between the
primary colours and the complementary colours.
|
Interactive
Colour Wheel Art
Colour Wheel
|
|
Complementary Colours
|
These are the direct opposite of the
primary colours: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow.
Cyan + Red = White
Magenta + Green = White
Yellow + Blue = White
|
Primary Colours, Colour
Wheel
|
|
Contrast |
The
relationship between the black and white in a picture. High
contrast = few gray tones in between, low contrast means lots of gray
tones. |
High Contrast Portrait
Lith or Line Film |
|
Contrast Filters |
These are the coloured filters used in black and white photography to
improve certain contrasts, e.g. orange or red to give dramatic skies,
or green to improve foliage. Easily imitated in photoshop. |
|
|
Converging Verticals
|
When you tilt the camera upwards to
photograph a tall building the sides at the top appear to have come
closer together
|
Example and
correction
|
|
Cropping |
When only part of a negative is actually used in making the final
print. This can be used either to remove unwanted detail which intrudes
or clashes, or to change the meaning of a photograph from what the
whole negative implies. |
|
|
Depth of field
|
How much of a photograph is in
focus either side of the focused object. Maximum: small aperture, far
distance and wide-angle lens.
Control of this is important in portrait work to avoid fussy
backgrounds/
|
Illustration Another example Silverlight
notes
Photonhead.com
|
|
Depth of Focus
|
How much of a photograph is in
focus when enlarging either side of the image on the paper. Maximum:
small aperture, far distance and long focus lens.
|
Wikipedia
|
|
Developer (Film)
|
Mixture of metol and phenidone with
weak alkali. Needs correct temperature and diluting (usually 1:9) and
agitating during use. Time for our film is 8 minutes
|
Explanation
|
|
Developer (Print)
|
Active mixture of metol and phenidone
with stronger alkali. Needs correct temperature and diluting (usually
1:9) and agitating during use.
|
Explanation
|
|
Diffraction
|
A distortion in the image, due to a
very small aperture. The light hitting the edge of the opening is bent
further around and interacts with the image forming light forming
patterns and distortion..
|
Explanation
|
|
Diffused Flash
|
When a flash gun is either bounced off
a mat surface or through a translucent brolly the light diffuses and is
much softer with gentle shadows. There is a marked loss of light though
and bracketing is advisable
|
Explanation
|
|
Diopter
|
The measurement of how powerful a
close-up lens is.
|
Wikipedia
|
|
Direct Flash
|
When the flash points directly towards
the subject. Can give serious red eyes! (Animals are often green)
|
Red Eye
explanation
|
|
Diverging Verticals
|
Tilting a camera downwards from a high
building. Exaggerate for a dramatic effect.
|
Converging Verticals
|
|
Dodging
|
If part of a print is too dark,
reprinting use an object to reduce the light reaching that part and so
lighten it.
|
SCphoto on Dodging
|
|
E-6 Process
|
Process for processing colour slides
(transparencies). Works at 42oC. Initial black and white
development is first followed by an inversion and then bleaching
processes which enables the dyes to produce a positive image.
|
RGB, CMYK,
Primary colours, Complementary colours
|
|
Emulsion
|
The gelatin used to carry the light
sensitive chemical (sliver bromide) and various other dyes.
|
Explanation
|
|
Enlarger
|
The equipment used to produce bigger
prints from a negative.
|
Wikipedia
|
|
Enlarger Lens
|
The name speaks for itself! Normally
around 50 mm and all settings are manual.
|
Example
|
|
Exposure
|
The camera settings for shutter speed
and aperture required to give a correct exposure. It is dependent on
the light and the actual film speed.
|
Silverlight
notes
Photonhead.com
|
|
Exposure Meter
|
An electronic instrument to measure
the amount of light and hence exposure setting. Good meters
can measure reflected light, incident light and even flash output.
