BRAZORIA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
ACETIC ACID – A relatively mild acid used, in highly diluted form, as
the rinse bath (shortstop) which follows the developer in the normal film and paper developing processes. The acid in vinegar.
ADAPTER RINGS – Narrow metal rings, threaded on the outside to
fit most popular lens, and threaded on the inside to accept accessories of other than normal lens diameter. Step-up rings adapt a lens for use with larger-than-normal accessories; step-down rings permit the use of slightly smaller accessories than the lens will normally accept.
ADJECTABLE CAMERA – A camera with manually adjustable
distance settings, lens opening, and/or shutter speeds.
AGITATION – The process of stirring, swirling, or otherwise causing
a liquid to move freely over the surface of film or paper during processing. Agitation helps to speed and achieve even development and prevent spotting or staining.
ANGLE OF VIEW – The portion of scene that is covered through a
camera lens. The width of this wedge-shaped portion is determined by the focal length of the lens. A wide-angle (short-focal-length) lens includes more of the scene – a wider angle of view – than does a normal (normal-focal-length) or telephoto (long-focal-length) lens.
APERTURE – The opening in a diaphragm of a lens through which
light passes, expressed as a fraction of the focal length. The f/number.
APERTURE PRIORITY – A camera feature that lets you select the
desired aperture, and the camera sets the shutter speed for proper exposure. When you change the aperture or when the light level changes, the shutter speed changes accordingly.
AUTOFOCUS – The camera focuses automatically on the subject in
the center of the viewfinder when you press the shutter release.
AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE (AE) – A system whereby the camera
selects and sets an exposure based on prevailing conditions without intervention by the photographer.
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT – Any light other than produced by the nature
(sun, moon, stars, phosphorescence, etc). Electric lights are the principal artificial light source in photography.
AVAILABLE LIGHT – The light condition which the photographer
finds existing at the subject position. The term usually implies an indoor or nighttime light condition of low intensity requiring fast film, large lens aperture, and slow shutter speed.
AVAILABLE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPH – Photography without
supplementary illumination even under poor lighting conditions.
B
B – (BULB) – A marked setting on most shutters which permits the
shutter to be held open for an indefinite period by continued pressure on the shutter release.
BACK – That portion of a camera which contains the film;
specifically, the complete assembly attached to the rear standard view camera (and usually removable) which includes the focusing screen, and which accepts the film holders.
BACK LIGHT – Illumination from a source beyond the subject, as
seen from the camera position, which tends to silhouette the subject, also called Back Lighting.
BASE – The transparent sheet material, usually acetate or polyester,
upon which film emulsion is coated.
BASEBOARD – The large, flat board, usually plywood, to which the
enlarger column is attached, and on which the enlarger easel is normally placed.
BASE FOG – Any uniform fog produced when an unexposed
emulsion is developed.
BASE-PLUS-FOG-DENSITY – The density of an unexposed area of
a developed film (negative or positive).
BELLOWS – The center section of a view camera which connects
the front and back standards. The bellows is usually made of leather, cloth, or plastic, is accordion-pleated for flexibility and is, of course, light tight.
BELLOWS EXTENSION – A term often used to refer either to the
total bellows length or to the additional extension of the
bellows (beyond that required for infinity focus) necessary for focusing at close subject distances.
BELLOWS EXTENSION FACTOR – A number (multiplier) indicating
the exposure increase required for correct exposure.
BETWEEN-THE-LENS SHUTTER – A shutter designed to operate in
a space between the elements of the lens.
BLIND – An emulsion not sensitive to certain colors; color blind.
BLUE-SENSITIVE – The sensitivity of an ordinary silver emulsion;
red and green blind.
BOUNCE FLASH – Directing light from a flash gun toward a ceiling,
wall or other large reflecting surface to obtain the contrast softening effect of a diffused light source spread over a larger area of the subject.
BOUNCE LIGHT – Light reflected onto the subject from surrounding
surfaces rather than directly on the subject.
BRACKET – To make a number of exposures (some greater and
some less than one considered to be normal) in addition to the "normal" one, with the intent of getting one near-perfect exposure.
BURNING-IN -- The process of allowing some relatively small image
area to receive more than the normal exposure by shielding most of the printing paper surface from the light.
BURNED-OUT – Describes an area of the print image in which
highlight detail has not been recorded, usually because of severe overexposure of the negative.
