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

Painting with Light - Occurs when the photographer incrementally lights an otherwise darkened scene using a handheld flashlight or other small light source while the shutter remains open during a time exposure. The light is added to the scene in the manner of an artist using a “paintbrush of light”.

Palladium Print - Palladium is a silvery-white metal that appears black in powder form. A palladium print is a photographic monochrome print that is made using palladium. Like platinum prints, they are very stable and have a high degree of permanence. Palladium prints are generally warmer and more sepia-like than platinum prints. Palladium/platinum prints, using both metals, have also been produced.

Panchromatic - or "Pan" - Photographic film sensitive to all visible colours. Pan films record all colours in tones of roughly similarly relative brightness as seen by the eye in the original scene.

Panning - A technique of moving the camera to follow the motion of a subject, used to convey speed or to freeze a moving subject at slower shutter speeds. Often, a relatively slow shutter speed is used to blur the background while panning keeps the moving object sharp.

Panorama - (1) An extended, wide view or pictorial representation of a landscape or other scene. (2) A camera mode that produces a proportionately wider or taller than normal image, depending on the camera’s orientation.

Panoramic Camera - Camera with a lens that rotates to scan a scene, all the while projecting the image onto an abnormally wide film frame. The broad sweep of the rotating lens records the scene without distortion, and is very useful for photographing expansive landscape scenes and large groups of people.

Paper Safe - Light-tight container in which unexposed photographic paper is stored and easily accessed, for use in a darkroom.

Parallax - The difference between what is seen through the viewfinder and what the camera records on film, caused by the viewfinder being separate from the camera lens.

Parallax error - Also known as “Parallax effect” - the viewfinder camera’s main disadvantage, making it almost useless for careful composition of close-up subjects. The scene viewed by the photographer through the camera’s viewing frame is different from the scene the lens will capture because the viewing frame is offset from the lens.

Pentaprism - Five-sided prism in SLR cameras that renders a correctly-oriented view of the focusing screen.

Perforations - Holes punched on the sides of 35 mm film with regular spacing so that they line up with sprockets on the camera's film take-up mechanism.

Perspective - Technique of depicting volumes and spacial relationships (a scene in three-dimensions) on a flat surface (an image having two dimensions).

Photic - Of or pertaining to light.

Photics - The science of light.

Photo - (1)Photograph; (2) Greek for "light"

Photocell - The photocell will trigger the flash-unit by a flash from another flash-unit.

Photofinishing - The act of developing films, printing photographs, etc.

Photoflash lamp- Flash bulb

Photoflood lamp -  is an incandescent light source using a tungsten filament bulb set in a reflector.

Photographic paper (printing paper) - Paper coated with a light-sensitive emul­sion, used for making photographic prints. When a negative or slide is projected onto printing paper a latent image forms, and this is revealed by processing. Printing paper may be fiber-based or resin-coated  (RC); the resin-coated papers offer speedier processing because they are water-repellent. Papers come in grades according to their contrast range.

Photolamp - A tungsten light bulb specially designed for photographic use. Photolamps are similar to household bulbs, but bigger and brighten. They give off light that is matched to tungsten-balanced film.

Photogenic - Being an attractive subject for photography, or looking good in a photograph.

Photogrammetry - Process of making surveys and maps using photographs

Photograph - (1) A picture produced by photography. (2) To take a photograph.

Photographer - Someone who takes photographs, especially as a profession. It could be said that a good photographer is a combination of an artist, craftsman and scientist, since knowledge and skills from all three professions play a part in good photography.

Photographic - Of or pertaining to photography.

Photography - The process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light. The word "photography" derives from the Greek and means, literally, “light writing.”

Photomicrograph - A photograph taken through a microscope.

Photo Slave - Also called a "slave unit." A light-sensitive triggering device that is built in or attached to an electronic flash unit, causing the flash to fire simultaneously with another flash unit.

Pinhole camera - A camera that uses a very small hole, as if made by a pin instead of a lens, for light to enter and form an image on the film or other light-sensitive medium. See Pinhole camera.

Pixels - Abbreviation for Picture elements.

Platinotype - (1) The process of photographic printing on papers coated with platinum-based materials. (2) A print made by such a process.

