Evening star., 1950-10-08
Camera Angles
Photographic Terms Commonly Used

If you want to get the most
from your reading of Photographic
books and magazines it is impera-
tive that you have an understand
ing of photographers cant or
jargon. Listed here are a few of
the terms and phrases that are
most commonly encountered in
discussions dealing with problems
of photography.
You often hear of and read
about "gadgets" or accessories.
This broad reference applies to
articles of Photographic equip
ment that are normally not COM
ponent parts of your camera.
Gadgets, or accessories include
extra lenses, filters, fash-guns,
lens shades, exposure meters, tri-
pods and other items that aid the
photographer in his efforts to take
good pictures.
An "accelerator" is chemical
substance which is added to the
developer formula to speed up de-
velopment time. Sodium carbon
ate. potassium carbonate, potas-
SUM hydroxide and borax are
several used accelerators.
Soup Has Meaning.
When photographer refers to
bath" or soup" he means one
Of the chemical solutions that are
used in processing films or prints.
A bath could be developer,
short-stop or fixing solution or a
toner. On the other hand soup"
is generally recognized as al
pseudonym for developer.
A "one-shot camera" is an in
strument used. mostly by profess
sionals. to make three color sepa-
ration negatives simultaneously.
The camera exposes three separate
monochrome films by means of
mirrors which are'later used with
appropriate filters to make color
prints. Your regular camera uses
another principal and records the
image on Aim which later comes
back to you as color trans
parency.
A caption" should accompany
every shot that you take for pur-
poses Of Identification. This is par
ticularly important If you plan to
sell your pictures. A caption
should contain all the important
facts relating to the picture such
as names, dates. places, reason for
taking, etc. You will be surprised
to know how helpful captions are
even when the pictures are des-
tined only for your own files. It is
so easy to forget names. dates, and
places with the passage of time
that just few words jotted down
at the time the picture is taken
and later attached to the print
will be of great service to you in
years to come.
Changing Bag for Loading.
If you own a camera that uses
cut film. you viii >likely discover
that changing bag" will be
welcome accessory. Most of us
are limited to about six film hold
ers and there are often times
when away from home and the
darkroom we need to unload and
reload the holders. The changing
bag will enable you to do this in
daylight without danger of fog
ging the film. 1t is a light-tight
bag of Opaque cloth with openings
for the hands. Elastic bands in
these openings prevent light from
leaking into the bag which will
hold the film holders and film
boxes.
A documentary photograph" Is
one that shows an object or scene
exactly as it is. This is in con-
trast to other types of pictures
that are intended to convey an
impression or a mood. News shots
are typical documentary type
pictures. Documentary pictures
should be strictly factual pre-
oclltdtlOll Vi Tile SUBJECT.
1t is important to know the
covering power" of a lens that
you contemplate using with your
camera. The covering power of a
lens is its ability to cover the en-
tire area of a film of given size
with well-defined image of true
perspective and with uniform il
Elimination over the entire film
area. Every lens made is made
to cover a film of a given area
and will not produce satisfactorily
If used on a film of larger area.
The correct focal length for the
lens for given film size may be
determined by measuring the di-
agonal of the negative and select
ing a lens with a focal length in
the corresponding number of
inches. For example. if your
negative size is 3Ax4A inches,
it's diagonal measurement will be
5 inches. Therefore the focal
length of the lens to be used
should be inches.
Soft Focus Results.
A soft focus image" is one that
is not entirely sharp. The diffu-
sion is obtained by use of special
soft-focus lenses that are made
primarily for portraiture. Unless
you do much portrait work that
requires such a lens it is advisable
to do what diffusing you will need
when making a print. A diffusing
screen for printing is much
cheaper and more practical for
the average amateur.
To crop" a print is to remove
or trim off unwanted portions of
Foto-Cruft Club /