The Camera, The Negative, & The Print...

ChristopherCoy · Jan 26, 2021

I scored The Negative, and The Print at HPB yesterday for a grand total of $11. They are what I believe to be the first printing (grey covers), and in really nice shape. They did not have book 1 though, The Camera.

In starting to read book 2, The Negative, Ansel refers back to visualization and things discussed in book 1, The Camera, multiple times in the first two chapters. Am I going to confuse myself, or 'short' myself if I read books 2 and 3 before I read book 1? Or is the series written well enough that they can be read independently, and referred to the same way?

pbromaghin · Jan 26, 2021

Do you really want to know the ending before you read the first book?

MattKing · Jan 26, 2021

Does your public library have the Camera?

ChristopherCoy · Jan 26, 2021

MattKing said:
Does your public library have the Camera?

The public libraries are closed here. And I believe the only copy in circulation is located at a branch about an hour away.

MattKing · Jan 26, 2021

If you were closer, you could borrow mine .

voceumana · Jan 26, 2021

Just get a copy of the Zone VI Manual by Fred Picker. It sums up the Zone System nicely. If you want the whole series, you'll need to find The Camera, Natural LIght Photography, and Artificial Light Photography from the original series. But Fred's book is about as concise as the Zone System can be put (except as "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights).

Ansel changed the terminology used in the Zone system over the years of its development, and so going back to the 1st editions may make it a bit more confusing if you read his later materials.

Here's a used copy of the 1st edition: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-Len...095123?hash=item2ae24983d3:g:hUcAAOSwFR5eVBFA

Note there was a 2nd edition of Camera and Lens published prior to the final version called The Camera, and it's more up to date than the 1st edition, but still allows for the confusion between original and later terminology.

MattKing · Jan 26, 2021

Is this the series you have:

ChristopherCoy · Jan 26, 2021

MattKing said:
Is this the series you have:

Yes, that’s them.

voceumana · Jan 26, 2021

Then forget the copy I suggested--it's for the older series.

Many used copies available. Here's one from HPB: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Bo...&tn=The+Camera&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title17

Low cost and low shipping.

ic-racer · Jan 26, 2021

Those need to be rewritten. Films, papers, developers and cameras have changed a lot since those were last updated.

For example a newer version of The Print might cover these topics:

More extensive coverage of beaching (John Sexton should write it)
Use of LED light in printing
Review of baseobard analyzer devices
Use of Positive papers
Setting up and managing temporary darkrooms
How to manage expired, fogged, paper
How to check a used enlarger for light leaks, even exposure across the field, negative to lens centering, alignment with laser, smooth focus, etc.
Evaluating and mounting enlarging lenses
Contrast masking

voceumana · Jan 26, 2021

I think the topics you suggest are fine topics and worth of a book, but are beyond the intent of the Adams's books. Anyhow, since he is no longer with us, it will be for someone else to write. Ansel never intended these books to cover every aspect of photography--remember it is the "basic" photography series. Much of what you suggest goes beyond basic.

bdial · Jan 26, 2021

I’ll second the suggestion of reading The Zone VI Workshop before tackling Adams. St. Ansel was gifted in many ways, but clarity in explaining technical stuff wasn’t one of them, (IMO)

ic-racer · Jan 26, 2021

voceumana said:
I think the topics you suggest are fine topics and worth of a book, but are beyond the intent of the Adams's books. Anyhow, since he is no longer with us, it will be for someone else to write. Ansel never intended these books to cover every aspect of photography--remember it is the "basic" photography series. Much of what you suggest goes beyond basic.

I read them as very advanced. LIke "How I Do It"

For example I'd say Ansel was the only fine art photographer that had his own horizontal 11x14" enlarger. No one else printed like that back then. Every other photographer I can recall would have had a graphics lab make big enlargements for display. He make his own. Realize the likes of Clyde Butcher did not even start large format photography until around the time Adams died.

warden · Jan 26, 2021

ChristopherCoy said:
I scored The Negative, and The Print at HPB yesterday for a grand total of $11. They are what I believe to be the first printing (grey covers), and in really nice shape. They did not have book 1 though, The Camera.

