Photography terms starting with P

Photographic Ethics Genres, Movements & Theory The body of principles governing how photographers treat subjects, audiences and the truthfulness of their images.

Photographic Paper Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes g/m² Paper coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, used to make prints from negatives.

Photographic Series Genres, Movements & Theory count A set of images made to a consistent rule or format, where the repetition itself carries meaning.

Photographic Truth Genres, Movements & Theory The contested assumption that a photograph is a reliable record of what was in front of the camera.

Photojournalism Genres, Movements & Theory Photography made to report news, bound by professional standards of accuracy and non-interference.

Photomicrography Motion, Video & Creative Techniques × magnification Photography through a microscope, recording subjects at magnifications far beyond macro.

Photosite Sensors & Digital Capture µm A single light-collecting element on a sensor, corresponding to one pixel in the final image.

Pick Flag Files, Metadata & Workflow A binary marker used during a first culling pass to separate keepers from rejects.

Pictorialism Genres, Movements & Theory A movement from the 1880s to the 1910s that sought recognition for photography as art by imitating painting and printmaking.

Pigment Ink Printing, Display & Output Ink in which the colourant is solid particles suspended in a carrier, sitting on the paper surface rather than dissolving into it.

Pincushion Distortion Optics, Lenses & Filters % A geometric distortion in which straight lines bend inward toward the centre, pinching the frame corners outward.

Pinhole Camera Cameras, Formats & Systems mm A lensless camera that forms an image through a tiny aperture, giving infinite depth of field and extremely long exposures. d = √(2 × λ × f)

Pixel Binning Sensors & Digital Capture × (2×2, 4×4) Combining the signal from several adjacent photosites into one output pixel to improve signal-to-noise ratio. SNR gain ≈ √n

Pixel Dimensions Files, Metadata & Workflow px The width and height of an image measured in pixels, which is its only fixed measure of size. Total pixels = width × height

Pixel Pitch Sensors & Digital Capture µm The centre-to-centre distance between adjacent photosites on a sensor. Pitch = sensor width / horizontal pixels

Pixel Shift Multi-shot Sensors & Digital Capture count (4, 8, 16 frames) A mode that moves the sensor by precise sub-pixel amounts between exposures and combines the frames into one higher-quality image.

Plane of Focus Focus & Depth of Field m The flat surface, parallel to the sensor, at which the subject is rendered with maximum sharpness.

Platinum Print Film, Darkroom & Historic Processes A contact printing process using platinum or palladium salts, giving an exceptionally long tonal scale and great permanence.

PNG Files, Metadata & Workflow MB A lossless format with transparency support, designed for graphics and screen use rather than photographic delivery.

Point of View Composition & Visual Design The position from which a photograph is taken, encompassing height, angle, distance and orientation.

Portraiture Genres, Movements & Theory Photography whose subject is a person, aiming to convey something of their character, role or presence.

Positive Space Composition & Visual Design The area of the frame occupied by the subject itself.

Post-crop Vignette Post-Processing & Retouching stops A deliberate darkening or lightening of the frame edges, applied relative to the cropped boundaries rather than the original ones.

Postmodern Appropriation Genres, Movements & Theory An artistic strategy of rephotographing or reusing existing images to question authorship, originality and the circulation of pictures.

Terms starting with P