Key Photography Knowledge

White balance

The process of removing unrealistic colour casts in order for objects to appear white in person and rendered white in photos taken. It is a function on DSLR cameras in which people set to receive the most accurate colour on their image. People use tungsten white balance for this when shooting indoors, especially under incandescent light, such as bulb lighting. If photographing outdoors with tungsten light, a cool hue applies to the image captured in which the colours are not accurate, therefore, the white balance needs to be changed to receive the most accurate colour. In contrast, Daylight white balance is used under direct sunlight, so that it captures the correct colour in natural light.

Duratrans (short for Durable Transparency/ Backlit Transparencies)

A transparent material designed to be lit from behind, adding real depth and life to images and graphics printed on them. They are regarded as the benchmark in the graphics industry for its process, backlit graphic media and its translucent quality. Duratrans imagery print out in high quality, creating a clearer and sharper imagergy compared to digital prints. This appeals to every aspect of the retail industry. They are commonly used as ‘blue/green screens’ to create backgrounds that appear in movies or behind news presenters. They are also used as displays and signage for retail, education, advertisement and information purposes. 

Mega-pixel

A unit of measurement which represents one million pixels-those tiny dots of colour which make up an image.” [Casey, 2011]. The more pixels within the image taken by a digital camera, the higher the image resolution is. The “resolution relates primarily to print size and the amount of detail an image has when viewed on a computer monitor at 100%.” [Bjork, 2014]. The greater amount of mega pixels allows for a more refined image that results in a higher image replicate. 

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

A format for compressing images. It is often used on digital camera memory cards to compress 5% of the original data size. Once compressed, it loses few amounts of the original quality, which means, once it is compressed and saved, its original quality cannot be retrieved. Furthermore, this compression technique is designed to transfer small files without the need for full recoverability, which creates convenience.

Compact flash card

A memory card used to store mass amounts of data to transfer the data onto portable electronic devices. It uses flash memory to mainly store pictures in digital cameras and portable music players.  

Difference between Display print and display transparencies

The difference between display print and display transparencies is the material the visual information is printed on. Display prints are printed onto materials that are not translucent and cannot see through it. Some materials include canvases and regular photographic paper. Display transparencies, on the other hand, are often printed onto film, so that light will be able to pass through the transparent material to give the image a more three-dimensional look.