Creative Black & White Photography [Paperback]

Les McLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

Creative Black & White Photography takes you step by step through the thought processes and technical procedures involved in producing a high-quality print. Les McLean starts by explaining the technicalities of black-and-white photography - and, more importantly, how to overcome the technical limitations of cameras and film. Metering systems, film acutance and grain, simple tests and tricks of the trade that will allow you to achieve the image you want: all are explained simply and clearly, and backed up by specially commissioned photographs. Visualization comes next: the best black-and-white prints are those in which the photographer has thought from the outset about the effect that he or she wants to create and about how to achieve that effect in the darkroom. Renowned both as a photographer and as a fine photographic printer, Les McLean is uniquely qualified to emphasize the importance of this link. Chapters 3 and 4 cover developing and printing processes - again with the emphasis being on understanding your materials so that you can select the film, developer and paper combinations that will match your photographic vision. In Chapter 5, Case Studies, McLean looks at some of his all-time favourite photographs and explains from start to finish how he created them - the mood and effect that he wanted, the technicalities of taking the shots, and how each image was printed and manipulated in the darkroom. Finally a chapter on digital black and white, explaining how to combine silver halide and digital to best effect and the pros and cons of digital printing, brings the subject right up to date.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Les McLean writes regular columns on black-and-white photography for Practical Photography magazine in the UK and for Photovision in the US. He also lectures at shows and colleges in the UK for companies such as Ilford and Calumet, as well as for Calumet International (one of the largest distributors of photographic equipment) in the US. He lives near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: David & Charles Publishers (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715314483
• ISBN-13: 978-0715314487
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,690,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Black and White Photography, December 16, 2002

By 

"fabius_maximus" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Black & White Photography (Paperback)

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.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good for the Nature Photographer, May 11, 2006

By 

A Reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Black & White Photography (Paperback)

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.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Information, But Somewhat Outdated, May 3, 2006

By 

Photo Pro (Iniana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Black & White Photography (Paperback)

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.