Suggest black and white shooting and Dev books

mamiyarzlover · Jul 29, 2015

Not sure if this is the right place but I love to read up on subjects that I'm in to "The more knowledge the better" Does anyone have any suggestion for great books on shooting and developing black and white? Would prefer an all in one book that goes into detail.

Nodda Duma · Jul 29, 2015

While it's a series and not within a single cover, I highly recommend Ansel Adams' Photography series (The Camera, The Negative, The Print, etc.). Used copies are so cheap on Amazon.com that there's no real reason *not* to buy the whole series. I paid a total of like $20 for a full set of the early 80s editions in very good condition.

These would be a really good start for your reading goal.

Slixtiesix · Jul 29, 2015

For starters: Ilford Negative and llford Positive Technique. Barry Thornton´s Elements is a great read too and can be downloaded online on his website.

jeffreyg · Jul 29, 2015

"Beyond Monochrome" by APUGer Ralph Lambrecht is must for your library.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

David Brown · Jul 29, 2015

mamiyarzlover said:
Would prefer an all in one book that goes into detail.

Way Beyond Monochrome, Ralph W. Lambrecht and Chris Woodhouse, 2nd edition 2011

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Beyond-Mo...8184232&sr=1-2&keywords=way+beyond+monochrome

Beyond that:

The Amateur Photographer’s Handbook, Aaron Sussman, 8th edition 1979

Black & White Photography - Basic Manual, Henry Horenstein, 2nd edition 1983

Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual, Henry Horenstein, 3rd edition, 2004

Creative Black and White Photography, Les McLean, 2002

The Camera; The Negative; The Print, Ansel Adams, 1995

The Darkroom Cookbook, Stephen Anchell, 3rd edition 2008

Basic Developing, Printing, Enlarging in Black-and-White, Kodak, 1982

Building a Home Darkroom, Kodak Workshop Series, 1991

Build Your Own Home Darkroom, Lista Duren and Will McDonald, 1990

The New Darkroom Handbook, Joe DeMaio, Roberta Worth, Dennis Curtin, 2nd edition 1998

M Carter · Jul 29, 2015

Another vote for Way Beyond Monochrome. Pretty exhaustive for getting started, will take you from rank beginner into some real "separating the men from the boys" territory. Some of the example work hasn't aged well (some very 80's nudes) but technically the work is great.

I'll add one thing that books can't offer: I suggest you plan to spend a reasonable sum on testing, especially film. Choose a film and developer and do your own tests for exposure, developing times, etc. You'll learn a lot that applies to your specific workflow, and learn it hands-on with real negatives to inspect. In fact, a good deal of the questions on this forum should be answered "go test it yourself!"

if you're starting off with 35, feel free to PM me for a testing strategy that works well and gives you a tremendous amount of hands-on data from one roll of 35. (I've posted it several times here but it's a lot of bandwidth!)

pbromaghin · Jul 29, 2015

If you really want to understand the operation of cameras and lenses from the most fundamental level, "Large Format Camera Practice" by Joseph Foldes. Not a wasted word, not one word missing. Text exactly matches photos, photos exactly illustrate the text. The clearest, cleanest, most concise instructional book on any subject that I have ever read.

Film photography is so out of fashion that you should just forget about bookstores and libraries. Head for Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc., and the prices are cheap enough that you can buy whatever you see and just re-donate the ones that don't turn out.

Rick A · Jul 29, 2015

Where are you located? PM me, I have a couple books I'll send if you cover postage.

Tom Kershaw · Jul 29, 2015

You've been given some good suggestions; but worth mentioning that some of these books may contain slightly dated technical content and one is probably best adopting a fairly critical approach.

On testing; that is a good idea up to a point, but there is the risk of going around in circles and not concentrating on improving your photography overall. Achieving a "good" negative generally boils down to giving enough exposure, not developing too long, and keeping temperatures under control.

For printing; don't over-expose and give full development...

Tom

destroya · Jul 29, 2015

I love browsing thru used book stores. many have several books on film photography. the big one near me has about 30+ copies of the adams trilogy from $3 each and up. and lots of other books mentioned here. Also, take a trip to the library. many great books there that are being neglected and would love to be taken home for a quick read.

also too add, if you can find a copy of Barry Thornton's edge of darkness, I found that to be a great read

DAK · Jul 29, 2015

Two books I use the most are by David Vestal -- The Craft of Photography and the second is The Art of Black-and-White Enlarging.
I like his philosophy.

Dave

Gerald C Koch · Jul 29, 2015

Controls In Black-And-White Photography by Richard J. Henry. Uses scientific techniques to debunk many common myths in photography.

One should be careful not to buy the older Ansel Adam series as the Second Edition was greatly[/] expanded and more useful.

There are many very useful Kodak publications on the net. They're free and often better in their explanations than some books. For example

http://wwwmx.kodak.com/country/RU/ru/professional/support/techPubs/aj3/aj3.shtml

Search on "Kodak publication." These publication all have numbers of the form <letter>-<number> such as J-24.

Sirius Glass · Jul 29, 2015

Nodda Duma said:
While it's a series and not within a single cover, I highly recommend Ansel Adams' Photography series (The Camera, The Negative, The Print, etc.). Used copies are so cheap on Amazon.com that there's no real reason *not* to buy the whole series. I paid a total of like $20 for a full set of the early 80s editions in very good condition.

These would be a really good start for your reading goal.

jeffreyg said:
"Beyond Monochrome" by APUGer Ralph Lambrecht is must for your library.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Look at the Ilford and Kodak websites documentation about development and printing.

bdial · Jul 29, 2015

The Zone VI Workshop by Fred Picker

A tiny book, but it packs the essential information from AA's The Negative and The Print into one concise, easy to read package.
Buy it to learn, and use the Adams books when you have insomnia.

cliveh · Jul 29, 2015

The Ilford Manual (the bible of photography).

Sirius Glass · Jul 29, 2015

cliveh said:
The Ilford Manual (the bible of photography).

+1

removed account4 · Jul 29, 2015

Horenstein, Henry. Black and White Photography A Basic Manual. 2nd ed. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1983

jochen · Jul 30, 2015

Hello,
the book series of Ansel Adams is excellent for theory and has superb illustrations but he worked with some film materials, light meters and some chemicals which are no longer available. For this the more modern literature is better suited. In spite of this I'd not like to miss the A.A. books.

pdeeh · Jul 30, 2015

mamiyarzlover said:
"The more knowledge the better"  .

If you were to read every book, article and pamphlet that's been suggested in this thread, you're likely to end up with a severe case of intellectual indigestion ... especially as the advice given in some will flatly contradict the advice given in others

(I speak as someone who has acquired and read a large library of technical books on photography in the past couple of years, but of course you may have a stronger stomach than me )

As far as recommendations go, Lambrecht's book is probably the most modern & comprehensive. I find his writing style resolutely unreadable, but many people rave about it so I expect I'm in the smallest minority.

The Picker book recently mentioned really is a little gem of concision and clarity, but remember there are many approaches to photography and the Zone system is only one.

Forum member Michael R assembled an excellent set of links to online technical resources in the sticky thread here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists) ... as good a place as any to start.

Sirius Glass · Jul 30, 2015

jeffreyg said:
"Beyond Monochrome" by APUGer Ralph Lambrecht is must for your library.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

I read and reread this book regularly. There is so much in there to learn to utilize.

Suggest black and white shooting and Dev books

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