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You are in: Home > Black's Photo Glossary

Black's Photo Glossary

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

CAPTURE
To take a picture. To press the shutter release. Synonym of shoot, snap, etc.
CATCHLIGHT
Reflection of a light source in a subject’s eyes. Portrait often place lights off-camera to create catchlights in the 10 or 2 o’clock position.
CCD
Abbreviation of CHARGED COUPLED DEVICE. A digital sensor that converts light into electrical current. When used in digital cameras, it is the electronic equivalent of film. See also CMOS, SENSOR.
CD-ROM
A compact disc that contains pre-recorded data.
CD-R/CD-RW
Respectively CD-Recordable and CD-Rewritable. A CD-R can store data or music but can only be recorded upon once. A CD-RW functions in the same way, but it can be erased and new data written onto it. CD-R/CD-RW discs can hold up to 800 MB of data or 74 minutes of music.
CLOSE-UP
A picture taken less than 2 or 3 feet away from the subject, and sometimes from a distance of only inches. See also MACRO.
CMOS
Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-Conductor. An analog sensor that converts light into digital information When used in digital cameras, it is the electronic equivalent of film. See also CCD, SENSOR.
CMYK
An abbreviation of the four colours used in traditional process printing and by inkjet printers: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK. (The K is used to avoid confusion with blue). Combining these four colours in varying degrees reproduces the entire visible spectrum. Some inkjet printers use a variation of CMYK which includes regular cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, as well as special photo-versions of cyan, magenta, and yellow.
COLOUR BALANCE
The accuracy with which a photograph reproduces colours. 2) The adjustment of colours to ensure improved accuracy.
COMPACT CAMERA
Often called point-and-shoot, a non-SLR camera designed for simple operation and having many automated functions.
COMPACT FLASH (CF)
A type of removable memory card used by digital cameras and other portable electronic devices. Compact flash cards come in a variety of sizes, starting at 32MB and going as high as 8GB. Other popular formats include SD, xD, Smart Media and Memory Sticks. See also MEMORY CARD.
COMPRESSION
Reduction of the size of digital image file to save storage space. There are two types of compression: lossless and lossy. Lossless compression reduces file size without throwing away any data. Lossy compression throws away non-critical or redundant data to achieve even greater savings in size. RAW and TIFF are lossless compression schemes. JPEG is a lossy compression scheme.
CONTACT SHEET
A printed sheet of reduced sized images used to verify/catalog digital photographs or rolls of film.
CONTINUOUS SHUTTER MODE
See BURST MODE.
CONTRAST
The difference between the lightest and the darkest areas of an image. The greater the difference, the higher the contrast.
CROPPING
Trimming away the unwanted parts of an image to reframe the wanted portion.


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