Photography terms starting with C

Content-aware Fill Post-Processing & Retouching A tool that removes a selected area and synthesises a replacement from surrounding image content.

Continuous Lighting Lighting & Flash lux, W Lighting that stays on constantly rather than firing a brief burst, so its effect is visible before exposure.

Continuous-servo Autofocus Focus & Depth of Field An autofocus mode, marked AF-C or AI Servo, that keeps adjusting focus for as long as the button is held.

Contrast Adjustment Post-Processing & Retouching % A control that increases or decreases the difference between light and dark tones across the whole image.

Contrast Index Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes CI A measure of the average slope of a film's characteristic curve over the range actually used in practice.

Contrast-detection Autofocus Focus & Depth of Field A focusing method that drives the lens back and forth, measuring image contrast, and settles at the point of maximum contrast.

Converging Verticals Composition & Visual Design The apparent leaning-together of vertical lines when the camera is tilted up or down.

Copyright Metadata Files, Metadata & Workflow The metadata fields asserting authorship, copyright status and usage terms for an image.

Cotton Rag Paper Printing, Display & Output g/m² Paper made entirely from cotton fibre, with no wood pulp, giving high permanence and a soft matte surface.

Crop Factor Cameras, Formats & Systems × multiplier The ratio between a sensor's diagonal and that of full frame, used to convert focal lengths into their full-frame equivalents. Crop factor = 43.3 mm / sensor diagonal

Cropping Composition & Visual Design % Removing part of an image after capture to change its framing, proportion or emphasis.

Cross-processing Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes Deliberately developing film in chemistry intended for a different process, producing extreme colour and contrast shifts.

Cross-type AF Point Focus & Depth of Field count A phase-detection point sensitive to detail running in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Crushed Blacks Exposure & Metering Shadow areas pushed to pure black so that separation between dark tones is lost.

CTO Gel Lighting & Flash fraction (¼, ½, full CTO) A colour temperature orange gel that warms a daylight-balanced source to match tungsten light.

Culling Files, Metadata & Workflow % The process of reviewing a shoot and selecting which frames are worth keeping and editing.

Curves Post-Processing & Retouching levels A tonal adjustment that maps input brightness values to output values along a freely shaped line. Output = f(Input)

Custom White Balance Colour & Colour Management K and tint Setting white balance by photographing a known neutral target under the actual light and telling the camera to treat it as neutral.

Cyanotype Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes An iron-based printing process producing images in Prussian blue, developed simply by washing in water.

Terms starting with C