The Complete Guide to Black & White Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book) [Paperback]

Michael Freeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009 | Series: A Lark Photography Book

Michael Freeman—our top digital photography author and a worldwide name—presents the most comprehensive book yet on black-and-white digital photography. Oversized, beautifully illustrated, and far-reaching in scope, this guide is destined to be a standard reference for years to come.

Freeman covers all aspects of black-and-white digital photography: its fine art tradition as well as its techniques.  Learn how to see and expose in black and white, digitally convert color to monochrome, and develop a black-and-white digital workflow. Explore creative choices and how to interpret various subjects most skillfully in monochrome. Finally, get an expert’s advice on printing and displaying black-and-white photographs to best effect.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MICHAEL FREEMAN is a well-known international photographer and best-selling author who has written more than two dozen books. His client list includes the Smithsonian, Time Life, Condé Nast Traveler, Readers Digest, and GEO magazines. His articles appear regularly in Photo District News.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600595235
• ISBN-13: 978-1600595233
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Black & White

More About the Author

Michael Freeman, professional photographer and author, with more than 100 book titles to his credit, was born in England in 1945, took a Masters in geography at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and then worked in advertising in London for six years. He made the break from there in 1971 to travel up the Amazon with two secondhand cameras, and when Time-Life used many of the pictures extensively in the Amazon volume of their World's Wild Places series, including the cover, they encouraged him to begin a full-time photographic career.

Since then, working for editorial clients that include all the world's major magazines, and notably the Smithsonian Magazine (with which he has had a 30-year association, shooting more than 40 stories), Freeman's reputation has resulted in more than 100 books published. Of these, he is author as well as photographer, and they include more than 40 books on the practice of photography - for this photographic educational work he was awarded the Prix Louis Philippe Clerc by the French Ministry of Culture. He is also responsible for the distance-learning courses on photography at the UK's Open College of the Arts.

Freeman's books on photography have been translated into fifteen languages, and are available on other Amazon international sites.

They are supported for readers by a regularly updated site, http://thefreemanview.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete... indeed and very readable too! December 14, 2009

By Weijenberg

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is almost square, a fine format for displaying the well chosen images. It says "Black & White" but it also says "Complete Guide", and that's so true. Here you find a very methodic approach to this subject. Starting with simple straight forward color to B&W conversion and showing clearly that the simple way is quick and so dirty, Michael soon leads us into the world of creatively making what we want and how to tweak the image to get that result. Michael shows us (using Photoshop as main tool) step by step how to tackle the issues, from the color image itself via the conversion (tools) to processing the converted result. Other conversions (like duotones, InfraRed, solarization) are very well explained, in completely worked out examples. Likeable is that he really shows the different possiblities, sometimes to show that some ways are not producing top quality work, sometimes to show the choices, creative decisions you have to make for yourself. Plug-ins and other specialistic tools (for making digital look like film, for noise-reduction etc.) are nicely introduced, showing where, if and when they are needed.
The images are beautiful and to the point. The examples show that seeing in color is so different from seeing in B&W. Michael makes us aware of thinking beforehand in B&W, shown also in work made by the masters (Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and more). The Zone system is not left untouched in this book. If you think: B&W? Easy: desaturate, done. Then think again, from what you see here, you know this conversion can be done so much better. The displaying, mounting, presenting of the work are also covered. This really is a complete guide!
When you pick this up you have a very attractive book in your hands. Written for easy reference, no lengthy chapters, but concise and direct 2, 3 pages on each subject. And believe me, you want to pick up this book, time and time again, to become a master yourself, at least in the processing and finishing department.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book November 14, 2009

By cortlander

Format:Paperback

I have several of Mr Freeman's books:

The Photographer's Eye
Perfect Exposure
Top Digital Photography Tips

The Complete Guide to Black and White Digital Photography is just as good as the others. The layout and quality of prints is pleasing. More importantly the author not only displays a deep knowledge of the topic but supplements each one with detailed pictures. Mr Freeman writes well and I find his explanations well reasoned and easy to understand.

Post processing is a big part of digital Black and White photography. Photoshop/Camera Raw curves and color sliders are used to explain many of the processing steps, but these are common in most photo processing software. I like the way the author discusses a topic, shows an original color photo, its default transformation to black and white, followed by several steps showing effects of changing one or two hues.

Digital processing is just one of the four sections in the book:

1. The Black and White Tradition
2. Digital Monochrome
3. Creative Choices
4. Printing and Display

The two hundred plus large size pages are quite absorbing.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another success for Michael Freeman February 6, 2010

By S. Weinstein

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have purchased many of Michael Freeman's books. This one meets all of the excellent standards that I like and respect about his writings. I particularly found his comparisons with color imaging and silver based photography stimulating. The only criticism I have is the poor proof reading. There are many misspelled words, words left out, etc. As a result reading the book can be a bit tedious. This was not the case with the authors other books.