A Glossary of Photographic Terms: C

"C"-Format

"Classic" format - one of the three selectable Advanced Photo System print formats; identical to the 2:3 aspect ratio used in 35 mm photography and suitable for most general-purpose shots. See also Aspect Ratio and Interspersed Aspect Ratio, "H"-format and "P"-format.

Camera Angles

Various positions of the camera (high, medium, or low; and left, right, or straight on) with respect to the subject, each giving a different viewpoint or effect.

Candid Pictures

Unposed pictures of people, often taken without the subject's knowledge. These usually appear more natural and relaxed than posed pictures.

Photographer: Virgilio Arturo Garcia Ruiz KINSA/KODAK Photo Contest Film: KODAK GOLD 100 Film Size: 35 mm

Cartridge

A lighttight, factory-loaded film container that can be placed in and removed from the camera in daylight.

Cassette

Elliptically shaped film cassette designed especially for the Advanced Photo System that serves as the sealed, leaderless container for all System film whether unexposed, exposed or processed. See also Film Status Indicators and NRIC.

Clearing Agent

A chemical that neutralizes hypo in film or paper, reducing wash time and helping to provide a more stable image.

Close-Up

A picture taken with the subject close to the camera-usually less than two or three feet away, but it can be as close as a few inches.

Photographer: Gary Whelpley Film: KODAK EKTACHROME ELITE 100 Film Size: 35 mm

Close-Up Lens

A lens attachment placed in front of a camera lens to permit taking pictures at a closer distance than the camera lens alone will allow.

Coated Lens

A lens covered with a very thin layer of transparent material that reduces the amount of light reflected by the surface of the lens. A coated lens is faster (transmits more light) than an uncoated lens.

"Cobra" Flash

Kodak's patented flip-up flash mechanism that creates distance between the flash and the lens to reduce red-eye; flash is located on the end of hinged lever that covers the lens when closed, and flips up to switch on the camera and deploy the flash. Also called Flip-up Flash.

Color Balance

How a color film reproduces the colors of a scene. Color films are made to be exposed by light of a certain color quality such as daylight or tungsten. Color balance also refers to the reproduction of colors in color prints, which can be altered during the printing process.

Color Noise

Better known as chrominance signal-to-noise ratio. A measure of how accurately the color signals are reproduced. Poor chroma signal-to-noise ratios are evidenced in color fringing on edges of objects and what appears to be thousands of moving dots in large areas of highly saturated colors (especially red).

Color Output

The playback output level of the color (chrominance) signal after it is separated from the luminence signal. As with RF output, a low performing tape can lose color resolution due to increased percentage of noise.

Composition

The pleasing arrangement of the elements within a scene-the main subject, the foreground and background, and supporting subjects.

Condenser Enlarger

An enlarger with a sharp, undiffused light that produces high contrast and high definition in a print. Scratches and blemishes in the negative are emphasized.

Contact Print

A print made by exposing photographic paper while it is held tightly against the negative. Images in the print will be the same size as those in the negative.

Contrast

The range of difference in the light to dark areas of a negative, print, or slide (also called density); the brightness range of a subject or the scene lighting.

Contact Printer

A device used for contact-printing that consists of a lighttight box with an internal light source and a printing frame to position the negative against the photographic paper in front of the light.

Contrast Grade

Numbers (usually 1-5) and names (soft, medium, hard, extra-hard, and ultrahard) of the contrast grades of photographic papers, to enable you to get good prints from negatives of different contrasts. Use a low-numbered or soft contrast paper with a high contrast negative to get a print that most closely resembles the original scene. Use a high-numbered or an extra-hard paper with a low-contrast negative to get a normal contrast paper.

Contrasty

Higher-than-normal contrast including very bright and dark areas. The range of density in a negative or print is higher than it was in the original scene.

Cropping

Printing only part of the image that is in the negative or slide, usually for a more pleasing composition. May also refer to the framing of the scene in the viewfinder.

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