A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

C-41 - Kodak’s standard photochemical process for developing colour negative film.

Cable release - A thin cable encased in a flexible rubber or metal tube, used to release the shutter when the camera is not being handheld. Newer cameras may not have a mechan­ical cable release socket: instead they have a pair of electrical contacts which trigger the shutter when connected. For these cameras, the cable release comprises a length of electrical flex with a push button at one end and a connector that fits into a socket on the camera at the other.

Calculator dial  - Adjustable scale on an electronic flash unit that, once it is set with the film speed, is used to determine the appropriate aperture for the flash-to-subject distance

Camera angle  - Same as “shooting angle” or “viewpoint”. The position of the camera relative to the position of the subject.

Camera obscura  - A device used by early artists (centuries before Christ) to display a scene on the wall of an otherwise-darkened room so that it could be more-easily copied. In a manner similar to the pinhole camera, a small hole placed in an opposite wall permitted light to enter the room (the “camera”), and the scene outside became transmitted inside, and was shown inverted on the rear wall or sometimes on a screen. The camera obscura is the origin of the modern camera.

Candid - Candid pictures (sometimes referred to simply as "Candids") are unposed and often (but not necessarily) taken without the subject's knowledge.

Capacitor - A device used for accumulating and holding a charge of electricity. (Also called a condenser.)

Cartridge - Film container, generally one that is factory-loaded, that is light-proof, enabling it to be handled in light without exposing the film. (See "Cassette.") A metal cartridge for 35 mm film is sometimes known as a "Magazine."

Cassette - Better known as a film cassette, and sometimes called a cartridge, this is a light-proof container of metal or plastic into which film manufacturers (and bulk film loaders) roll strips of unexposed 35 mm film. APS film is also loaded by manufacturers into a cassette.

Cast - An overall tinge of a particular color in a print or slide.

Catchlight - The reflection of a light in the subject’s eyes in a portrait.

CCD - A digital camera records an image on a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) - a chip containing a grid-like field of extremely small, light-sensitive cells (photodiodes), each of which emits an electrical signal in proportion to the intensity of the light striking it.

Change bag or Changing bag - A bag that is light-tight and fitted with arm holes that are elasticized to block light. It is used when it is necessary to work with unprotected film in a lighted area so that it doesn't become exposed to light.

Character lighting - A source of light that is placed close to the subject. In portrait photography, it is meant to give form and character-to the subject's face.

Cibachrome  - A process used to make colour prints directly from transparencies.

Circles of confusion  - Points of light from a scene being photographed formed by the lens into discs of light. The smaller the discs (“circles of confusion”) are, the sharper the image appears. When the circles of confusion can be seen as discs rather than points of light, that portion of the image is considered to be unsharp.

Clearing agent  - Chemical that neutralizes hypo in film or photographic paper. Its effect is cut down wash time and assist in giving a more stable image.

Close-up - Generally, a picture of a subject that fills the frame, usually with the subject looking particularly close to the camera.

Close-up lens (supplementary lens) - A simple one-element lens placed over a normal lens, in the same way as a screw on filter allowing the camera to be focused closer to a subject. (2) Also refers to a "Macro lens" - a camera lens that permits macrophotography.

CMYK - An acronym for the ink colours Cyan (process blue), Magenta (process red), Yellow and Black used in four-color process printing. The primary colours of light (not of the inks used in printing) are red, green and blue.

Coated lens  - A lens that has a thin layer of transparent substance applied to its surface to reduce light reflection from the surface.

Colour balance  - (1) The manner in which colour film reproduces a scene's colours under different types of lighting (daylight or tungsten). (2) The adjustment of colours in making colour prints.

Colour compensating filters - Filters designated by the letters CC and used to alter the color balance of a slide, particularly to compensate for a color bias in the light source.

Colour conversion filters - Filters used to adjust the color balance of a light source when it differs substantially from the color temperature for which a film type is designed. Such filters can effectively convert tungsten slide film into daylight film or vice versa.