C
CABLE RELEASE – A flexible outer casing containing a stiff wire
which can be attached to the shutter release on a camera. Depressing the plunger at the end of the wire release the shutter while minimizing risk of camera movement during exposure.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS – Adjustments typically provided on
technical and view camera to (1) enable the optical axis of the lens to be displaced relative to the center of the image while keeping the axis perpendicular to the image plane. (2) Position the lens plane and image plane at an angle to each other (swings and tilts). These adjustments may be provided as a swing front lens panel or a hinged camera back (swing back) or both. They are used for control of perspective and sharpness distribution in the image plane.
CHEMICAL FOG – Fog on negatives or prints appearing, during
development, in the unexposed areas.
CLEAR – The appearance of a negative after the fixing bath has
removed all visible traces of undeveloped silver halide.
CLEARING TIME – The length of time required to clear a negative. It
depends on the strength, temperature, and agitation of the fixing bath and the kind of emulsion being used.
CLOSE-UP – Photograph made of an object to show greater detail.
A photograph made with a reproduction ratio greater than 1:10.
CLOSE-UP LENS – A positive supplementary lens which, when
placed over a camera lens, shortens its focal length and thereby permits closer-than-normal focusing.
CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY – The techniques and practice of using
supplementary lenses, extension tubes, bellows units, etc. to take pictures at closer ranges than the normal focusing adjustment of an ordinary hand-camera will allow. Refers to image magnification ratios of up to perhaps, 2x, and therefore overlaps "Photomacrography".
COLOR BLANCE – The ability of a film to reproduce the colors of a
scene. Color films are balanced in manufacture for exposure to light of a certain color quality; daylight, tungsten, etc. Color balance also refers to the reproduction of colors in color prints, which can be altered during the printing process.
COLORBLIND – Descriptive of the partial or total inability to
recognize or distinguish chromatic emulsion is sensitive
only to blue, violet, and ultraviolet light.
COLOR HEAD – An enlarger light source containing adjustable
dichroic filters which can be set to provide light of any color for color printing.
COLOR TEMPERATURE – A numerical rating given to the color
qualities of a light source. Expressed in degrees Kelvin. The lower the color temperature, the greater the ratio of yellow/red light. Daylight is considered to be 5000 – 5500 degrees Kelvin.
COMPEMEMTARY COLORS – Any two colors in the subtractive
system which, when mixed in the proper proportion, produce black or dark neutral gray. In the additive system, any two colors whose mixture results in white light.
CONCAVE – Hollowed out. The side of spherical surface seen from
the center of the sphere.
CONDENSER ENLARGER – An enlarger with sharp, undiffused light
that produces high contrast and high definition in a print. Scratches and blemishes in the negative are emphasized.
CONTACT PAPER – Relatively slow development paper for making
positives by contact printing.
CONTACT PRINTING – A method of printing in which the negative is
placed in contact with the printing paper, emulsion to emulsion, and held in that position in a printing frame. The exposure is made by exposing the frame to raw light so that the paper emulsion is exposed by light passing through the negative densities.
CONTINUOUS TONE – Describes an image containing a gradation
of grays as well as black and white extremes.
CONTRAST – The difference in tones from the lightest to the darkest
areas of negatives and positives.
CONTRAST GRADE – A number or descriptive term assigned to a
particular printing emulsion which identifies its contrast characteristic. In the range from zero through five, a normal contrast paper is usually considered to be two, with the lower numbers indicating a tendency toward lower contrast. Printing filters for use with variable contrast papers are numbered similarly. In some cases low contrast is indicated by the term "soft" while high contrast paper are labeled "hard".
CONTRASTY – higher than-normal contrast. The range of density in
a negative or print is higher than it was in the original scene.
CONVERTER – An optical unit which can be interposed between the
camera body and lens to effectively double or triple the lens focal length; usually, but not always, with some loss of image quality, and always with a substantial loss of lens speed. Sometimes called an Extender.
COPY – To reproduce via photography. An original which is
subjected to photographic reproduction.
COVERAGE – The area of the image (formed by a lens) which is of
useful quality. Also, the area of the subject which the lens can record as an image of useful quality.
CROPPING – Printing only part of the image that is in the negative or
slide.
CROSS LIGHT – Light striking the subject from one side.
CURTAIN SHUTTER – A shutter variety in which slit or opening in a
strip of metal or cloth is made to travel past the film surface to effect the exposure.
CURVATURE OF FIELD – The tendency of a simple lens to form its
image on a spherical, rather than flat, plane.
