Book Description
This comprehensive guide takes readers step-by-step through the thought processes and technical procedures involved in producing high-quality black and white photographs.
Les McLean starts by explaining the technicalities of the art and, more importantly, how to overcome the technical limitations of cameras and film. He details the simple tests and tricks of the trade that will allow readers to achieve the images they want; all are explained simply and clearly, and backed up by specially commissioned photographs.
McLean also provides invaluable information on developing and printing photographs, along with a detailed look at some of his all-time favorite images. He explains from start to finish how each was created, and elaborates on such details as the mood and effect that he wanted, the technicalities of taking the shots, and how each image was printed and manipulated in the darkroom.
A final chapter on digital black and white photography illustrates how to combine silver halide and digital to the best effect, and the pros and cons of digital printing.
Les McLean writes regular columns on black and white photography for Practical Photography magazine and Photovision. He also lectures at shows and colleges for companies such as Ilford and Calumet International.
Customer Reviews:
Outdated.......2006-05-27
This book would be okay if I still used film, which I don't. The author barely touches on digital and the information on the subject is way out of date.
Good Book for B&W Film Shooters.......2006-05-15
This is a very good book for black and white film shooters, but the information on digital is not current. This is a problem with many older photography books in a digital age. Since I no longer use film, information on developing and printing is no longer applicable to me.
I like the author's photographs very much and was able to get a lot of good ideas from his work.
Pretty Good for the Nature Photographer.......2006-05-12
I found this to be a pretty good book for nature and landscape photography. The cover is very misleading. It is a wonderful cover photo and I expected to see a lot more people pictures of that quality inside the book. There is much more weight given to scenics.
The information on manipulating the black and white image is well presented.
Good Information, But Somewhat Outdated.......2006-05-04
This book is very well written and contains numerous good ideas about making a good black and white picture. Unfortunately, with the changes in technology and digital imaging, the book is now outdated. I hope the author has the opportunity to rewrite this book to encomapss digital technology.
Creative Black and White Photography.......2002-12-17
Les McLean has produced a wonderful book to inspire darkroom and lightroom black and white printers of every ability. He is a great photographer and master printer who is happy to share the secrets of his trade with the rest of us.
McLean is an ex Geordie miner and rock and roll player who has spent 30 years honing his skill becoming one of the foremost black and white printers. He learnt his art by his own trial and error. He now teaches in England and the United States and has, at last, been persuaded to write his first book. He debunks many of the esoteric theories and concentrates instead on the essential practical techniques needed to make expressive prints.
This book was revelatory. Its central theme is to learn to adapt our seeing by pre-visualising how our photographic tools see and record what we chose to photograph. He first demonstrates how to produce an expressive negative and then leads us to techniques to turn it into a fine print.
Although most of the book deals with traditional methods, Les recognises that the two techniques can work together to take our image making into new directions. He shows how simple it is to use and configure Photoshop to produce digital negatives and apply darkroom techniques to produce sensational images.
This is certainly the best black and white book I have read. It has blown away the cobwebs, witchcraft and confusion of other manuals. I eagerly await his next book.
Book Description
Creative Black-and-White Photography guides photographers at all levels in producing the aesthetically advanced, carefully crafted images they've always dreamed of making. In his sequel to Mastering Black-and-White Photography, photographer Bernhard J Suess again makes complex technical and aesthetic problems easy to understand and master. He addresses intricate questions of film exposure and development control, camera filters, creative use of print contrast, dodging and burning, bleaching, and digital imaging. Discussing the many choices he makes in his own photography and why, Suess illustrates the decisions essential to successful black-and-white images.
The book includes more than eighty black-and-white photos, tracing the evolution of images from idea to final print. Each example is accompanied by a detailed explanation of the artistic and technical processes involved as well as a helpful look at how and why the photographer decided to use the techniques. Whether choosing a camera format, arranging a background, or composing a portrait, this invaluable resource shows photographers how to balance different elements in a picture and take advanced steps in creating better black-and-white photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Little to offer.......2007-05-26
I wonder why this was written, and even more so, why it was published. Beginners will be lost by page three, since the author assumes his readers already know the fundamentals. Accomplished photographers will be bored by page three, since the author discloses nothing new, and illustrates his disclosures with photographs that are, well, nothing special. On virtually every page there is another cryptic reference to the Zone System, but anyone up to speed on tone placements via Zone placements will be light years ahead of this book. Those who aren't will feel they're reading Esperanto.
weak.......2005-04-12
very shallow interpretation even for beginners, in addition accompanied by helplessly boring photographs. avoid.