Reflected light metering can be deceptive if the subject is very dark
or very pale. Better is incident light metering which measures light
actually falling on the subject.
|
Simple
explanation
|
|
Exposure Compensation |
Sometimes the subject is very unbalanced and the camera will give the
wrong exposure, e.g. a snow scene will be under-exposed. Compensation
allows you to increase (or decrease) the exposure by various amounts
around the camera setting. |
Explanation
and examples
|
|
Exposure Value
|
A series of numbers giving the
exposure for a given film speed. These correspond to various
combinations of shutter speeds and apertures all giving the same
result.
|
Photonotes Silverlight
Notes
|
|
Extension Tubes |
Basically cheap form of bellows, they sit between the lens and the
camera body. By pushing the lens further out they enable the lens to
focus in much closer. |
Minolta extension
tubes etc |
|
Fill-in Flash
|
A flash which fills in the shadows
outside, or in the studio..
|
Photoxels
(outside)
|
|
Film |
Film is made from a celluloid base material, with at least layer of
gelatine on either side to keep the film from curling too much. The top
layer(s) contain silver bromide which makes it sensitive to light. |
Chuck
Dowell's pagel
Silverlight Notes |
|
Film Speed
|
Sensitivity of film to light.
Insensitive = Slow speeds (e.g. ASA 50) give very high resolution and
fine grain.
High speeds (e.g. ASA 1600) give low resolution and large grain.
|
Silverlight
Notes
Chuck
Dowell's page
|
|
Filter Drawer
|
The sliding drawer in an enlarger
where the variable contrast filters can be placed.
|
Variable
Contrast Paper
|
|
Filters
|
Traditional film cameras can usually
take a variety of filters screwed on the front. These can be coloured
to alter tonal balance or produce unusual effects.
|
Red Filter, orange filter, yellow
filter (there are others, e.g. graduated filters etc.)
|
|
Fine Grain
|
Slow films produce fine grains of
silver and hence high resolution. The
pictures are often much more pleasant to look at.
|
Examples
and explanation
|
|
Fish-Eye lens
|
An extremely wide angle lens which
takes in up to 180o view. Images are frequently circular,
and if not are highly distorted. Can give powerful results if not over
used.
|
Examples!
|
|
Fixer
|
Bath of (usually) ammonium thiosulphate. This dissolves off the unused light sensitive emulsion so
that the image doesn’t spoil in light. Re-usable for quite
sometime.
|
About.photography
|
|
Flare
|
When light hits the inside of a lens
it can bounce around. If this becomes excessive the image becomes
undesirably pale and with bright patches.
|
Examples
and explanation
|
|
Flash
|
An electronic device which delivers a
sudden high blast of light on pressing the shutter. It is very short
(e.g. 1/5000 sec) and stops all movement. But it can also look very
artificial unless diffused.
|
Shortcourses
Vividlight.com
notes
|
|
Flash Brolly
|
A white or silver lined umbrella to
bounce and hence diffuse flash at the model giving softer results. A
lot less light is available though
|
Shortcourses
|
|
Flash Synchronisation
|
Most camera shutters have to be
set to a slower speed to use flash properly, often 1.60 sec. Higher
speeds can cut off part of the exposure. Some cameras allow second
blind flash, slow shutter speeds etc for special results.
|
Shortcourses
|
|
Focal Length
|
This defines a lens’s ability to
either pull in a wide angle of view or magnify distant objects. A
standard lens has a field of view like the human eye and a focal length
of 50 mm.
|
Angle of view, Field of view, Wikipedia link,
Wide angle lens, telephoto lens, standard lens
|
|
Focal plane
|
This is the vertical plane where the
film lies inside the camera, on which a lens focuses the image. Errors
here cause serious sharpness problems.
|
Explanation
|
|
Focal Plane Shutter
|
A shutter which runs across the focal
plane of the lens to expose the film. It has two blinds and the shutter
speed is determined by the delay between them. Used mainly in SLR
cameras.
|
Focal
plane shutter
SLR
|
|
Focal Point
|
The point at which the rays of light
meet after passing through the camera lens.
|
Explanation
|
|
Fogging
|
When unwanted light hits film or
paper, then developing produces patches of dark. Nothing can be done
about this!
|
Extreme
solution
|
|
Gelatin
|
The material in which the light
sensitive chemicals and dyes are put.
|
Calotype, Albumen, Wet Collodion, Dry
Plate
|
|
Grain
|
This is the size of the vclumps of
silver produced by developing the film. Over developing (pushing)
produces bigger grain, as do high speed film.
|
Fine grain, large grain, pushing
|
|
Gray Card |
Precisely that, it is carefully printed to have no colour cast of its
own. Reflecting 18% of the light falling on it it is particularly
helpful as a target for setting exposure correctly, and also for
adjusting white balance in digital photography. |
Explanation
|
|
Guide Numbers
|
This is a measure of a flash gun’s
power. The GN is measured at 100 ASA. Divide the GN by the distance to
get the aperture. Normally round down to the half aperture below.
