Amphotos Guide to Digital Black and White Printing: Techniques for Creating High Quality Prints (Paperback)

~ (Author) "You may soon discover that the black-and-white print expresses your artistic vision more than color does..." (more)
Key Phrases: megapixel count, foreground color box, conventional darkroom, Layer Mask, Adjustment Layer, Quick Mask (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

•Shows photographers how to use digital printing techniques to create masterful black-and-white images
•Digital printing is replacing the darkroom-everyone who shoots in black and white needs to know these specialized techniques

Everybody's shooting in black and white-for weddings, for studio work, for portraits and family pictures, and anything that looks great with a classic, documentary style. Digital cameras make it easier to shoot in black and white, but many photographers are struggling to create the sharp, crisp, timeless look of great pictures in this medium. They need Amphoto's Guide to Digital Black and White Printing. From new digital ways to perform traditional darkroom techniques (such as exposure, burning and dodging, and highlight control) to handling duotones, hue saturation, and even "hand coloring" effects...it's all here, in black and white.

About the Author

George Schaub, the author of The Art and Craft of Black and White Photography, Using Your Digital Camera, Amphoto's Guide to Creative Digital Photography, and many other books, has researched black-and-white printing from the photographer's perspective for the past five years, and he teaches the subject international. He's the editorial directory of Shutterbug and eDigital Photo magazines. He lives in Sea Cliff, NY.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Amphoto Books (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817470719
• ISBN-13: 978-0817470715
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #656,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #31 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Black & White
  #59 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Darkroom & Processing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, July 14, 2005

By	Russell S. Lewis "Russ Lewis" (Manitou Springs, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you know anything at all about digital imaging, save your money and don't bother with this book. This is a book in which Mr. Schaub tells us such useful things as: "Art and craft are delicately balanced in every stage of creating a black-and-white image. Your goal is to produce images that will touch the viewer and express your artistic vision." He then proceeds to illustrate his "artistic vision" with some pretty lame examples. It seems he spends a lot of time in the woods because many, if not most, of his examples involve various kinds of vegetation. Some of his "improvements" tend to trash a fairly good starting image, though a few of his improvements do, in fact, improve.

On page 57 he informs us that "A digital image is composed of (are you ready for this?) pixels." The rest of the book is pretty much at this level. On page 148, which has the title "Paper For Your Printer," Mr. Schaub tells us that "An inkjet printer creates an image composed of dots that are literally sprayed onto the paper." He then explains that "Matching ink and paper can be a daunting problem," but fails to give us any information that'll help solve the "daunting" problem. Basically, what he suggests is mucking around with paper and ink combinations until you find one you like.

This book is a real shame. It could have been so good and such a help, but it started fizzling on the very first page.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very little about printing, November 16, 2005

By	Richard Drdul (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked this book up at the library (fortunately I didn't buy it) because I'm interested in printing my black and white images. I was surprised to find that printing isn't addressed until page 147. The section on printing amounted to 10 pages in total, out of 160 pages in the book. The title of the book should be "Black and White Digital Photography" -- the word "Printing" doesn't belong in the title.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the good, the bad, November 16, 2005

By	etalieninaz (goodyear, arizona) - See all my reviews

At first glance, this appears to be a terrific book for the digital photographer who'd like to try printing in black and white. Unfortunately the author, having been a professional photographer for 25+ years and no doubt has been using Photoshop since the day it was created, assumes that the reader also uses Photoshop 6 or CS. Although he does make a very brief note that there may possibly be other photo editing programs out there, the entire book is Photoshop. Later in the book, the author implies that if the reader is using something other than Photoshop, then it's the reader's responsibility to "interpret" what the author is presenting.

This really doesn't make much sense as the book is obviously directed towards "newer" digital photographers who want to explore black and white. But most of these photographers (having just shelled out a grand for a 6 or 8MP camera and a printer) haven't rushed out and bought Photoshop CS for $700+, rather being content with using low-cost PhotoImpact 11 (closest thing to Photoshop on the market) or Paint Shop Pro X. On the other hand, experienced digital photographers (who most likely use Photoshop 6 or CS) probably wouldn't buy the book because they already know most everything the book presents.

This problem could have been effectively avoided if the author had taken the time to write a simple brief chapter comparing the tools of Photoshop CS, PhotoImpact 11, Paint shop X, et al. Then the reader could easily relate as he/she reads the text.

On the positive side, the book is well organized and presents examples of every software tool used. Although many of the photos are just so-so, there are several that are really outstanding. If the reader can take the time to "interpret" the Photoshop commands that are presented in the book into the software that the reader may be using, then the book is certainly well worth Amazon's $16.47.