Browse the dictionary
840 terms · page 31 of 35
Solarisation
A partial tonal reversal produced by briefly exposing a print or negative to light part-way through development.
Colour & Colour ManagementSpectral Power Distribution
A plot of how much energy a light source emits at each wavelength across the visible spectrum.
Colour & Colour ManagementSpectrophotometer
An instrument that measures the full spectral reflectance or emission of a sample, allowing both displays and printed materials to be…
Lighting & FlashSpecular Highlight
A mirror-like reflection of the light source itself on a glossy surface, rather than light diffusely scattered by it.
Lighting & FlashSpeedlight
A small, portable, battery-powered flash designed to sit on a camera's hot shoe or a light stand.
Optics, Lenses & FiltersSpherical Aberration
A softening caused by rays passing through the outer zones of a spherical lens surface focusing nearer than those through the centre.
Lighting & FlashSplit Lighting
A portrait pattern in which the key comes from directly to one side, lighting exactly half the face and leaving the other in shadow.
Colour & Colour ManagementSplit Toning
Applying one colour tint to the highlights and a different one to the shadows.
Film, Darkroom & Historic ProcessesSplit-grade Printing
Exposing a variable-contrast print twice, once through a soft filter and once through a hard one, to control highlights and shadows…
Focus & Depth of FieldSplit-image Screen
A focusing screen with a central circle divided in two, whose halves align only when the subject is in focus.
Genres, Movements & TheorySports Photography
Photography of athletic competition, capturing peak action, effort and outcome.
Exposure & MeteringSpot Metering
A metering pattern that reads only a small circle, usually one to three per cent of the frame, ignoring everything around it.
Post-Processing & RetouchingSpot Removal
A raw-processing tool for eliminating sensor dust marks and small blemishes non-destructively.
Colour & Colour ManagementsRGB
The standard colour space of the web, most consumer displays and untagged images, with a relatively small gamut.
Sensors & Digital CaptureStacked Sensor
A design in which the sensor is bonded directly to a separate processing and memory layer beneath it.
Genres, Movements & TheoryStaged Photography
Photography in which the scene is deliberately constructed and performed for the camera.
Film, Darkroom & Historic ProcessesStand Development
A technique using very dilute developer and almost no agitation over a long period, typically an hour.
Optics, Lenses & FiltersStandard Lens
A lens whose focal length roughly equals the diagonal of the format, rendering perspective close to unaided human vision.
Files, Metadata & WorkflowStar Rating
A one-to-five scale applied during culling to mark an image's quality or priority.
Motion, Video & Creative TechniquesStar Tracker
A motorised mount that rotates the camera to match the Earth's rotation, allowing long exposures without star trailing.
Motion, Video & Creative TechniquesStar Trails
Arcs traced by stars across the frame as the Earth rotates during a very long exposure or a stacked sequence.
Motion, Video & Creative TechniquesSteadicam
A mechanical stabilising system that isolates the camera from the operator's movement using a counterweighted arm and vest.
Genres, Movements & TheoryStill Life Photography
Photography of inanimate objects arranged deliberately by the photographer.
Printing, Display & OutputStochastic Screening
A halftoning method using dots of fixed size distributed in a randomised pattern rather than a regular grid.