An excellent reference.......2000-03-31
With a clarity of presentation and personal anecdotes, Bernhard Suess masterfully presents techniques and information quite useful to both amateur and skilled photographers. There was a wealth of information presented in this book which significantly improved both my compositional and printing skills. Amidst a plethora of books available on the subject, I feel that Suess makes an exceptional effort to make the topic as accessible as possible. There is a minimum of technical jargon that is not explained, which should appeal to the neophyte, and there are several tricks and techniques that would appeal to the more experienced photographer. I highly recommend this book.
Book Description
*Combines a traditional technique--black-and-white photography--with the latest technology
*Shows readers how to create their own high-quality, fine art prints
Black-and-white photography has always been a favorite topic among amateur photographers, but many digital photography books assume the reader is working with color images. With this concise guide, black-and-white enthusiasts can finally learn exactly how to enhance their creations with digital techniques. The book covers everything from scanning, manipulation and printing to advanced, digital darkroom techniques. Amidst inspiring and distinctive black-and-white photos, readers will find tricks and advice for making their images more creative than ever before!
Average customer rating:
- A real disappointment
- Interesting look at the human form via infrared film
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The Nude in Black And White: Creative Approaches to Photographing the Nude
Lucille Khornak
Manufacturer: Amphoto Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| How-to
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Equipment
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Black & White
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0817450882 |
Customer Reviews:
A real disappointment.......2001-07-03
As an amateur photographer, interested in the black and white nude this was one of my first purchases. It was a real disappointment to say the least. The images in the book are technically well done but I continue to ask myself, "why are these people nude?" For me the images say nothing about the models nor does the interaction of shadow and highlight move me.
Interesting look at the human form via infrared film.......1999-05-04
This is a fairly traditional photgraphy instruction book. The photographs are presented in a gallery format in the front of the book. The second half shows them as a contact sheet with the technical notes added. Fairly comprehensive look at body makeup and lighting. This book strives to be artistic first and educational latter. Ms. Khornak is quite skillful in the art of photography. The infrared images are beautiful. As an educational tool, the format does not really work. Perhaps it would be more educational to have the technical details directly following each image.
Average customer rating:
- Interesting B+W Picture Book
- Great book! Highly inspiring and full of information
- Great images, tiny type
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Portraits and Figures: Developing Style in Creative Photography
Terry Hope
Manufacturer: Saunders/Silver Pixel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Photo Essays
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Portraits
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| How-to
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| New Age
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1883403693 |
Book Description
No wonder black and white photography is more popular than ever, as photographers see its capacity for expressing personal style with simplicity and subtlety. Take your cues from 19 photographers recognized internationally for their b/w creations. They show and tell both their art and their technique, with galleries of their work accompanied by explanations of how they did it. You'll begin with how to master the rules, then how to bend them for particular effects. Then discover their many uses of lighting, composition, posing, and presentation, as well as their approaches to mood, style, and effect. Candid and posed portraits, figures, and group studies display a variety of faces and profiles of all ages, and full and partial figures in both closeups and landscapes offer a treasury of ideas, regardless of the equipment you use.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting B+W Picture Book.......2005-04-16
This is an interesting picture book for B+W photographers, particularly those interested in alternative development techniques and materials. Each picture has a paragraph or two from the photographer with, by my count, 19 photographers represented across roughly 51 photographs. Accompanying tiny print from the book's author provides technique tips and pointers. The stunning photographs run the gamut between grainy and non-grainy and different forms of toning. The book doesn't include any images created from digital capture. It's interesting and sometimes inspiring but you need to be specifically looking for examples based on different B+W papers and chemicals for development in order to get much out of it as far as technical know-how is concerned.
Great book! Highly inspiring and full of information.......2003-01-07
This is probably my all-time favorite photography book, and I'll explain why:
1) The images are outstanding, both technically and creatively. I have never tired of looking at this book -- how many books can you say that about? If you love B&W, you simply must have this book. It has images from contemporary photographers like Eammon McCabe and Andreas Zacharatos, as well greats like Bert Hardy.
2) The book is beautifully printed. I love the square format and heavy stock pages - it will last a long time.
3) Each full-page image is accompanied by a paragraph or more description and statement by the actual photographer, explaining the intent, technique, difficulties, etc. These statements by the photographers are extremely interesting and educational. I have probably read these pages at least two dozen times for each image. The technical details of each image are one of the main reasons I first bought this book (includes type of camera, format, f-stop, exposure, and film).
4) All the images and text add to your understanding of how these images were made, and gives you new ideas and inspriation to try new techniques. I disagree with the other reviewer that the text is too small: it is small, but in my view the layout of this book is outstanding, and very effective.
5) This book has opened my eyes to see the potential and diversity of what is called "portrait" photography! You won't regret owning this book.
