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Glossary
C
Cable
release:
a coiled wire with a plunger at one end and a socket at the other
that attaches to a camera’s shutter release. Pressing the plunger
releases the shutter without touching (& possible moving) the
camera.
Calotype:
the first successful negative-positive photographic process; it
produced an image on paper. Invented by Talbot, it was also called
the Talbotype.
Camera:
a picture-taking device usually consisting of a light-tight box,
a film holder, a shutter to admit a measured quantity of light,
and a lens to focus the image
Carte-de-visite:
a small portrait, about the size of a visiting card, popular during
the 1860s. People often collected them in albums
Cartridge:
see cassette
Cassette:
a light-tight metal or plastic container that permits a roll of
35mm film t5o be loaded into a camera in the light. Also called
cartridge
Catchlight:
a reflection of a light source in a subject’s eyes
Changing
bag: a light-tight bag
into which a photographer can insert his/her hands to handle film
when a darkroom is not available
Chrome:
a color transparency; can be 35mm or 120 mm roll film, or sheet
film (4x5, 8x10, etc.)
Chromogenic
film: film in which the
final image is composed of dyes rather than silver
Circle
of confusion: the tiny circle of light formed by a lens
as it projects the image of a single point of a subject. The smaller
the diameter of all the circles of confusions, the sharper the image
will be.
Close-up:
a larger-than-normal image that is formed on a negative by focusing
the subject closer than normal to the lens with the use of supplementary
lenses, extension tubes, or bellows.
Collodion:
a transparent, syrupy solution of pyroxylin (a nitrocellulose) dissolved
in ether and alcohol; used as the basis for the emulsion in the
wet-plate process
Color
balance: 1) A film’s response
to the colors of a scene. Color films are balanced for use with
specific light sources. 2) The reproduction of colors in a color
print, alterable during printing
Color
cast: a trace of one color
in all the colors of an image
Color
compensating filters: gelatin
filters that can be used to adjust the color balance during picture
taking or in color printing. More expensive than the acetate color
printing filters, can be used below the enlarger lens. Abbreviated
cc.
Color
temperature: a numerical
description of the color of light. It is the temperature in degrees
Kelvin (K) to which a perfect black-body radiator (an object that
does not reflect any light falling on it) would have to be heated
to produce a given color
Contact
printing: the process of
placing a negative in contact with sensitized material, usually
paper, and them passing light through the negative onto the material.
The resulting image is the same size as the negative.
Contamination:
traces of chemicals that are present where they don’t belong, causing
loss of chemical activity, staining, or other problems
Continuous
tone: describes and imager
with a smooth gradation of tones from black through gray to white
Contrast:
the difference in darkness or density between one tone and another
Contrast
filter: a colored filter
used on a camera lens to lighten or darken selected colors in a
black-and-white photograph
Contrast
grade: the contrast that
a printing paper produces. Systems of grading contrast are not
uniform, but in general grades 0 and 1 have low or soft contrast;
grades 2 & 3 have normal or medium contrast; grades 4, 5 &
6 have hit or hard contrast
Contrasty:
describes a scene, negative, or print with very great differences
in brightness between light and dark areas. Opposite: flat
Correction
filter: a colored filter
used on a camera lens to make black-and-white film produce the same
relative brightnesses perceived by the human eye, i.e., a yellow
filter will darken the blue sky so that it does not appear excessively
light
Cut
film: see sheet
film
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