Glossary

P

Pan:   To follow the motion of a moving object to look sharp and the background blurred.

Panchromatic:  Film that is sensitive to all (or almost all) wavelengths of the visible spectrum.  Abbreviated pan.

Parallax:  The difference in point of view that occurs when a lens (or other device) from which the eye views scene is separate from the lens that exposes the film.

PC connecter:  See sync cord.

PC terminal:  The socket on a camera or flash unit in which a PC connector (sync cord) is inserted.

Perspective:  The apparent size and depth of objects within an image.

Photoflood:  An incandescent light that produces very bright light but has a relatively short life.

Photogram:  An image produced by placing material directly onto a sheet of sensitized film or printing paper and then exposing the sheet to light.

Photomontage:  A composite image that is made by cutting out and assembling parts of several photographs.

Pinhole:  1.)  A small clear spot on a negative, usually caused by dust on the film during exposure or development or a small air bubble that keeps developer from the film during development.  2.) The tiny opening in a pinhole camera that produces the image.

Plane of critical focus:  The part of a scene that is most sharply focused.

Plate:  In early photographic processes, the sheet of glass or metal on which emulsion was coated.

Platinum print:  A film in which the final image is formed in platinum rather than silver.

Polarizing filter:  A filter that reduces reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as glass or water by blocking light waves that are vibrating at selected angles of the filter.

Positive:  Any image with tones corresponding to those of the subject.  Opposite:  negative.

Posterization:  An image with a flat, poster-like quality.  High contrast lith film is used to separate gray tones of a negative into a few distinct shades of gray.

Presoak:  To soak film briefly in water prior to immersing it in developer.

Press camera:  A camera that uses sheet film, like a view camera, but which is equipped with a viewfinder and a hand grip so it can be used without being mounted on a tripod.  Once widely used by press photographers, it has been replaced by 35mm cameras.

Primary colors:  Basic colors from which all other colors can be mixed. See also: subtractive, additive

Print:  A photographic image, usually a positive one on paper.

Printing frame:  A holder designed to keep sensitized material, usually paper, in full contact with a negative during contact printing.

Programmed automatic:  A mode of automatic exposure in which the camera sets both the shutter speed and the aperture that will produce the correct exposure.

Projection printing:  The process of projecting an image of a negative onto sensitized material, usually paper.  The image may be projected to any size, usually larger than the negative. 

Projector:  An optical instrument for forming an enlarged image of a transparency or a motion picture on a screen.

Proof:  A test print made for the purpose of evaluating density, contrast, color balance, subject composition and the like.

Push:  To expose film at a higher film speed rating than normal, then to compensate in part for the underexposure by giving greater development than normal.  This permits shooting at a dimmer light level, a faster shutter speed, or a smaller aperture than would otherwise be possible.

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