Great images, tiny type.......2001-08-26
This book by Terry Hope features the work 19 photographers, mostly British, with some very impressive credentials. There are some marvelous images here, and some not so great. The images are very heavily weighted toward low-key portraits, meaning many are very dark with heavy or black shadows. Portraiture here also is loosely interpreted as there are actually very few shots that one would consider formal studio portraits or posed shots. One would wish for more balance. There are very few images of women and several of those who do appear are given rather shabby treatment. I won't delve too much into this, except to say bar maids and ..., and that's almost it for women. Each photo is accompanied by text where the photographer's approach to the photo is explained and other information included. Hope does not seem to care too much whether you read this or not, because the type is so small the reader really has to struggle to read it. There is no reason for this as there is plenty of white space on the page to enlarge the type. Pity the poor reader. There is some very good information, here, however, if one can strain his eyes to read it. Larger type would have gotten this book four stars.
Customer Reviews:
Great photos -- text too small.......2005-08-31
This book presents a series of black and white still life images along with information from each photographer on how they took the image and their approach to photograhy. I love the images--many of which are not done in a more standard style; instead there are many images that are grainy and toned -- in a word, soulful.
But the text is so painfully small, that its hard to read. I've seen this with another photo book from RotoVision, so I assume its a particular graphic style they've taken on. But it goes against the basic idea of putting text in a book, which is to convey information and ideas.
I'm always amazed when publishers do something like this. It seems that they would have the knowledge and skill to know better, so I wonder, how does this basic "unreadability" slip by? I imagine someone sitting in front of a very large computer screen, composing the layout of this book, and later marveling over the "look and feel" of how the book turned out. But they probalby never sat down and read the book or they'd know how un-readable it really is.
So, a book with great, inspiring black and white images. But get out your magnification to read the text.
David
Whidbey Island, Wash., USA
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable Overview of Architectural Photography.......2004-06-13
This book provides a good overview of architectural photography, with many inspiring images and much discussion of various aspects of technqiue and the creative process. Buy this book if you wish to explore architectural photography and are looking for ideas and guidance. Don't be put off by the mention of "black and white photography" on the cover -- the content is applicable to colour photography as well.
Book Description
Photograph beautiful and powerful landscapes in evocative black-and-white with the help of 16 masters of the art. Filled with breathtaking images, this magnificent volume offers far more than just technical guidance. It provides inspiring glimpses into the eyes, minds, and visions of serious landscape photographers. Captivating photographs are accompanied by the photographers' thoughts on their subjects, inspirations, techniques, and insights. See how to best use composition, mood, tone, texture, and contrast and learn to present your images for exhibition. From crashing waterfalls to barren deserts, from lush foliage to bare winter trees, the wide variety of styles and subjects presented will help you discover new, creative ways to capture the majesty of nature on film.
Customer Reviews:
For every landscape photographer.......2002-03-27
This is an excellent book. The quality of the paper is very good. Every photo is outstanding. Since there are so many photographers in the book, the style of photos vary a great deal which means that anyone can get something out of this book.
The every photo has a caption with camera, exposure and film details as well as a helpful, short description. Also, a great extra bonus is the two tips. that come with the photots. The tips vary between the chapters, depending on the theme, but they are great tips.
If you appreciate outdoor photography or you are a outdoor photography, this is a great collection for your library.
Beautiful book to own...........2002-02-12
....with photographs of landscapes from around the world, contributed by 16 photographers. Each photo is accompanied by techinical notes and the thoughts that goes behind each photograph. Definitely worth owning it, even if you are not a serious landscape photographer, just the quality of the photos inside is worth it.
Breathtakingly Beautiful!.......2000-06-25
This book is a wonderful showcase of landscapes through the perceptive eyes of the photographers in their own creative way. The images seem to pull you in to the beauty of our world and how we can forget to take time from our busy lives to really enjoy and take notice of nature around us. How it's changing and how we're changing it. I was especially impressed with the images of Florida taken by Bob Hudak. It was nice to see a deviation from the usual "sunset on the beach" or "theme park" image that is so common to people's idea of the state. His images makes me want to explore the beautiful remote areas of the state. (I'm a nature lover who's never been to Florida.) This is a great reference to anyone interested in landscape photography.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointed.......2001-05-24
I purchased this book on the basis of a reader's review and the fact that it has an introduction by Lucien Clergue whom I respect as a photographer of the nude female form. It turns out the introduction is a very brief paragraph at the beginning of the book. The photographs range from mediocre to downright bad, most of them having been made with one studio light or outdoors under natural lighting. The poses are unispired and uninteresting save for the fact that they are of (sometimes) beautiful nude women. The printing is very contrasty with most of the highlights blown out. Whether that is the fault of the photographer's printing skills or the printing of the book, I can't say. I was deeply disappointed in this book overall.
