| This is an ever-evolving glossary of photography related terms. They range from terms involved at the front end of, as Chris Ogden would say, "making" (not "taking") fine art photos, all the way through to Printing Fine Art Photos (ie, ways of bringing the photographer's artistic vision to life via a tangible print). Whether the photography type is stunning landscapes, intriquing abstracts, edgy man vs. nature, or more traditional corporate, commercial, and portraiture - there's something here for most everyone. We've tried to include content to appeal to other photographers (regardless of if you're shooting with a camera phone, a consumer point and click, a pro 35mm DSLR such as Canon 1dS Mark II, digital medium format, etc.) or collectors of Fine Art! |
| Chromogenic Print | A print made on photo-sensitive paper in a chemical darkroom (traditional or digital) involving three emulsion layers of silver salts sensitized to one of three colors (red, green, or blue). Unlike a dye-destruction print (see cibachrome), the dyes are not contained within each layer prior to exposure, but are made during the developing process by adding dye couplers which join the silver particles to produce the colors. The result is a color image formed by the three emulsion layers against a white background. Chromogenic prints are also known as Ektacolor prints, color coupler color prints, or Type-C prints. (with thanks to the Aperture Foundation) |
| Cibachrome Print | Also known as dye-destruction and dye-bleach prints. Noted for their vibrant color, brilliant clarity, and ability to resist fading, this positive-to-positive (transparency to print) process involves the use of enlarging paper that contains all of the dyes that compose the finished color print in three layers. During processing, using a conventional black-and-white developer, an acid bleach bath, and a fixer, dye elements in the colors not contained in the original transparency are removed, resulting in a full color image formed by the remaining dyes. Cibachrome (now Ilfochrome) is the trade name originally given to this printing process by Ilford/Ciba-Geigy in the 1950s. (with thanks to the Aperture Foundation)
|
| Color Managed Workflow | A color managed workflow consists of matching the colors from when they seen and captured by the photographer through to their genesis in the printed form via their final medium (eg, paper, canvas, etc.). Color management can be very difficult because the various devices in each step of the process display color in different ways (ie, reflected light vs. generated light) and with different abilities (ie, the amount and types of colors the human eye can resolve are different from that of a given brand of camera, scanner, monitor, printer, paper, ink, framing system, and even viewing light!
There are many (expensive) tools to help achieve consistency of color throughout the steps. Many books have been written on the subject. There are career professionals who do nothing other than color management and consulting. There are professionals who teach color management (such as Chris Ogden). |
Glossary 
