| Sync | Synchronization: the flash firing must syncronise with the shutter being open. Most cameras allow a maximum setting of 1/250th of a second |
| Swatches palette | Allows you to choose a foreground or background color and allows you to add or delete colors from the swatches library of colors. |
| S-Video Connectors | S-Jacks, S-Video Inputs & Outputs and Y/C connectors |
| S-Video | Analog video signal that carries the video data as two separate signals. |
| S-VHS-C | Small video cassettes for use with S-VHS –C camcorders |
| SVHS | Super VHS i.e. high band VHS. |
| Supplementary lens | additional elements that can be placed over a prime lens to alter focal length and angle of view |
| Super macro | Shots taken (at less than 1:1) with multiple extension rings, diopters, or teleconverters of extremely small subjects typically the size of a thumbnail |
| Sunburst | Optical phenomenon of distinct light rays observed underwater whilst looking up at the surface when the sun is out. A calm surface accentuates this effect. |
| Subtractive Colors | Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow |
| Stroke | Outlines the object on the current layer using color, a gradient, or a pattern. It is particularly useful on hard-edged shapes such as type. |
| Strobe | Electronic flash gun. |
| Storyboard | Series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence on paper |
| Stamp | Is best used with black-and-white images. The filter simplifies the image to appear stamped with a rubber or wood stamp. |
| Stainless Steel | An alloy of Iron, Chromium, Manganese, Silicon and Carbon (May also contain Nickel and Molybdenum). A4 stainless (AKA type 316) is completely resistant to seawater corrosion and is the preferred grade for marine applications. |
| Stack | Several photos grouped together in the Bridge workspace |
| sRGB | A standard color space used by digital cameras. |
| Spot Metering | Metering system that places importance on a small area center frame. Useful for taking a reading of a high contrast subject before recomposing. |
| speed rating | the speed rating for digital cameras depending on the sensor sensitivity, the sensor noise, and the appearance of the resulting image |
| Specular Reflection | Direct reflection, i.e. the glinting reflections from white and shiny objects which cause bleaching of the highlights in a photograph. Using a diffuse light source, i.e. a light source of large area, rather than a point source can reduce the problem. |
| Special Effects | The illusions used in a film. There are optical effects – fades, slow motion, etc and mechanical effects props, scenery, models etc. |
| SPDIF | Sony / Philips Digital Interface Format. Digital audio interface standard, for transferring audio signals between CD players and DAT machines, etc. without passing into the analog domain. |
| Solarize | Applies an effect that mimics the accidental exposure of photographic film to light. |
| snoot | a funnel shaped tube placed over the flash head to direct the light |
| Snells Window | Optical phenomenon of elliptical window underwater observed looking up at an angle to the surface caused by refraction. |
| Smart Object | Technology first introduced in Photoshop CS2 that maintains the original form of an embedded image but still allows it to be edited and enhanced. Smart Objects are used in many non-destructive editing or enhancement techniques |
| Smart Media | SmartMedia is a wafer thin medium for storing images into flash memory chips. This media has limited capacity (28MB). |
| Smart Filter | An extension of the Smart Object technology that allows the non-destructive application of Photoshop filters to an image |
| SLR | Single Lens Reflex Camera. A camera that uses a mirror to redirect the image projected onto the film into the viewfinder. The mirror flips out of the way when the button is pressed to take the picture. |
| Slow Sync | At night and in low light you get a much more attractive picture balanced with flash lit foreground subjects. |
| Slider | A sliding control in digital editing software used to adjust color, tone opacity, etc. |
| Slice | A slice is a rectangular area of an image that you can use to create links, rollovers, and animations in the resulting Web page. Dividing an image into slices lets you selectively optimize it for Web viewing. |
| Slave | A flash unit that is triggered to fire by the light output from another flash unit (the master flash). |
| Sketch filters | Filters in the Sketch submenu add texture to images, often for a 3D effect. The filters also are useful for creating a fine-arts or hand-drawn look. Many of the Sketch filters use the foreground and background color as they redraw the image. |
| Silhouette | Image that is back-lit, and appears dark against a lighter background. |
| Shutter Priority | (S) Exposure mode where the camera determines the optimum shutter speed for you. |
| Shutter Lag | The total time taken from pressing the shutter release to the shutter firing. This can be a significant delay for digital cameras and is possibly the major complaint that digital photographers have! |
| Shutter | The shutter is an integral part of all cameras. It opens to allow light through. The greater the range of shutter speeds a camera has the better. |
| Shot | A recorded scene |
| Shore Hardness | A hardness scale from 0 to 100 used to express the deformability of elastic materials (rubbers). Commonly available O-rings have a hardness of around 70sh. |
| Shoot | A production where a scene is recorded |
| Sharpening | Sharpening is an algorithm designed to enhance edge detail. |
| Sequence | A series of logical shots |
| Sensitivity | In a digital camera context sensitivity corresponds to film speed. |
| selection | a selected area that allows editing changes. Areas outside a selection are protected. Hold Shift to add, Option to subtract, Ctrl + D to deselect and Ctrl + I to invert |
| Secondary Colors | Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow |
| SECAM | Sequential Couleur avec Memoire The color television system used in France, French overseas territories (not Canada), and Russia. |
| Sealoc Connector | Also known as a Nelson connector. A 2 pin wet connector, i.e. a connector which can be pulled out and plugged in underwater. Used for flash synchronization on the Sea & Sea Motormarine Mk1. Also used as a telephone connector on fullface diving masks. |
| Sea And Sea Connector | A 4 pin waterproof connector used with the Sea & Sea TTL flash system. |
| SD | The SD Card is a highly sophisticated, highly secure memory device about the size of a postage stamp. |
| SCUBA | Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (as opposed to diving equipment supplied with air from the surface). |
| Screen frequency | refers to the resolution of half tone screens (the patterns of dots used in printing). |
| Screen direction | The direction that the action flows across the screen |
| scratch disk | When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Photoshop and ImageReady use a proprietary virtual memory technology, also called scratch disks. A scratch disk is any drive or a partition of a drive with free memory. By default, Photoshop and ImageReady use the hard drive that the operating system is installed on as its primary scratch disk. |
| Scene | Part of the action in a single location |
| Scart | Societé de Constructeurs d' Appareils Radio Recepteurs et Téléviseurs. A 21 pin interface connector for direct audio + video connection between TV and VCR, DVD, etc. Also known as a 'Péritel' or 'Euroconnector'. |
| Scale | A ratio of size |
| Saturation | the purity and strength of the color and is defined by the percentage of gray in the image (0 to 100 percent). Brightness is how light or dark a color is and is defined by a percentage (0 percent is black and 100 percent is white). |
| Satin | Applies shading to the interior of a layer that reacts to the shape of the layer, typically creating a satiny finish. |
| Sand Cast | The molten aluminum is poured into a sand mold to form the housing body |
| Sample | To select a color value for analysis or use |
| S video | Separated Video i.e. two signals in two cables, one being the video, blanking and synchronization, the other being the chrominance (color) signal. |
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