Disappointed.......2001-05-24
I purchased this book on the basis of a reader's review and the fact that it has an introduction by Lucien Clergue whom I respect as a photographer of the nude female form. It turns out the introduction is a very brief paragraph at the beginning of the book. The photographs range from mediocre to downright bad, most of them having been made with one studio light or outdoors under natural lighting. The poses are unispired and uninteresting save for the fact that they are of (sometimes) beautiful nude women. The printing is very contrasty with most of the highlights blown out. Whether that is the fault of the photographer's printing skills or the printing of the book, I can't say. I was deeply disappointed in this book overall.
Not just another "Nude" photoguide.......2000-03-31
It's rare to find a photo book with "creative" in its title living up to the promise, but this is an exception. Christopher Grey explains in detail how he created the innovative, sometimes abstract, black-and-white figure studies that are the focus of this book. He includes descriptions of the lighting setups, poses, backgrounds, props, etc., but also adds extra information often lacking in this kind of book: He tells us the advantages of working with pregnant models ("transient beauty [resulting] from physical changes"); outlines the perils, legal and otherwise, of shooting nudes outdoors, and the steps he takes to avoid problems; discusses the nuances of compostion; talks about his and his models' attitudes toward the shots; and generally lets the reader look over his shoulder while he makes his photographs.
This isn't a glamour guide, like many nude how-to books, but an introduction to shooting the figure from a fine-art perspective. I think it's a great introduction to the genre for both beginner and more experienced photographers, and a valuable addition to any photo library.
Book Description
Introducing Parents and photographers to the equipment, materials, and strategies necessary to photograph children like the pros, this guide covers color, black-and-white, digital, hand colored, and other alternative photographic techniques popular today. The photographs found throughout the book reinforce the instructional and show how the spirit and individuality of each child can be captured. In addition to the author's own photography, a number of other photographers' work are included in a gallery section to give the book a diverse and comprehensive look at a number of different styles and approaches to this genre. Topics covered include current technology, lighting, moving beyond snapshots, posing, everyday photo "golden" moments, and organizing a shoot.
• For professional and aspiring professional photographers, as well as parents and grandparents.
• Full of fabulous color, black-and-white, and hand colored images of children
• Perfect for scrapbookers.
Customer Reviews:
Finally a Great Book on Photographing Children.......2007-06-17
Cheryl Machat's sensitivity and unique perspective are wonderfully apparent in this collection of photography lessons. This book is from an artist for an artist. Machat, with technical perfection and a soft heart, sees kids. The pictures are raw and the children are real. This book may not appeal to the frightened beginner who wants/needs to doll-up kids, but parents and artist are going to love it. Check out her work at Cherylmachatdorskind.com. Unbelievable!
Just plain bad.......2006-08-19
I will admit that the text is not bad. There is some good advice on every aspect of photographing children. However, what is bad about this book is that the photographs are just horrible. Compositions are poor, lighting is poor, focus is poor. If you are looking to learn a lot about photographing children, you really won't from this book.
A guide for amateur and professional photographers alike.......2005-03-13
The Art of Photographing Children: Techniques for Making Better Color, Black and White, Handcolored, and Digital Pictures is a no-nonsense guide for amateur and professional photographers alike. Chapters discuss optimum equipment, lighting, composition, and more, such as how to capture an important moment, and tips for running a smooth photo shoot. The easy-to-follow narration accompanies a wealth of black-and-white and color photographs that keenly illustrate points and principles discussed. Highly recommended for proud parents seeking to succinctly capture their child's milestones on film, family portrait experts striving to improve their craft, and every photographer in between.
Books:
- Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921
- Deep South
- Digital Nature Photography Closeup
- Digital Nature Photography Closeup
- Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies
- Digital Sports Photography
- Dirk Bones and the Mystery of the Haunted House (I Can Read Book 1)
- Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories: A Tribute to the Threadbare Companions of Childhood
- Every Woman's Marriage: Igniting the Joy and Passion You Both Desire (The Every Man Series)
- Heart of a Nation: Writers and Photographers Inspired by the American Landscape
Books Index
Books Home
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Lee Frost's Simple Art of Black and White Photography: Easy Methods for Making Fine Art Prints
Mastering Black-and-White Photography: From Camera to Darkroom
Black and White Photography, Third Revised Edition
Creative Black and White Photography: Advanced Camera and Darkroom Techniques
Edge of Darkness: The Art, Craft, and Power of the High-Definition Monochrome Photograph
