Evening star., 1950-03-26
Camera Angles
A Glossary of Photographic Terms
By Alexander J. Wedderb
Curotor Of Photography
The Smithsonian Institution

Curotor of
The Sn,ithse Or
Today we will resume our dis
cussion of Photographic terms
which. though used quite often by
the Photographic fraternity and
writer's on the subject, are not
always recognized by the begin
ner. Words such as "catchlight. y
"chalky," "blocked-up." ETC., are
read and heard in everyday dis
cussions. They should be instant
ly recognizable to those who take
camera work seriously.
You have probably heard a
photographer acquaintance. when
referring to a portrait shot. men,
ton the "catchlights" in the eyes
of the subject. He was calling
attention to the reflected light
appearing in the eyes from one or
more OF the light sources used to
take the picture. Without this re-
dection the eyes will appear dull
and lifeless. On the other hand
catchlights rejecting from more
than one source will give the eyes
an unnatural look. When taking
portrait with artificial light be
sure that only one set of catch
lights are reflected in the eyes OF
the sitter.
The terms "chalky" and "chalked-
up" are similar in usage. The
highlight areas of a picture are
said to be blocked-up when they
have been so overexposed as to
have little or no detail. Prints OF
extreme contrast without detail!
in the highlight areas are said tc
be chalky. Faults of this nature
are due to carelessness by the pho
tographer and can be prevented
by computing exposures with ar
exposure meter and using test
strips when printing.
A test strip" by the way, is
sheet of Photographic printing
paper which has been successfully
exposed for varying lengths OF
time to determine the most effec-
tive exposure for the particular
negative being used. This is a
common practice among even the
most experienced darkroom work
ers. In the long run it will save
much valuable printing paper
which might otherwise be wasted
in the making of unsuccessful
prints.
Enlargement Is a Blowup.
A contact print" differs from
an enlargement" as may be
guessed, only in size as compared
to the negative from which either
of the two may be made. A con-
tact print is made by placing the
printing paper and the negative
emulsion to emulsion and expos
ing the paper by Transmitted light.
This process is carried out with a
printing frame or with a contact
printer and produces print the
exact size of the negative. An
enlargement or "blowup," a.
some will have it, is simply an
enlarged version of the original
negative. 1t is made by placing
the negative in an enlargine
machine which does the job by
projecting the image on an ease
which contains the paper.
To crop" a print is to trim
off or eliminate certain portions
of the original picture to i'm.
prove the composition. This i:
usually done with masking slides
which are to be found on the en-
larger or contact printer. There
will be many instances when you
will discover that a portion of a
picture is better than the whole
In such a case you will use your
masking slides to crop out the
unwanted portion.
The emulsion" of the negative
or printing paper is the sensitized
side of the sheet. It is usually
composed of gelatin containing
light sensitive agents such as
silver halides. When loading
film holders it is important that
the emulsion side of the film be
facing out. The emulsion side OF
printing paper should face toward
the negative. Otherwise printing
through the back of the paper
will reveal the texture of the
paper in the finished print. When
grain or texture is desirable. some
photographers find it expedient
to print through the back of the
paper, although it reverses the
subject.
Contrasts in Paper.
A fiat" negative or print is
one which is lacking in tone con-
trast and having an overall gray
appearance. Once a film has
been developed and fixed there is
little that can be done to i'm
prove it. If you have reason to
suspect that a negative, normally
developed. will be fiat, increase
the development time for in
creased contrast. In the case of
prints, if correctly exposed and
processed in healthy solutions,
improvements can be had by
using a paper of higher degree
on contrast.
A surprising number of photog-
raphers still do not know what a
film pack" Is. It is a container
for sheet film. each sheet having
a numbered tab which is visible to
the cameraman. After an ex-
posure the tab is pulled. bringing
the next sheet into position for
exposure. The film pack is ad-
vantageous in that it is possible
for the photographer to take a
series of shots without changing
film holders. A number of mex
pensive cameras can be converted