|
Wikipedia reference
|
|
High Key |
Photographs in which the image is mainly light with only a very few
dark tones. Commonly used for female and baby photographs, but this is
a nonsense cliché! You can use any tones you like |
Examples
|
|
Highlights |
The
particularly light tones in an image where most of the light has struck
|
Examples
|
|
Holography
|
Holography is a technique which allows
the recording and playback of true, three-dimensional images. The image
is called a hologram.
|
http://www.holoworld.com/
|
|
Image
|
The end result of photography! The
actual visible image in traditional black and white photography are
tiny grains of silver metal.
|
Remember Google Image search
|
|
Incident Light Metering
|
The actual light falling on the
subject is measured. The result is independent of the subject and its
surroundings
|
Reflected Light Metering
|
|
Infra-red film
|
Infra-red light is just outside the
visible spectrum of light, but very close to red. Using special film
and a deep red filter, very unusual images are formed recording
radiated heat not light.
|
Internet
Reference (My Wise Owl)
|
|
Inverse Square Law
|
As light travels away from a point
source its power falls off rapidly – at 2x the distance it is only ¼ of
the power. This is why compact camera flash guns can only work over
small distances.
|
diagram
|
|
Landscape Format
|
Photographs in which the image
is wider than taller. Don’t assume the name is significant: there is
nothing wrong with taking landscapes in portrait format!
|
Example
|
|
Large Format
|
This refers to cameras using sheet film of size 10cm by 12.5cm or
bigger. The cameras use a single sheet at a time, require great care to
set up accurately and cannot be used for action! |
Toyo Large
format website
|
|
Latent Image
|
When light hits film or paper it
sensitizes the emulsion to further development. The invisible clumps of
silver bromide, when treated with developer, turn rapidly into visible
silver grains.
|
Silverlight
Notes
For
a detailed account!
|
|
Latitude |
This tells you how kind the film will be if you get the exposure wrong.
Wide latitude (e.g. colour negative films) means you can make quite big
errors and still get usable results. Little latitude is found in colour
transparency films. |
Silverlight
notes |
|
Lens
|
The part of a camera which allows
light into the body after first focusing it. Its aperture is used to
control how much light is allowed in.
|
Standard Lens, wide angle
lens, telephoto lens, zoom lens
|
|
Light Sources
|
Sunshine, overcast sky, fluorescent
lamps, tungsten lamps, household lamps, flash guns
|
Warehouseexpress
- check under lighting
|
|
Line Film
|
This is a special film, usually in
large sheets which when processed gives very high contrast. Repeated
contact printing using this gives ultra black and clear tones without
any grays. Used in printing presses.
|
Explanation
|
|
Lith Film
|
As line film
|
Explanation
|
|
Mackie Line
|
When a developing print is partially
fogged by a brief flash of light a thin white line can appear around
the edges of black areas. These give the usual solarisation effects
|
Man Ray
|
|
Macro Lens
|
Designed to produce really accurate
images of tiny objects. Usually short telephoto lenses with extended
focusing.
|
Home
made macro lens! Examples of macro
|
|
Macro photography
|
Specialist area of photography dealing
with extreme close-ups, especially insects, flowers, etc.
|
http://www.photo.net/learn/macro/
|
|
Match Needle exposure systems
|
Found on older
non-automatic SLRs and some compact cameras. The needle in the view
finder is controlled by the aperture. There is a second needle linked
to the exposure meter. When the two are matched then the exposure is
set correctly.
A similar system uses 3 LEDs - 2 red and one green, the correct one.
|
Silverlight
notes
|
|
Matrix exposure readings
|
Some cameras now analyze the whole
scene using a matrix of tiny cells and adjust exposure to give the best
overall exposure.
|
matrix diagram
|
|
Medium Format
|
Based around the older style TLR
cameras, this format has two sizes: 6cm by 4.5 cm or 6 cm by 6 cm. The
larger negative gives significantly better results than 35 mm film, but
the downside is the harder handling.
|
http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/medium-format-cameras.cfm
|
|
Movement Blur
|
Fast moving objects need fast shutter
speeds to freeze them. However this can give boring static results.