DARK SLIDE – The black plastic or fiber sheet which is inserted into
a FILM HOLDER through a light tight slot to seal the film chamber against light.
DAYLIGHT – Sunlight or skylight or any mixture of the two. For the
purposes of color photography, daylight is considered to have a color temperature of from about 5500 degree K. to 6000 degrees K. and this condition is likely to exist when the sun is high and slightly overcast. Under other conditions the color of daylight is likely to be quite different from the "norm" and must be filtered if "normal" color rendition is desired.
DENSE – Descriptive of a negative which is dark overall, or of an
area of a negative which has a heavy sliver deposit and therefore transmits only a little light.
DENSITOMETER – An instrument designed to measure the amount
of light transmitted by individual small areas of a negative, thus appraising the density of the areas.
DENSITY RANGE – The range of densities represented by, for
example, a negative image. It is found by subtracting the lowest density value from the highest, and is expressed numerically.
DEPTH OF FIELD – The region of acceptable sharp focus around
the subject position, extending toward the camera and away from it, from the plane of sharpest focus. The boundaries of the depth of field are referred to as the neat limit and the far limit. Depth of field depends on the lens opening, the focal length of the lens, and the distance from the lens to the subject.
DEPTH OF FIELD SCALE -- A calibrated scale, ring or chart, often a
part of the camera lens mount, on which the depth of field for any distance and aperture setting is indicated.
DEPTH OF FOCUS -- The distance range over which the film could
be shifted at the film plane inside the camera and still have the subject appear in sharp focus; often misused to mean depth of field.
DEVELOPER – Chemical solution used to covert a latent image to a
visible image. Converts exposed silver halide into metallic silver.
DEVELOPMENT – The process of chemically treating a
photographic material to produce a visible image. Sometimes used to include the fixing and washing operations.
DEVELOPMENT FOG – Fog formed by the partial development of
unexposed grains of emulsion; caused by developing the sensitized material under unsuitable conditions.
DIAPHRAGM – The assembly of thin metal leaves, usually
incorporated into the lens barrel or shutter assembly, which can be adjusted to control the size of the lens aperture.
DICHROIC FILTER – A filter, usually of glass coated with a thin film
of some durable material, which has the unique ability to transmit certain colors while reflecting the rest of the spectrum. Because the transmitted and reflected colors are complementary the filter appears to change color in certain lights, hence the "dichroic." Dichroic filters are highly resistant to heat and fading and are therefore especially suitable for use in color printing applications.
DIFFUSER – Any light-scattering medium placed in the path of
a beam of light to soften its character, such as matt white reflectors behind or frosted or opal glass in front of the light source.
DIFFUSION – The scattering of light in all directions by reflection
from a rough surface or passage through a translucent medium.
DIFFUSION-CONDENSER ENLARGER – An enlarger that combines
diffuse light with a condenser system, producing more contrast and sharper detail than a diffusion enlarger but less contrast and blemish emphasis than a condenser enlarger.
DIFFUSION ENLARGER – An enlarger that scatters light before it
strikes the negative, distributing light evenly on the negative. Detail is not as sharp as with a condenser enlarger; negative blemishes are minimized.
DIOPTER – An optician’s term which identifies the power of a lens. It
expresses the reciprocal of the lens focal length in meters and is usually preceded by a plus or minus sign to indicate whether the lens is positive (converging) or negative (diverging). Thus, a close-up (positive) lens having a focal length of 50 cm (1/2 meter) would be labeled a +2 lens.
DISTORTION – Sometimes referred to as linear distortion or
curvilinear distortion, it is an aberration of the lens which is characterized by variable magnification of the image. The effect increases toward the edges of the image area and will cause straight lines near the edges of the subject field to be formed near the image margins as curved lines. Two forms are identified, Pincushion and Barrel distortion.
DODGE – To shade a portion of a print during exposure.
DODING – Holding back the image forming light from a part of the
image projected on an enlarger easel during the part of the basic exposure time to make that area of the print lighter.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE – Two pictures taken on one frame of film, or
two images printed on one piece of photographic paper.
DRY-MOUNTING – A method of mounting prints on cardboard or
similar sheet materials. Dry-mounting tissue placed between the print and mount board is softened by the heat of a dry-mounting press to effect the bond.
DRY-MOUNTING PRESS – A machine for dry-mounting prints. It
has a large flat metal pressure plate which can apply uniform pressure and thermostatically controlled heat on the prints to be mounted.
