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Listed here are definitions to photography words and terms. These definitions
are not intended to be comprehensive and are meant for basic understanding and
education of our customers and the general public.
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Adhesive-mount:
Using a special glue to mount or attach a print to a
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Album Construction:
The elements used that make an album. Albums consist of covers or carcasses,
spine, cover image, page inserts, sleeves* and photos.
* Used only for slip-in style albums. |
Album Cover:
Albums consist of covers or carcasses,, |
Album Page:
A page is one side of a leaf of paper in a book so there are two pages per leaf.
Some pages can be gilded. |
Aperture:
The lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm
opening in a camera lens REGULATES amount of light passes through onto the film
or digital sensor inside the camera at the moment when the shutter curtain in
camera opens during an exposure process. The size of an aperture in a lens can
either be a fixed or the most popular form in an adjustable type (like an SLR
camera). Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or
F-stop.
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ASA:
ASA is the sensitivity of the image collector be it film or
electronic sensor. The more sensitive it is the
higher the number.
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Available Light: The light that is available
in any particular environment. This would be in contrast to augmented or rigged
lighting that involve flash, hot lights, or reflectors. |
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Creative Photojournalism: A way of
shooting a moment at an event that uses a
photojournalistic approach but with some pre-planning. Some general
direction is often given to the subjects by the photographer but usually not
very specific. The idea is to let the subjects act and interact naturally in a
setting or situation that the photographer has set up. |
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Black and White: A
monochromatic image using no color, only black, white and shades of gray.
Also see Infrared. |
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Color Correct: Adjusting an image so that the
colors in it are as true to the real colors as possible. |
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Drag a Shutter: A creative camera technique
where the photographer extends the exposure time longer than usual. This term is
usually used to allow parts of the image to streak or blur showing action and
movement. |
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Depth of field: The appearance is that
certain spots in an image are in focus and other things that are further away or
closer to the camera are out of focus. The more things that are in focus means
the image has a deep depth of field. A shallow depth of field is where only a
narrow area of the image is in focus. Depth of field is controlled by the lens
F-stop. Depth-of-field can be created artificially
in post-production re-touching.
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Disc:
A storage device for electronic files including images.
Disc's can be CDs DVDs or hard drives. |
Dry-Mount:
A way of attaching prints to an album or frame that involves no glue. Attachment
usually involves pressing the image edges between two mats or tucking the
corners of the print into slots. |
Exposure:
The amount of light hitting the film or
image sensor. |
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Formal: A photographic
style where every image is posed and pre-arranged. Formal photography
requires the photographer to be highly interactive with the subject and
environment. Roots of the formal style go back to the era of cameras that
required longer exposures which, required the subject (and camera) to remain
still for long periods of time. Also see
Photojournalism.
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F-stop:
Those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22),16 (f/16),
f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. Each of this value
represents one time the amount of light either more or less in quantity. Meaning
to say, f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening
of f/22 and so forth; while on the other hand, an aperture of f/4.0 will let in
1X lesser than that of f/2.8 etc. . A very fast lens is usually around
F-1.4. F-32 is usually the smallest aperture. Lower F-stops allow more light so
exposure time can be less. Lower F-stops decreases the
depth of field while higher F-stops decrease the amount of light but
increases the depth of field. |
Gilding:
A treatment given to the edge of album pages or other books of importance.
Gilding is most easily seen when an album is closed and viewed on-edge. Gilding
color is usually gold, silver or black. |
Image:
Something exposed and captured as an electronic file or photo. Images can be
corrected, altered, put on disc and printed.
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Image Sensor:
A device in a camera, used in place of film, that turns light into an image
file. It uses and electrictally charged plate that is sensitive to light. |
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Infrared: An exposure that has been filtered to be
more sensitive to the lower light frequencies known as infrared which is between
visible light waves and heat waves. Hotter objects are lighter and cooler
objects are darker. An infrared image usually looks like a black and white image
however; objects in the image have unexpected brightness's and darkness's. |
Mat:
A material used for display or storage of prints. Prints can be
mount or attached to its surface. Mats can also have
holes cut in them and used as a border around a print to highlight it.
Mats are usually made of an acid free material consisting of paper fibers like
cardboard. Acid-free keeps prints from fading over time.
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Monochromatic:
Consisting of tints and shades of one color. Examples are
black and white and sepia.
Another example is "Tinting" |
Mounted:
A print that has been attached to a backing material. Attachment can be by
dry-mount or adhesive mount. |
Photography Style:
How a photographer approaches and captures his/her subjects. At the core, there
are two types of photographic styles which are Formal and
Photojournalism. There are arguably several
"sub-styles" of both categories. Some photographers specialize is one particular
style that they are comfortable doing. Other photographers are comfortable using
many different styles. The "best" style depends on the subject, the environment
and the desired result.
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Photojournalism: A photography style used
by journalists covering events. Another name for this style is candid. The pure
form of this style involves no interaction with the subject.
Advantages to this style are that it is the best way to catch subjects in their
more natural state. This would include human emotion and nature undisturbed. See
other forms of Photographic Styles. |
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Print Credit: A dollar value applicable for
ordering prints. In our case, this value can be applied to any material
purchases such as; extra album pages, signature boards and of course, prints. |
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Retouching: A post-shoot process that usually
alters the original appearance of the image. This can include, but not limited
to: removing or adding objects, modification of existing image objects,
vignette, sepia,
black and white, lightening or darkening,
color correcting, white
balancing. |
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Reversible: A mat that can be used in two
orientations, 0 or turned 90 degrees in either direction.
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Sepia: A photo that is monochromatic with a gold or
brown tint making a warmer image. The color is also use to make an image look
"antique". It was originally produced by adding a pigment made from the Sepia
cuttlefish
to the positive print of a photograph taken with any number of negative
processes. The chemical process involved converts any remaining metallic
silver to a
sulphide
which is much more resistant to breakdown over time. This is why many "old time"
photographs are sepia toned—those are the ones that have survived until today |
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Shutter: A mechanical device in a camera that
regulates the time light is allowed in a camera. Shutters have to be very fast
and must move in the thousands of a second. |
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Signature Board: A popular option for events
today. Read more about Signature Boards |
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Slip-In: The traditional style of album where
prints are "slipped in" between two mats. Slip-in is usually
classified as dry-mounting. Prints can be replaces or
remove (lost). |
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SLR: A camera that is Single Lens Reflex. It is also
known as a 35 millimeter. It is the camera type used by most manufacturers for
professional digital cameras. SLRs usually have inter-changeable lenses.
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Subject: The main object of an image. It is usually
the thing that is mostly in focus and best lit. Example: The person blowing out
candles at a birthday party. |
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Traditional: A technique used over the years
for taking photos the name implies. Formal is one form of
traditional shooting.
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Vignette: (Pronounced vin-yett). A gradual fading
at the edges of an image. Vignette is usually a property of a camera lens that
is undesirable however, it can be used effectively to help emphasize the subject
and de-emphasize less important elements of an image. The fade usually is
to black but can be to white or other colors. |
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White Balance: A setting on a camera that
compensates for color shifting that happens with different types of lighting.
The purpose is to counteract available light
shifting so the image colors look more like way humans see them.
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We invite you to contact us at eis@coolwaterstudios.com
and give us an idea for what you are looking for. We guarantee you will be
pleasantly surprised.
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