Better often to control blurring by slowish shutter speeds, panning
etc.
|
Panning
explained and
again My own examples
|
|
Multicoating
|
Glass lenses have a nasty habit of
reflecting large amounts of light around their insides instead of
transmitting it. The use of several special coats reduces
the reflection considerably and lenses give brighter, sharper images.
|
Cleaning a multicoated lens
|
|
Negative Carrier
|
The part of a the enlarger which
carries the negative!
|
example
|
|
Neutral Density Filter
|
A gray filter which fits on a lens to
reduce the amount if light entering the camera. This forces the
photographer to use wider apertures or slower shutter speeds for
respectively shallower depth of field or panning techniques
|
explanation
|
|
Orange Filter
|
This is used in Black and White
photography. It reduces the amount of blue entering the camera, making
blue skies go darker and making white clouds stand out more. If using
an automatic camera an orange filter effect on exposure can be ignored.
Manual cameras need more care.
|
Orange
filter |
|
Out of Focus
|
Most blurring is caused by careless
focusing. For portraits make sure that the eyes are really sharply
focused.
|
Example
|
|
Over Exposure
|
Too much light has hit the film,
causing it to go too dark. Likewise an overexposed print is too dark.
|
Silverlight
notes
|
|
Panchromatic film
|
A film which is sensitive to the full
range of colours. Modern film is always panchromatic, though the older
orthochromatic films (red and green only) still have some uses.
|
From
Photo.net/learn
|
|
Panning |
A
fast moving object is caught by following it with the camera and using
a slowing shutter speed. The background blurs into effective "speed
lines". |
Panning
explained and
again
|
|
Pentaprism |
An SLR
(Single Lens Reflex) normally shows the image the right way round
and up. This is done by reflecting the light around a pentaprism,
the bulge on the top of a camera. |
|
|
Perspective |
This is the way in which the eye sees the relationship between objects
at various distances. however the camera lens can also change this; if
the photographer changes his or her position and changes the lens then
the perspective also changes. |
ted.photographer
|
|
Photogram
|
Images created by placing objects onto
photographic paper and then exposing the paper to light and processing.
First discovered by Fox Talbot in 1830s, then re-invented by Man Ray in
the 1920s.
|
Man
Ray Site
|
|
Pin Cushion distortion
|
A common distortion of zoom lenses at
the maximum telephoto setting. A square looks as though its sides have
been pulled in.
|
Illustration
|
|
Polaroid
|
Invented by Ernest Land in the 1950s,
this was an instant image produced by have the film, paper and
chemicals in an all in one package. David Hockney used them to great
effect in his "Joiners"
|
Polaroid
(Wikipedia) Hockey's
Joiners
|
|
Portrait Format
|
Converse of landscape format. There is
nothing wrong with taking landscapes in portrait format
|
Example
|
|
Posterisation
|
A traditional technique for reducing
the number of tones in a black and white picture to (usually) 3: black
- mid-gray - white. It requires the use of 3 sheets of film: a
negative, a mask and a positive.
|
Line Film ePhotozine
|
|
Primary Colours
|
Photography is based on Added
transmitted light. In this form, all possible colours can be
made by mixing pure colour light Red - Green - Blue known as RGB.
Photographic inkjet printers use a mixture of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and
Black (CMYK, printers' primaries)
Art in schools usually use reflected
subtracted light in a mixture of pigments The primaries are then
red - yellow - blue.
|
Colour theory
RGB, sRGB, CMYK, LAB in the digital
glossary.
Number
chart for RGB colours
|
|
Programmed Exposure
|
Most modern cameras today operate in
Programmed Mode in which the camera sets both Aperture and Shutter
speed according to the ISO and exposure meter,. The settings are a good
compromise for most photographs. Some exposure modes include "Depth of
field" (sets maximum possible apertures) "Action" highest possible
shutter speed, "Distance" "Portrait" etc. These are represented by
common icons.
|
PCWorld
guide Silverlight
Notes
Photonhead.com
|
|
Pull processing
|
This is literally pulling a film or a
print out of the developer before it is fully developed. This leads to
tide marks. Occasionally films need to be pulled before
developing is complete, but only if the subject is of a too high
contrast or all the negatives are seriously over-exposed. My advice,
stick to normal times and use a VC filter in the enlarger. I've never
had to pull films or prints.