DRY-MOUNTING TISSUE – A thin tissue paper impregnated with
shellac or some similar material, which, when heated sufficiently, softens to become an effective adhesive for paper.
DX CODE – A system of encoding ISO speeds onto 35mm film
cassettes. A DX coded camera can read the code and set the film speed automatically.
EASEL – A device to hold photographic paper flat during exposure,
usually equipped with an adjustable metal mask for framing.
EMULSION – A thin coating of light-sensitive material, usually silver
halide in gelatin, in which the image is formed on film and photographic papers.
EMULSION SIDE – The side of the film coated with emulsion. In
contact-printing and enlarging, the emulsion side of the film - dull side - should fact the emulsion side of the photo paper - shiny side.
ENLARGEMENT – A print that is larger than the negative or slide:
blowup.
ENLARGER – A device consisting of light source, a negative holder,
and a lens, and means of adjusting these to project an enlarged image from a negative onto a sheet of photographic paper.
EXHAUSTION – Inactive state of a solution caused by depletion of
its chemical components.
EXISTING LIGHT – Available light. Strictly speaking, existing light
covers all natural lighting from moonlight to sunshine. For photographic purposes, existing light is the light that is already on the scene or project and includes room lamps, fluorescent lamps, spotlights, neon signs, candles, daylight through windows, outdoor scenes at twilight or in moonlight, and scenes artificially illuminated after dark.
EXPOSE – To subject a material to the action of light.
EXPOSURE – The quantity of light allowed to act on a photographic
material; a product of the intensity (controlled by the lens opening) and the duration (controlled by the shutter speed or enlarging time) of light striking the film or paper.
EXPOSURE DETERMINATION – Measuring or estimating the
brightness of parts or the whole of a subject by exposure meters.
EXPOSURE FACTOR – Figure by which the exposure indicated for
an average subject and/or processing should be multiplied to allow for non-average conditions. Usually applied to filters, sometimes to lighting or processing.
EXPOSURE INDEX – Number assigned to a photographic material.
Based on emulsion speed and latitude, exposure meter characteristics and technique, and proposed conditions of processing. Used to determine the appropriate exposure under different lighting conditions when using correspondingly calibrated exposure meters. It is identical with the working speed of the material as specified by international standards.
EXPOSURE LATITUDE – The range of camera exposures, from
underexposure to overexposure, that will produce acceptable pictures from a specific film.
EXPOSURE METER – An instrument with a light - sensitive cell that
measures the light reflected from or falling on a subject; used as an aid to selecting the exposure setting. The same as a light meter.
EXPOSURE SETTING – The lens opening plus shutter speed
selected to expose the film.
EXTENSION TUBE – Hollow tube with male and female lens mount
fittings on either end. Used to extend the lens from the film plane in close-up photography.
FACTOR – A number by which the duration or effect of some action
or process must, for some reason, be multiplied.
FAST – A term used to describe lenses of large relative aperture
or films of high sensitive. Sometimes also applied to unusually sensitive papers.
FILM – A photographic emulsion coated on a flexible,
transparent, plastic base.
FILM HOLDER – Thin container of plastic, metal, or wood, usually
black, designed to hold two sheets of film in separate compartments, back to back.
FILM SPEED – The sensitivity of a given film to light, indicated by a
number such as ISO 200; the higher the number, the more sensitive or faster the film.
FILTER FACTOR – The number by which an exposure given through
a filter must be multiplied to compensate for the absorption of light by the filter.
FIX – To make the film insensitive to further exposure to light,
usually by bathing the emulsion with a solution containing Hypo or some other effective silver halide solvent. Such a solution is called a fixing bath.
FIXING BATH – A solution that removes any light sensitive silver
halide crystals not acted upon by light or developer, leaving a black - and - white negative or print unalterable by further action of light.
FLASH – A brief, intense burst of light from a flashbulb or an
electronic flash unit, usually used where the lighting on the scene is inadequate for picture taking.
FLAT – Too low in contrast. The range in density in a negative or
print is too short.
FOCAL LENGTH – The distance from the optical center of the lens to
Its focused image, when the lens is focused at infinity.
FOCAL PLANE – Plane through the principal focus of a lens and
perpendicular to its optical axis. To record a sharp image the emulsion surface of the film in a camera must be positioned in the focal plane of the taking lens. That plane in the camera where the sharply focused image is formed.
