fluorescent paint paints with a particularly luminous quality, especially after being exposed to ultraviolet light; Day-Glo.
French curve a scroll-like, plastic template used as a guide for ruling curves.
highliner a long-bristled, square-ended brush used for lettering and striping.
lay figure a jointed mannequin that substitutes for a human model in art study.
lettering brush a wide, square-ended brush made of red sable, camel hair, or ox hair and used for lettering or making clean lines.
mahlstick a short rod used by a painter to steady his hand or brush while executing delicate detail work.
mop a large camel hair brush used with watercolors.
mordant an acid mixture used in producing etchings.
oil colors pigments that have been ground with oil.
painting knives a family of thin, flexible knives used in painting and preferred by some artists over brushes.
palette an oval board or tablet with a hand grip and thumb hole, on which a painter lays out and mixes paints.
palette knife a spatulalike knife used to mix oil paints.
panel a wood or wallboard panel sometimes used instead of a canvas for painting on.
pantograph an adjustable hinged-arm device used to trace, reduce or enlarge a drawing.
papier-mache a mixture of paper pulp and glue that can be molded into various shapes and painted when dried.
pastel a colored crayon made of pigment and chalk. Also known as pastille.
pate the clay from which ceramic pottery is formed.
potter's wheel a turntable on which pottery is formed.
pounce a powder made from charcoal or chalk used to transfer a drawing from one surface to another.
rigger a narrow, lettering brush.
single-stroke brush a broad brush used for creating broad washes with watercolors.
spatula a large painting knife used for mixing and stirring.
spotting brush a fine, red sable brush with a small point, used to retouch photos and lithographs.
stenciling brush a short, stiff, flat-ended brush used in stenciling.
striper a brush used for making delicate lines and stripes.
stump a cigar-shaped drawing tool made of rolled chamois or paper, used for making smudges and smoothing out tones.
taboret an artist's cabinet table for tools and materials.
tempera pigment dispersed in an emulsion of egg yolk and water.
tessera a small piece of tile, glass, or stone used in creating a mosaic.
turning tools a family of spatulalike tools used to shape clay on a potter's wheel.
wash brush any broad brush used to paint washes with watercolors.
watercolors pigments dispersed in water instead of oils, characterized by a transparent quality.
photography
airbush a lab technique of creating or eliminating tone effects in a photo.
anaglyph a three-dimensional photo effect composed of a slightly contrasting dual image.
aperture the amount of opening in a lens; it controls the amount of light entering the camera.
artifact in digital images, an image distortion.
backlight to illuminate a subject from behind.
barrel distortion an aberration in a camera lens that causes abnormal curvature of square images in a photo.
beam combiner a two-way mirror that reflects light, allowing photos to be taken of the real and reflected image simultaneously.
blowback the reenlargement to the original size of a reduced photo.
blowup an enlargement of a photo.
bounce light a flash pointed at the ceiling or wall to reflect light onto the subject.
bugeye see fisheye.
burn to expose a negative to light to retouch an area or to remove areas.
card in a digital camera, an electronic memory chip for storing images.
CCD charged-coupled device. A light-sensitive device that converts light images into electronic signals to form digital pictures, used in cameras, scanners, copiers, and camcorders.
changing bag a black bag in which 35 mm film magazines can be loaded or unloaded in daylight; used when a camera jams.
close down to reduce the opening of the camera lens by increasing the depth of field.
color transparencies another name for color slides.
computer enhancement the use of a computer to bring out fine or hazy details in a photograph.
contre jour to take photos with a light source directly facing the camera.
courtesy line the name of the photographer or other source that appears under a photo published in a newspaper, magazine, or book.
crop to trim a portion of a photo.
depth of field the in-focus portion of an image from the closest object to the furthest; the range of sharp focus through a camera lens.
double exposure a dual-image photo of two subjects.
duotone a photo printed in two colors.
84 Charlie military slang for a combat photographer.
enlarger an apparatus that projects an enlarged image of a negative on light-sensitive paper to produce a larger photo.
enlarging paper paper used for printing enlarged images.
expose to admit light.
f short for focal length. See f-stop.
fast of a film, more sensitive to light than other (slow) film. Also, of a lens, allowing more light to enter the camera than others.
film speed film sensitivity to light. Fast film is more sensitive to light and is used in low-light situations; slow film is less sensitive to light and is used in bright, clear weather.
filter one of a variety of special lenses placed over the main lens to produce a number of color, light, or special effects.
fisheye a wide-angle (providing 180-degree view) lens, noted for the distorted circular image it produces. Also known as a bugeye.
fixer the chemical solution used to complete the development of a photo.
flat a photo having dull contrast.
focal length the distance between a point in the lens and the film when the lens is focused at infinity.
focal plane at the back of the camera, the area where the image is focused on the film.
fog filter a special-effects filter used to produce a foggy or hazy effect in a photograph.
f-stop a lens aperture setting; the higher the f-stop number the more the aperture is reduced.
glossy a photo having a glossy or smooth finish.
halftone a photo having varying tones of gray.
high hat a short tripod used for making low-angle shots.
hot shoe the receptacle or holder for a camera flash unit.
infinity through a camera lens, any distance at which the subject is a few hundred feet away or more.
iris diaphragm the opening and closing device that regulates the amount of light entering the lens aperture.
light meter a device that measures light to determine proper camera settings. Also known as an exposure meter.