In
photography
Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...
, a negative is an
image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...
, usually on a strip or sheet of transparent
plastic film, in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. This reversed order occurs because the extremely light-sensitive chemicals a camera film must use to capture an image quickly enough for ordinary picture-taking are darkened, rather than bleached, by exposure to light and subsequent
photographic processing.
In the case of
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...
negatives, the colors are also reversed into their respective
complementary colors. Typical color negatives have an overall dull orange tint due to an automatic color-masking feature that ultimately results in improved color reproduction.
Negatives are normally used to make positive prints on photographic paper by projecting the negative onto the paper with a
photographic enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies.
Construction
All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thoug ...
or making a
contact print. The paper is also darkened in proportion to its
exposure
Exposure or Exposures may refer to:
People
* The Exposures, a pseudonym for German electronic musician Jan Jeline
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Exposure'' (film), a 1932 American film
* ''Exposure'', another name for the 1991 movie ...
to light, so a second reversal results which restores light and dark to their normal order.
Negatives were once commonly made
on a thin sheet of glass rather than a plastic film, and
some of the earliest negatives were made on paper.
It is incorrect to call an image a negative solely because it is on a transpare