FOCUS – To adjust the lens/image plane separation to obtain a
sharp image of an object at a specified distance in front of the camera.
FOGGING – Darkening or discoloring of a negative or print or lighting
or discoloring of a slide caused by: (1) exposure to non-image forming light to which the photographic material is sensitive, (2) too much handling in air during development, (3) over-development, (4) outdated film or paper, or (5) storage of film or paper in a hot, humid place.
f/STOP – The numerical expression of the aperture diameter of a
lens as a fraction of the focal length. Number indicating the light-passing power of a lens.
GRAIN – The visible granular texture of the silver image, caused by
apparent clumping of the individual silver particles, viewed under magnification.
GRAININESS – The sand like or granular appearance of a negative,
print, or slide resulting from the clumping of silver grains during development of the film. Graininess becomes more pronounced with faster film, increased density in the negative, and degree of enlargement.
GRAY CARD – A card of known reflectance, usually 18 percent,
intended to be placed in the subject area and used as a meter target in the determination of exposure. Also used in color photography to establish a neutral reference for the adjustment of print color.
GRAY SCALE – The gradation of an image. A strip of film or paper
displaying individually uniform areas of density ranging from light to dark in a series of steps. Also sometimes called step tables, they are used in testing the sensitivity and contrast characteristics of photographic materials.
GUIDE NUMBER – Figure allocated to a light source, usually flash,
representing the product of lens aperture and light-to-subject distance required for correct exposure under average conditions using a specified photographic material.
HYPO – The common name for sodium thiosulfate, also used by
photographers when speaking of the complete fixing bath.
ILLUMINATION – The distribution of light from one or more sources
over the subject being photographed and over the
surface of the sensitive material.
IMAGE – The photographic representation of the subject
photographed. The visible result of exposing and developing a photographic emulsion.
INCIDENT LIGHT – The light reaching the subject from any and all
sources.
INCIDENT LIGHT METER – Exposure meter designed to integrate
the light reaching it over a very wide acceptance angle and used to measure the light intensity falling on a scene rather than that reflected from it. The usual form is a photoelectric meter with a diffusing screen or cone over the face of the cell. It is pointed toward the camera from the subject position.
INFINITY – In photography, lens setting position on the focusing
scale of a camera (indicated by the symbol of a lazy eight) which results in a sharp image of distant objects.
INVERSE SQUARE LAW – A statement to the effect that
"Illumination intensity on a surface will vary inversely with the square of the distance from the light source to the illuminated surface".
ISO – International Standards Organization. An organization
whose major purpose is to gather, correlate, and standardize information about photographic material, processes, and equipment. In 1974 the ISO adopted a standard for determining film speeds that, in effect, combined out existing ASA system with the German DIN system. ISO film speeds, as presently used in this country, include both, so that, for example, Plus-X film is now rated ISO 125.22` – the degree sign indicating the DIN logarithmic value.
ISO EXPOSURE INDEX – A numerical value assigned to film by the
International Standards Organization to indicate its speed and for use in computing correct exposure.
LATENT IMAGE – The invisible impression on the sensitized
emulsion produced by exposure to light in the development-out processes. Development converts the latent image to a visible one.
LEAF SHUTTER – A type of shutter, usually operating in the space
between the major lens components or immediately behind the lens, which consists of a number of then metal leaves or blades, arranged concentrically around the lens axis, pivoted so that they can either form an opening for the passage of light or overlap to block it.
LENS SPEED – Maximum light-transmitting power of a lens. The
term is often used when referring to the maximum working aperture of a lens (its smallest f number)
LIGHTING TENT – Enclosure of translucent material inside of which
subjects such as glass, silverware and jewelry are sometimes photographed, the camera lens projecting through a hole in one wall. Light entering the tent is so diffused that it is substantially shadowless and there is no reflected image of the camera from polished surfaces.
LIGHT METER – An instrument which measures light intensity. If
supplied with a suitable computing scale, it becomes an exposure meter. The term is commonly used interchangeable with exposure meter. See exposure.
LIGHT TIGHT – Describes a container, room or space which light
cannot enter or leave, or a door or baffle or aperture which light cannot penetrate.
LINE NEGATIVE – Negative consisting of two tones only, clear
transparent lines or letter against a maximum density background, with no intermediate densities.
MACRO LENS – Camera lenses (typically interchangeable lenses on
35mm cameras) fitted with an extended focusing mount to permit focusing from infinity to same size reproductions. Camera lens specially corrected for optimum definition at same size reproduction.
