Kicker.A backlight (a light coming from behind the
subject) that highlights the hair, side of the face or con-
tour of the body.
Lead-in line.In compositions, a pleasing line in the
scene that leads the viewer’s eye toward the main subject.
Lens circle.The circle of coverage; the area of focused
light rays falling on the film plane or digital imaging chip.
Levels.In Photoshop, Levels allows you to correct the
tonal range and color balance of an image. In the Levels
window, Input refers to the original intensity values of
the pixels in an image and Output refers to the revised
color values based on your adjustments.
Lighting ratio.The difference in intensity between
the highlight side of the face and the shadow side of the
face. A 3:1 ratio implies that the highlight side is three
times brighter than the shadow side of the face.
Loop lighting.A portrait lighting pattern character-
ized by a loop-like shadow on the shadow side of the sub-
ject’s face. Differs from paramount or butterfly lighting
because the main light is slightly lower and farther to the
side of the subject.
Lossless format.Describes file formats without image
compression. A lossless format, means that the file can be
saved again and again without degradation.
Lossy format.Describes JPEG and some TIFF for-
mats where file compression occurs. Lossy files suffer
from degradation by repeated opening and closing.
Low-key lighting.Type of lighting characterized by
a high lighting ratio and strong scene contrast as well as
a predominance of dark tones.
Main light.Synonymous with main light.
Matte box.A front-lens accessory with retractable
bellows that holds filters, masks and vignettes for modi-
fying the image.
Metadata.Text “tags” that accompany the digital
files. Data often includes date, time, camera settings, cap-
tion info, copyright symbol, and even GPS information.
Metadata is accessible in Photoshop by going to File>File
Info>EXIF data.
Microdrive.Storage medium for portable electronic
devices using the CF Type II industry standard. Current
Microdrive capacities range from 340MB to 1GB of stor-
age. The benefit of a Microdrive is high storage capacity
at low cost. The downside is the susceptibility to shock.
bumping or dropping a Microdrive has been known to
lead to data loss.
Modeling light.A secondary light mounted in the
center of a studio flash head that gives a close approxi-
mation of the lighting that the flash tube will produce.
Usually high intensity, low-heat output quartz bulbs.
Overlighting.When the main light is either too close
to the subject, or too intense and oversaturates the skin
with light, making it impossible to record detail in high-
lighted areas. Best corrected by feathering the light or
moving it back.
Noise.Noise is a condition, not unlike excessive grain,
that happens when stray electronic information affects the
image sensor sites. It is made worse by heat and long ex-
posures. Noise shows up more in dark areas making
evening and night photography problematic with digital
capture.
Optimum lens aperture.The aperture on a lens that
produces the sharpest image. It is usually two stops down
from the widest aperture. If the lens is an f/2.8 lens, for
example, the optimum aperture would be f/5.6.
Parabolic reflector.Oval-shaped dish that houses a
light and directs its beam outward in an even, controlled
manner.
Paramount lighting.One of the basic portrait light-
ing patterns, characterized by a high main light placed
directly in line with the line of the subject’s nose. This
lighting produces a butterfly-like shadow under the nose.
Also called butterfly lighting.
Perspective.The appearance of objects in a scene as
determined by their relative distance and position.
PSD.Photoshop file format (PSD) is the default file
format and the only format that supports all Photoshop
features. The PSD format saves all image layers created
within the file.
RAW.A file format, which uses lossless compression
algorithms to record picture data as is from the sensor,
without applying any in-camera corrections. In order to
use images recorded in the RAW format, files must first
be processed by compatible software. RAW processing
includes the option to adjust exposure, white balance and
the color of the image, all the while leaving the original
RAW picture data unchanged.
Reflected light meter.Measures the amount of light
reflected from a surface or scene. All in-camera meters
are of the reflected type.
Reflector.(1) Same as fill card. (2) A housing on a
light that reflects the light outward in a controlled beam.GLOSSARY 117