Colour correction filter - Comparatively weak color filter used to correct small differences between the color temperature of the illumination used for a particular exposure and that for which the film was manufactured. An 85B filter is used with tungsten film in daylight, an 8OA filter with daylight film in tungsten light. The term is also some­times rather loosely used to describe the cyan, magenta and yellow filters that are placed in an enlarger to balance the color of prints made from color negatives.

Colour head - A device on an enlarger that contains adjustable built-in filters (yellow, cyan and magenta) for color printing.

Colour negative (print) film -  Refers to film designed to produce a reverse color image that requires subsequent printing onto photo-sensitive material (generally paper used in making photographic prints) in order to view the true colors as a positive image.

Colour paper - A light-sensitive material on a paper base for making color prints from color nega­tives or transparencies. The paper is coated with three emulsion layers, which respond to red, green and blue light. forming cyan, magenta and yellow dye, respectively.

Colour reversal - Refers to film designed to make a positive image when exposed in the camera (slide film or transparency film). Light must be transmitted through such film in order to view it, whether it is lit from behind when viewing or the light is projected through the film’s image onto a viewing screen.

Colour temperature - The light spectrum is scientifically described in terms of colour temperature, and is measured in degrees Kelvin (° K). Photographers use three standard light colour temperatures. The first is called "daylight" for natural outdoors light, while the other two are incandescent (artificial light) colour temperature standards: 5500° K (daylight); 3200° K (tungsten studio lamps) and 3400° K (photo lamps or photofloods).

Colour transparency (slide) film - Film giving direct color positives in the form of transparencies. It is also known as reversal film.

Compact camera - A simple-to-use 35mm camera that has a non-interchangeable lens and is intended primarily for taking snapshots.

Compact flash - Brand name for one type of digital camera's re-usable memory card on which images taken by the camera are stored.

Complimentary colour  - A complementary colour is one of a pair of primary or secondary colours that are in opposition to each other on a colour wheel. For pigmented colours, like paint, complementary colour pairs include: orange opposed to blue, green opposed to red, and violet opposed to yellow. For the colours of light, complementary colours include: blue opposed to yellow, green opposed to magenta, and red opposed to cyan.   

Composition - The arrangement of the elements (subject and other objects) in a scene or photograph.

Condenser - A lens or lens system used in an enlarger or slide projector to concentrate light from the lamp source and focus it evenly on the negative or slide.

Condenser enlarger - Photographic enlarger with an undiffused light enabling high contrast and definition in a print.

Contact print - A print made with the negative in contact (held tightly against) the photographic paper so that both negative and print are the same size.

Contact sheet - A contact print made from several negatives at one time.

Contrast -  (1) the range of difference between highlights and shadow areas in an image. Many factors affect an image’s contrast, including the degree of development and the contrast grade of the paper on which an image is printed. (2) The range of brightness in a scene or in the light striking a subject. (Sometimes contrast is also referred to as "Density.")

Contrast grade - A scale using numbers (generally 1 to 5) or terms (soft, medium, hard, extra-hard and ultra-hard) that refer to the contrast level of photographic papers. (A high contrast negative printed onto low-numbered or soft contrast grade paper will more closely reproduce the normal contrast of the original scene, and vice-versa.)

Contrast ratio - The difference between the darkest and lightest areas of a subject, stated in a mathematical ratio.

Contrasty- A scene or an image that has an abnormally wide range of differences between the amount of light in highlight areas and the amount of light in shadow areas is said to be “contrasty.”

Cropping - (1) Removal of parts of an image in order to improve the image’s composition. Cropping occurs when an area that is smaller than the entire image frame is printed or reproduced. (2) Cropping is sometimes also used in reference to a photographer moving closer to a subject, thereby eliminating (cropping) unnecessary surrounding elements from the composition.