MAGNIGICATION – Relationship between the size of the object
photographed and the image of it formed by the lens.
MAXIMUM APERTURE – The largest useful opening of the lens.
Wide open.
N
NEGATIVE – A photographic image in which the tones of the subject
have been recorded in reverse.
NEGATIVE CARRIER – The frame of glass or metal which holds the
negative in printing position in the enlarger.
NITROGEN BURST – Method of agitating processing solutions by
introducing nitrogen gas into the bottom of the processing rank through a distributor nozzle. The bubbles of gas rising through the liquid form an effective and harmless stirring device.
NORMAL LENS – Any lens whose focal length is approximately
equal to the diagonal measurement of the film frame.
O
OBLIQUE LIGHTING – Light striking the subject from the side
relative to the position of the camera; produces shadows and highlights to create modeling on the subject.
OPAL GLASS – A translucent glass having a milky or "opal-scent"
appearance, used to diffuse light.
OPAQUE – Incapable of transmitting light. A special fine-ground
tempera paint, usually brick-red or black, for use in blocking out unwanted areas of the negative image prior to printing.
OPEN FLASH – Method of taking pictures with flash in which the
shutter is opened on time or blub and the flash is fired manually.
ORTHO – Abbreviation of orthochromatic.
ORTHOCHROMATIC – Photographic materials sensitive to all colors
except the orange and red regions of the spectrum. Type of emulsion which is sensitive to visible blue and green, but not to red.
OVERDEVELOPMENT – Excessively long development of
photographic material which results in very dense and contrasty negatives or fogged and stained prints.
OVEREXPOSURE – Excessive amount of light falling on the
sensitized material during exposure resulting in dense negative with opaque highlights or prints with blocked up shadows and veiled highlights.
PAN – It describes a type of emulsion, "panchromatic" which is
sensitive to all colors of the visible spectrum
PANCHROMATIC – Describes an emulsion sensitive to blue, green
and some, or all, of the red region of the spectrum.
PAPER NEGATIVE – A negative image on a paper base, prepared
either by exposing the paper directly in a camera or by printing from a positive transparency.
PERSPECTIVE – The apparent relation between the shape, visual
scale and position of visible objects.
PERSPECTIVE DISTORTION – Change in the shape and
foreshortening of the three-dimensional objects in a
picture, resulting from the use of a wide-angle lens.
PHOTOMACROGRAPHY – Small objects photographed at greater
than life size by the use of long bellows and short focal length lens on the camera.
PRIMARY COLORS – Three colors of light, Blue, Green, and Red,
which when mixed in equal amounts, produce white light.
PRINT – In photography, the term is generally used to identify and
image on paper, produced by photographic means. It is usually understood to mean a positive image, and implies a final image rather than an intermediate one in some longer process.
PRINTING FRAME – A shallow, rectangular frame of wood or metal
equipped with a removable front glass and a separate folding back which can be fastened to the frame with leaf springs so as to hold a negative and a sheet of printing paper against the glass smoothly and tightly. In use, light is allowed to shine through the front glass and through the intervening negative to reach the printing emulsion. Also called a contract printing frame.
PRINTING PAPER – Paper coated with a light-sensitive substance,
to be used for making photographic images.
POSITIVE – An image in which the tones or colors are similar to
those of the subject.
PROCESS – To subject photographic films or papers to chemical
treatment, such as, for example, development. The sequence of chemical steps required to produce the desired image or result.
PUSH PROCESSING – Increasing the development time of a film to
increase its effective speed (raising the ISO number for initial exposure) for low-light situations; forced development.
RECIPROCITY FAILURE – When the product of light intensity and
time of exposure remains constant there is a relative loss of sensitivity of photographic emulsion at very low or high intensities for correspondingly longer or shorter exposures.
REFLECTANE – Describes the ability of a surface to reflect light.
REFLECTED LIGHT METER – Exposure meter used to measure the
light reflected from a scene as distinct from incident light meters which measure light falling on the subject. Most meters built into cameras are reflected light meters and indicated exposures on the assumption that the proportion of light to dark areas in most scenes is roughly constant.
REFLECTION – Re-direction of light or other radiation by a surface.
Reflection may be specular if the surface is polished, each light ray being thrown back in the direction from which it came. If the surface is matted, reflection becomes more or less diffuse, the light being scattered in all forward directions.