|
Kodak's
info Telus.net (very good)
|
|
Push processing
|
Pushing means developing a film for
longer than normal. This gives apparently increased film speed,
increased contrast and increased grain. Generally to be avoided unless
needed for giving gritty results.
|
Telus.net (very good)
|
|
Rangefinder Camera
|
Best illustrated by the famous German Leica camera. The camera
viewfinder uses two lenses. One for viewing, and a second which
produces a small second image and helps to find the range of the
subject. The camera lens is focused when both images overlap.
|
Leica Camera
photozone (referenced about half-way down)
|
|
Reciprocity
|
Under normal lighting films can be
exposed at a variety of combinations of aperture and shutter speed.
|
Apogee.com
|
|
Red Filter
|
This filter is used in black and white
photography only. It allows only red light through, resulting in blue
becoming virtually black. Skies can thus become very impressive.
However care is needed in exposure as many cameras underestimate how
much light is lost. Better to go manual and increase exposure by 3
stops.
|
Red
Filter discussion
|
|
Red Toning
|
Chemical process by which a silver
print is turned into a red toned image. Can't imagine why...
|
Example
|
|
Reflected Light
|
Light which is, er, reflected of the
subject! But also the walls, floor, and ceiling. This can fool the
exposure meter into getting the setting wrong; it also can introduce
unwanted colour casts, e.g. green from green wall paper!
|
Discussion
|
|
Reflector |
A
white or silver board to bounce light from a studio unit or the sun
into the shadows and lighten them. They have the big advantage of
virtually always giving the right result! A fill-in light can sometimes
be too strong and hence give visible results. |
Sales
images
|
|
Ring Flash
|
A circular flash which fits on the
front of your lens. This gives an even spread of light around the
subject, especially good for macro photography. Also can be very
effective as an unusual means of light a portrait (David Bailey, for
example)
|
Deep Green
Photography
Portraits by Olevaleksander
|
|
Sepia Toning
|
The photograph is changed to a shade
of brown, usually reddish to yellowish depending on chemicals and
process. The result resembles old photographs, which were often gold
toned to make sure the didn't fade. The photograph is first bleached in
a mixture of sodium bichromate Na2Cr2O7
and sodium bromide. The silver is converted back into silver bromide.
It is then dipped into a solution of thiourea CS(NH2)2
which converts the silver into silver sulphide, AgS.
|
HeritagePhotos
Technique
Photo.net
Sepia Toned Photograph
|
|
Shift Lens
|
These are 35mm lenses, usually, in
which the front elements can be slid upwards. This avoids tilting the
lens backwards to minimize or even avoid converging verticals
altogether.
|
Mike Daly
|
|
Shutter Priority Exposure
|
You set the shutter, camera sets
aperture. Invaluable to avoid or reduce camera shake in difficult
lighting conditions. Also for sports photography, e.g. when panning.
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Silverlight
Notes
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Shutter Speed
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This determines how long the film is
exposed to light. It can be set from as slow as 40 secs to 1/4000
according to camera.
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Silverlight
Notes(1) Silverlight
notes (2)
Camera Shake, Exposure Value, movement blur, flash synchronisation
Photonhead.com
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Silver
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All traditional black
and white photographic images are made from tiny deposits of silver on
the surface of paper.
All traditional film material is also based on the light sensitivity of
silver bromide. However final colour photographs are made from dye
deposits.
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Explanation
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Silver bromide
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The principal light sensitive material
used in traditional photography. Chemical formula is AgBr
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Explanation
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SLR or
Single Lens Reflex
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Camera with only one lens for taking.
Light is reflected up by a mirror (which hides the film and the shutter) onto a viewing screen. Pressing the shutter first
lifts the mirror then fires the actual shutter mechanism.
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phys.ufl.edu/
(excellent diagrams)
Silverlight
notes
photozone
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Soft Focus
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Deliberately putting an image of focus
rarely produces satisfactory results. Instead either special filters or
lenses are used. The image remains sharp but has a sort of halo around
the underlying sharpness.
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Soft
focus Portrait
A Professional studio Ad
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Solarization
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Caused when a nearly fully processed
print is re-exposed briefly to light. If then bleached a little bit,
the resulting print has fine white lines around the black edges of, er,
edges! This can then be used to produce prints where the subject has a
black line around the outside.
