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Mastering Black and White Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book)
 
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Mastering Black and White Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book) [Paperback]

Michael Freeman (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 28, 2005 A Lark Photography Book
Black and white has an enduring appeal that just keeps on growing. Above all, it's a medium for the fine print--one that benefits immeasurably from digital technology and inkjet printers. Written by a photographer well-known for his ability to explain complex digital concepts to a variety of audiences, this essential guide on the art of black and white is packed with information, hints, and tips, along with a plethora of stunning images. Discover how our colorful world translates into black and white and how to create a stunning monotone image. See how to render colors as gray tones and how to manipulate the tonality for dramatic effect. Experiment with high contrast, infrared, and pseudo non-silver looks. You won't believe the wonderful results you'll achieve.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Lark Books (September 28, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1579907075
  • ISBN-13: 978-1579907075
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Terrific Book on B&W January 27, 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am impressed with this book. I have read many run-of-the-mill Photoshop books and this isn't one of them for all the right reasons. This book is chock full of useful, long term learning about black and white photography from the moment you look at a scene to the final print. While it is geared toward work in Photoshop, it spends enough time in basic design principles and how to shoot, that after practicing the principles in the book I will be a much better photographer rather than just a more skilled user of Photoshop.

The examples in the book are plentiful, useful, and gorgeous. Many side-by-side photos show you the before and after, and in fact many of them are 6 or 8 side-by-side comparison shots of different techniques or adjustments. This is the book for someone who loves looking at spectacular black and white work and wants to bring her work closer to that level.

There are five large chapters: The Language of Mono, Color into Grayscale, Digital Black and White, Image Editing & Effects, and The Print. In the first two chapters, the basic thrust is on colors -- the colors we see and that the camera records -- and how they can be manipulated to create stunning black and whites. The sections on filters I found particularly helpful. I often stopped and tried the various techniques on some of my own photos.

Digital Black and White, Image Editing & Effects are the meat and potatoes. Freeman is of the Ansel Adams school and so begins to talk about tonal ranges using the zone system. Then he does so much more, covering gradient maps, multiple exposure composites, and how to mimic specific film types. He uses a series of case studies interspersed throughout the text to show how various techniques might be brought into the workflow on a given photo.

At first glance, I was disappointed in the book because his sections are usually only two pages long. But it turns out he is a good writer who conveys precisely what he needs to in a minimum of words. The book is remarkably clear while discussing complex artistic issues and techniques. It requires dedicated study and experimentation: especially spending time evaluating the photos. If you're willing to do this, indeed if you're looking for a guide to do this, then Michael Freeman is the one to help. The book is inspiring as well as instructive, and will remain a reference on my desk for a long time to come.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Wonderfully organised December 31, 2005
Format:Paperback
This is wonderfully organised book and presents a multitude of techniques to use in Photoshop to create black and white images from color images. The book transitions from beginner techniques to more advanced methods. Freeman describes all of the steps taken in converting color images to black and white while showing all of the creative aspects in adjusting the channel mixer to elicit the effect desired. This is a great "cookbook" of techniques and has found a space on my desk by my computer.
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Hurt by Lack of Editing April 24, 2006
Format:Paperback
This is one of several books on digital B&W photography that I own. I find that the author is too economical in his explanations of how he got from step to step, often leaving significantly large gaps of assumed reader knowledge or prescience. But my main complaint is the horrible job of editing. There are mistakes and disagreements between the text and the illustrations and the illustrations and their headings. If you're not already comfortable with fooling around with Photoshop tools, and just trying things, you can get totally lost trying to figure out whether the text, heading or illustration is correct.

The book is attractive and well presented. However, after many years as a technical editor, I'd have been embarrassed to let this one go.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Adequate
Freeman's Mastering Black and White Digital Photography provides brief but adequate coverage of color to grayscale conversion as well as manipulation of the resulting grayscale... Read more
Published 19 months ago by jd
Exellent Photoshop book
OK so I was a little hasty pulling the trigger on this one, I had hoped it had more on B&W photography. It does NOT. Read more
Published on December 31, 2009 by Bo Lorentzen
This is a Photoshop book
First and foremost this is a Photoshop book. If you don't have Photoshop the majority of the content will not be useful to you. The book is an editing nightmare. Read more
Published on July 3, 2008 by Rosie G
The best
I've bought several B&W digital photography books and this one is hands down the absolute best of the bunch. Read more
Published on February 17, 2008 by Becca
A good starting point for learning fine quality digital black & white...
This book presents an introductory exposition of techniques for producing "fine art" black and white images from digital color images. Read more
Published on June 8, 2007 by R. Kreis
Excellent B/W Digital book for Intermediate to Advanced
This book is an excellent reference for intermediate to advanced photographers. Absolute beginners would need a basic photoshop book to help fill in the gaps or details to... Read more
Published on May 14, 2007 by B. Breshears
Freeman's insight
As a professional photographer I found Michael Freeman's book to be the most informative and concise study on the complex and somewhat baffling world of digital photography. Read more
Published on July 23, 2006 by R. C. Gothard
Disjointed
I did not care for the 2 page snippets used to describe most of the topics in this book. In addition, the book did not seem to flow well. Read more
Published on July 23, 2006 by Gene Barrett
Excellent book on B&W techniques with Photoshop
Whenever I read a photogrpahy book such as this one, I always carry around those little plastic post-it notes to mark any important pages. Read more
Published on July 15, 2006 by TokiLX
Good book for intermediate to advanced photographers
This book was a little too advanced for me when I first picked it up, but I just re-read it, and found it absolutely fascinating. Read more
Published on June 23, 2006 by Sukhumvit
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