REFLECTOR – A surface used to reflect light. Photographic
reflectors are usually sheets of cardboard, plywood, masonite, or stretched fabric, painted white or covered with metal foil.
RELATIVE APERTURE – The relationship between the diameter of
the lens opening and the focal length of the lens. It is found by dividing the focal length by the diameter and is, strictly speaking, the number so found-as distinguished from the Aperture which included the prefix f .
RESIN COATED PAPER – RC Paper. Printing papers employing a
special base material treated during manufacture with a "Resin Coating" which, by limiting water absorption, allows for very rapid processing and reduces drying time.
RETICULATION – Cracking or distorting of the emulsion during
processing, usually caused by wide temperature or chemical activity difference between the solutions.
REVERSAL – (1) Process of exposing or processing a normally
negative working photographic material to obtain a positive instead of a negative image. (2) Effect in which a negative image is converted locally or entirely into a positive or vice verso under particular conditions of exposure or processing.
REVERSED NEGATIVE – Negative in which the image is reversed
left to right by either photographing the original through a right angled (reversing) prism or mirror or by stripping and laterally reversing the emulsion. The final print is a lateral inversion of the negative.
REVOLVING BACK – Technical or studio large format camera
feature which permits the film holder to be rotated in its plane so that the long dimension of the negative material is either vertical or horizontal.
RISING FRONT – Camera lens panel or frame constructed so that it
can be moved vertically to allow the lens to be raised above -or dropped below- the normal position. Used when photographing objects such as tall buildings from a near viewpoint with the camera pointing at an upward angle, while keeping the camera back vertical to ensure parallel rendering of vertical lines.
ROLL FILM – Film supplied in rolls rather than sheets, but especially
those films protected from light by paper leaders rather than those supplied in protective cartridges of metal or plastic.
SAFELIGHT – Illumination, used in various darkroom processed,
which is of color and intensity which will not appreciable affect the emulsions being handled. Blue sensitive emulsions can be handled in a yellow safelight and orthochromatic emulsions are generally unaffected by orange or red safelight. Image density resulting from excessive exposure to safelight or to an inappropriate safelight color, is known as safelight fog.
SCALE – In image formation, the liner ratio of image size to object
size. If this ratio is greater than one the result is magnification. In a photographic enlargement the image is the projected image and the negative is the object. When subject and image are the same size the scale is 1/1 usually indicated by s/s (same size). Because the scale is linear it must be in squares to give the area. A linear magnification of 4x is equal to an area magnification of 16x.
SENSITIVITY – In photography, the susceptibility of an emulsion to
alteration by light energy.
SEPARATION – The visual quality of any image area which makes it
visible against its background.
SHADOW AREA – Any region of a photographic image which
corresponds to an area of shade or shadow in the original subject.
SHARP – Term used to denote the distinctness of detail in
photograph or the focused image on the ground glass of a camera.
SHEET FILM – Film supplied in individual pieces; also called cut film.
SHEET FILM HOLDER – See Film Holder.
SHELF LIFE – Period of time before deterioration results in an
appreciable loss of speed or growth of fog in an unexposed, properly wrapped and stored sensitized material. Refrigerated storage increases the useful working life of most types of photo-sensitive material.
SHIFTS AND SWINGS – The various adjustments of the front and
rear standards of a view camera, provided for the purpose of facilitating framing, control of perspective, and the efficient use of the available depth of field.
SHUTTER – A device installed in front, behind, or between the
elements of a lens, or at the focal plane of the camera, to control the duration of exposure.
SHUTTER PRIORITY – A camera feature that lets you select the
desired shutter speed, and the camera sets the aperture for proper exposure. When you change the shutter speed or when the light level changes, the aperture changes accordingly.
SHUTTER RELEASE – The lever or plunger which, when pressed
allows the shutter mainspring to operate the shutter mechanism and make the exposure.
SHUTTER SPEED – (1) The duration of the interval of exposure. (2)
The marked settings on a shutter dial. The numbers represent the denominators of fractions of which 1 is the numerator.
SLOW – A term used to describe the linger exposure intervals
provided by the shutter, as "one-half second is a slow speed." Also applied to relatively insensitive emulsions, as a slow film.
SOFT – Describes an image which is not sharp; that is, one which
is blurred, diffused, or not accurately focused. Photographic emulsions, specifically printing papers, which tend to produce images of lower-than-normal contrast; for example, the paper grades 0 and 1, and some others of similar characteristics, are called soft papers.