Platinum Print - A platinum print is a photographic monochrome print that is made using the semi-precious metal, platinum. Monochrome printing (mainly black and white) is commonly done using silver-based materials, such as are found in most ordinary photographic printing papers, to make paper photo-sensitive. They have an inherent impermanence. The prints won't last a long, long time. In the late 1800s, the platinotype process resulted in a more permanent print. Platinum is highly stable and won’t tarnish in air. Instead of the image resting inside a binder on the surface of the paper, the image of a platinum print is actually absorbed into the paper's fibres. A platinum print takes on the texture of the paper. It is softer in appearance, appears to have more depth, has rich blacks and a highly-delicate tonal range. Platinum prints, in other words, are beautiful prints, with soft details, great tonal rendition and deep blacks. And, they are among the most permanent photographic images, capable of lasting perhaps thousands of years. They are ideal for fine art photography and the preservation and display of great photographs.

Polarizing filter - A polarizing filter ("Polarizer" or "Polarizing screen") is an adjustable filter, with an inner ring that screws onto the lens and an outer ring that can be rotated. Turning the outer ring reduces or increases the filter’s effectiveness. The polarizer absorbs glare, reducing or eliminating reflections and darkening blue skies. It works by transmitting light that travels in one plane while absorbing light that travels in opposing planes.

Portrait - A picture of a person or persons that captures their likeness, especially their face. (See Portrait photography.)

Portfolio - A collection of selected photographs intended to illustrate a photographer's style and range of photography, or in the case of a model's portfolio, a collection of photographs and/or tearsheets that demonstrate his or her modelling abilities and experience.

Pose - The position assumed by a subject in relation to the camera, including the angling and placement of head, hands, feet, etc.

Posing - Positioning of a subject in relation to the camera. Posing is generally controlled by the photographer, and sometimes by a skilled model.

Positive - Opposite of a negative - An image, such as print or a slide, with the same tonal values and colours as the original scene.

Posterization - occurs when a gradual or smooth tonal transition in an image appears or is made to appear as an abrupt change from one tone to another. Digitally, it can be achieved by limiting the number of colors in an image so that the change from one tone to another is sudden, rather than continuous and gradual. Posterization can be noticed, for example, in an image that has a relatively large area of colour that appears banded where the tonal changes should instead appear to be gradual.

Prefocusing - The technique of setting the camera's focus in anticipation of the subject's move­ments as an aid to quick picture-taking. Usually the focus is set on a motionless feature toward which the subject is moving.

Pressure plate - A smooth plate found on the inside of the camera back that is forced towards the front of the camera by springs, causing it to hold the film evenly in place for exposure.

Preview button - Many cameras are equipped with a depth of field preview button that, when pressed and held in, stops the lens down to the preselected aperture, allowing you to see how much foreground or background are in focus.

Print - A photographic image printed on paper, generally a positive image made from a negative. (Also refers to a photograph of a model that appears in print - in a newspaper or magazine, for example.)

Printing Frame - A darkroom device used to hold negatives against photographic paper for contact printing.

Printing-in - Also known as "Burning in." - In a darkroom, providing extra exposure to an area of the print to make it darker, while blocking light from the rest of the print.

Print solarization - See "Solarization" in this Glossary.

Processing - The sequence of activities  (usually developing, stopping, fixing, washing and drying) that will convert a latent image on film or photographic paper into a visible, stable image.

Processing drum (processing tube) - A light-tight container in which photographic paper is processed in daylight. The drum is used particularly for color print processing, in which temperature, solution consistency, timing and agitation need careful control.

Program exposure - A camera mode that automatically determines aperture and shutter speed for proper exposure.

Projected frame - (Also known as "Viewfinder" or simply "Finder.") A viewing device on a camera used by the photographer to see the field of view taken in by the camera’s lens and the portion of the view that will be recorded on film.

Proof - A sample image intended to be used for the purpose of selecting a final image. Proofs are often stamped with the word "proof" on the face of the image to identify them as proofs and sometimes to prevent their being used in place of a final image.

Pulling film - Purposefully overexposing and underdeveloping film to reduce its effective film speed. (The opposite of "Push processing.")

Pushing film - Setting the camera's ISO dial to a number higher than the nominal speed of the film, so that the photographer can use a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture. To compensate for the deliber­ate underexposure that pushing pro­duces, the film must be push-processed.

Push-processing - Increasing development time of a film to force an increase in its effective speed, generally done to normalize results when the film has been underexposed. Also known as "Forced development."