In starting to read book 2, The Negative, Ansel refers back to visualization and things discussed in book 1, The Camera, multiple times in the first two chapters. Am I going to confuse myself, or 'short' myself if I read books 2 and 3 before I read book 1? Or is the series written well enough that they can be read independently, and referred to the same way?

Great score! Enjoy.

Horatio · Jan 26, 2021

I completed my collection with the latest paperback copy of The Negative, a Christmas gift from my brother, so I have gone through them in a different order: book 1, book 3, then book 2! There are sections in The Camera that pertain to learning to "see", which you broached in another thread. It's worth the read. One technique St. Ansel recommends is "dry shooting" where you compose with the camera without making an exposure. Another is using a cardboard mask with dimensions to match your negative's ratio.

Sirius Glass · Jan 26, 2021

pbromaghin said:
Do you really want to know the ending before you read the first book?

Don't ruin the plot!

Andrew O'Neill · Jan 26, 2021

MattKing said:
Is this the series you have:

That's the series I have. The Negative, and The Print are well thumbed through and show it. Not so with The Camera.

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 26, 2021

They're worth owning as references, and for fine-tuning your technique and thinking, but introductory they are not. If you want something that will give you a distillation of what those books provide, but in a more accessible format, There's the John P. Schaefer volume "An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography". I picked that one up very early in my self-teaching program, and it was incredibly helpful.

Andrew O'Neill · Jan 26, 2021

TheFlyingCamera said:
They're worth owning as references, and for fine-tuning your technique and thinking, but introductory they are not. If you want something that will give you a distillation of what those books provide, but in a more accessible format, There's the John P. Schaefer volume "An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography". I picked that one up very early in my self-teaching program, and it was incredibly helpful.

That's a good book, and is the very first book on photography that I bought. I never heard of Ansel Adams until I bought it.

MattKing · Jan 26, 2021

I once had two matched sets of the trilogy. I sold one (through here I think).
It will be interesting to see if Chris finds AA easy to read - I know that I find his style "interesting".

ChristopherCoy · Jan 27, 2021

MattKing said:
It will be interesting to see if Chris finds AA easy to read - I know that I find his style "interesting".

I've found The Negative to be relatively easy to understand thus far. Not sure if it's because on some level I have previously, in some form or another, heard about what he explains (i.e. anti-halation layers), or if it's his method of writing. I do like his way of explaining things "visually". For instance the sheet of paper placed in varying distances from the light source exercise. It was easy to understand because I could visually picture it in my head, but yet not anything that I've ever thought about myself.

RalphLambrecht · Jan 27, 2021

ChristopherCoy said:
I scored The Negative, and The Print at HPB yesterday for a grand total of $11. They are what I believe to be the first printing (grey covers), and in really nice shape. They did not have book 1 though, The Camera.

In starting to read book 2, The Negative, Ansel refers back to visualization and things discussed in book 1, The Camera, multiple times in the first two chapters. Am I going to confuse myself, or 'short' myself if I read books 2 and 3 before I read book 1? Or is the series written well enough that they can be read independently, and referred to the same way?

By all means get the first book to complete your series but you can read the others and learn the bundle without missing too much.

ChristopherCoy · Jan 27, 2021

RalphLambrecht said:
... but you can read the others and learn the bundle without missing too much.

I plan on picking it up at some point, but this is all I was looking for. Thanks!

Michael Firstlight · Jan 27, 2021

The AA books are staples. I have them - easy to understand and timeless. When you get through with those the holy trio in my library are these (and none of them are cheap for good reason):

1) Way Beyond Monochrome (for the most advanced - be prepared to digest charts)
2) The Art of Photography (most practical, thorough, and consumable walk through of the zone system)
3) The Film Developing Cookbook (for the chemist in you)

The AA books make good primers for these.

MFL

ChristopherCoy · Jan 27, 2021

Michael Firstlight said:
2) The Art of Photography (most practical, thorough, and consumable walk through of the zone system)

@Michael Firstlight, is this the Bruce Barnbaum book?

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