SPLIT-IMAGE RANGEFINDER – A variety of rangefinder in which
the opposite halves of the image are displaced along a dividing line when the instrument is not properly focused. Correct distance is indicated when the image halves are adjusted to match.
SPOT METER – An exposure meter which measures reflected light
or luminance, over a field of only a degree or two.
STOP – The aperture or f/number of lens. A change in exposure,
from any cause, which doubles or halves the preceding one.
STOP BATH – A weak acid solution used immediately after
development and before fixing, to stop the action of developer and prolong the life of the fixer.
STOP DOWN – To reduce the size of the aperture of a lens.
SWING BACK – On a screen focusing camera a hinged back which
can be turned at an angle to the vertical to improve the perspective of the image and extend the depth of field covered.
SWING FRONT – Lens panel of a camera hinged about its axis so
that it can be used, in conjunction with the swing back, to control perspective and/or relocate the plane of maximum sharpness producing a similar result to an increase the depth of field.
TACKING IRON – A small electrically heated, thermostatically
controlled tool used to tack or attach dry-mounting tissue to the back of a print or to the mount board, so as to hold it in place while the print is being trimmed and heated in the dry-mount press.
TANK – A small, light tight container, in which film is placed for
processing.
TELEPHOTO LENS – A lens that makes a subject appear larger on
film than does a normal lens at the same camera-to-subject distance. A telephoto lens has a longer focal length and narrower field of view than a normal lens.
TENT LIGHTING – Lighting technique that involves isolating the
subject in a plain environment or "tent", so that surface reflections and lighting effects can be closely controlled.
THIN – describes the appearance of a transparency image
(usually the negative) of low overall density.
THIN NEGATIVE – A negative that is under exposed or
underdeveloped (or both). A thin negative appears less
dense than a normal negative.
TIME – One of the marked speeds on some shutters. A shutter
set on (T) time will open when the shutter release is pressed and will remain open until the release is pressed again. It is a convenient setting for exposure intervals of more than a few seconds.
TIME EXPOSURE – A comparatively long exposure made in
seconds or minutes.
TRANSLUCENT – Describes a diffusing material which will transmit
light, but not focused light. A very thin translucent
surface is used on screens for back projection and back
lighting of objects.
TRANSPARENCY – A positive photographic image on film, viewed
or projected by transmitted light (light shining through film).
TRIPOD – A three-legged stand, usually adjustable in height and
provided with a tilting and swiveling head, on which a camera can be fastened for support and stability during use.
TUNGSTEN LIHGT – Generally, the light emitted by a heated
tungsten filament such as is contained in conventional electric light bulbs. Sometimes used to refer specifically to the light of special photographic tungsten filament bulbs which are designed to burn at either 3200K or 3400K. Also often used loosely to apply to artificial light in general, as distinguished from daylight.
TTL – Through-the-lens; describes a type of exposure meter,
incorporated in the structure of a camera, which reads the
Intensity of the image light transmitted by a lens.
TYPE L FILM – Color sheet or roll film balanced for 3200K lamps and
exposure time of 1/10 to 60 seconds. L indicates that the
film is designed to show minimum reciprocity failure at the
relatively long exposure times.
TYPE S FILM – Color sheer or roll film balanced for daylight,
electronic flash or blue flash bulbs and exposure times of 1/10 second or shorter, S standing for short exposure time.
UNDEREXPOSURE – A condition in which too little light reaches the
film, producing a thin negative, S standing for short exposure time.
VARIABLE-CONTRAST PAPER – Photographic paper that provided
different grades of contrast when exposed through special filters.
VIEW CAMERA – A type of camera in which the image is viewed and
composed on a ground-glass screen placed precisely at the film plane. The viewed image is therefore identical to the one presented to the film during exposure. After the image has been focused and composed, the ground glass is replaced by the film in a suitable holder and the picture is made. Most view cameras provide for considerable adjustment of the relative positions of the lens board and film plane. They are typically designed to accept sheet film in the larger size and must be used on a tripod, or other firm support.
WIDE ANGLE DISTORTION – Distorted perspective rendering
obtained by the use of a wide angle lens, particularly noticeable in foreground subject matter neat the edges of the field.
WIDE ANGLE LENS – A lens that has a shorter focal length and
wider field of view (includes more subject area) than a normal lens. The angle of field is 60 degrees or more. If the angle exceeds 90 degrees, the lens is generally termed an ultra wide-angle lens.