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Glite Dictionary
photoflood

photoflood

8.6
A lamp that gives very bright light for taking photos or filming
  • noun
  • /ˈfoʊtoʊflʌd/
translation icon : fotoflood
  • Do not use photofloods as your light source without an appropriate filter; the results will be cold or blue.

Examples

  • For better results, replace standard bulbs with photofloods when shooting in low light.

  • Tabletops with photofloods: film/light combinations

    Academic text (1993)

  • Tabletops with controlled photofloods; film/light combinations

    Academic text (1993)

  • He was naked to the waist, and his skin glistened beneath the heat of the photofloods, the thin wisps of hair that formed a line from his chest to his navel damp with his sweat.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The photographer used a photoflood to illuminate the subject for a clearer shot.

  • Using photofloods helps achieve bright and vivid colors in indoor photography.

Synonyms

flood
vsphotoflood
  • Specialized
9 6.3

A bright lamp with a wide beam used to light a stage or set

is more intense and designed to give a very strong beam for photography
floodlight
vsphotoflood
9 3.4

A very bright light that shines over a large area, like a stadium

is aimed at intense controlled light for photography and filming rather than wide areas
flood lamp
vsphotoflood
3.7

A very bright light that shines over a wide area at night

is specialised for intense photography and filming use rather than general area lighting

Surface Forms

photoflood singular
photofloods plural

Morphology

photoflood = flood (semi-transparent) = photo + flood

The word is built from the combining form photo- and flood, but the specialized lamp sense is only partly predictable from these components.

Etymology

The word photoflood comes from photo- ('light') and flood ('a large flow'), so imagine a 'flood' of light. The photo- part is the same as in photograph, and a photoflood is a lamp that gives a very strong, wide beam of light for photos and film.