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Detailed
Explanation Wikipedia
Lee Miller
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Spot Metering |
Some cameras and exposure meters allow you to take an exposure reading
from a very tiny part of the frame. This allows you to select the part
of the photograph you want correctly exposed, e.g. a person surrounded
by very dark trees. |
Explanation
and examples
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Staining
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Photographic staining on films or
paper occurs when the material is not properly washed, or is left
exposed to photographic chemicals for a time. The colours are normally
brown and unremovable. Splashing prints left in the darkroom during
processing your own can lead to this.
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Examples
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Stop (exposure) |
1
stop in photography refers to doubling the exposure, e.g. the time is
doubled (1/500 to 1/250), or the aperture increases from e.g. f/8 to
f/5.6. OR when the exposure is halved, e.g. the time is halved (1/125
to 1/250) or the aperture goes up from e.g. f/8 to f/11. 1 stop is the
same as the change in EV of 1 e.g. from EV=11 to EV12 or vice-versa |
Explanation
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Stop Bath
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After developing films and paper need
to go in a stop bath for about 30 secs. Otherwise the developer
continues to work and can spoil the film or paper. Normally made from
acetic acid (vinegar) it is also made from citric acid which is
odourless.
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Explanation
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Strobe |
American term for a flash gun. Also short for a stroboscopic light, one
which keeps flashing at regular intervals. |
Examples
of photos
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Teleconverter lens
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This is a small lens which can double
the strength of a telephoto lens. For SLRs they go between the normal
lens and the body. For compact cameras they screw onto the end of the
lens.
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For
a Digicam
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Telephoto Lens
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To magnify distant objects. They are
commonly used in portrait photography to avoid distorting the nose.
Invaluable for sports and wild life photography.
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Sigma
Lenses
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Tint
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One possible definition: Shades of white in a finished print, controlled by the color of the paper, varying from white to buff.
Another is the slight variation in colour from a prime colour.
A shade of a certain colour.
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TLR
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See Twin Lens reflex below
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Rolleiflex
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Toning
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See Sepia toning
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Sepia
Toned Photograph
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Tranny
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Slang for a transparency photography
or colour slide. Note that Canadian photographer Jeff Wall always exhibits his
photos is extremely large transparencies.
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Jeff Wall
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TTL Metering
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One major advantage of the SLR is that
it meters through the taking lens. This makes for much more accurate
exposures as bright lights on the side are ignored.
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Silverlight
Notes
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Tungsten Lighting
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These are over-run bulbs, very similar
to household bulbs. They are brighter and hotter. They are used in
special holders normally with reflectors to spread the light. Usually
around 500W output, they don't last very long!
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Explanation
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Twin Lens Reflex (TLR)
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A camera normally taking larger film
with a specific taking lens and viewing lens. Very popular until the
advent of the SLR.
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Medium Format Rolleiflex
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Umbrella
|
Made from either translucent nylon or
opaque white / silver materials, they are used with studio flash units
to spread and diffuse light. For this reason they are especially useful
in studio portrait work.
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Catalogue
illustration
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Under Exposure
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When not enough light hits the film or
paper, resulting in a very pale negative, usually called THIN or print.
The print is usually very dull and gray. Sometimes the result can be
intensified by using a high contrast grade in printing.
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Example
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Variable Contrast paper
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This is photographic paper which can
have contrast varied from 0: very soft (mainly gray tones) through 2:
Normal to 5: very hard (mainly black and white tones). The variation is
affected by putting special filters from orange to magenta in the
filter drawer. Test strips need to be done each time a filter is
changed. I find for normal negatives grade 3 is fine. Under exposed
(thin) negatives are improved by a 4 or 5 filter.
Colour negatives can also be printed using a grade 4 filter.
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Also called Multigrade paper Varigrade
Paper Varicontrast paper etc
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Wash
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To remove chemicals from negative or
print. Vital to avoid staining.
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Discussion
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Wide Angle Lens
|
These are lenses which take in a much
wider view than the normal human eye. The angle of view is usually
greater than 650. They have have greater depth of field.
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Sigma
Lenses
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Yellow Filter
|
Ostensibly to improve the rendition of
white clouds in a blue sky, the effect is pretty minimal! However the
overall results are better than no filter. For skies use an orange or
even red filter.
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Example from Ansel Adams
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Zoom lens
|
These are lenses whose focal length
can vary. Common on compact cameras, they are now the norm on SLRs.
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Sigma
Lenses
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