Customer Reviews

Professional Techniques for Black & White Digital Photography

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a very good book indeed. Basically it covers the concepts you need to know in order to capture good color images on your digital camera that can then later be converted to black and white. It further goes on to explain and suggest all the various options open to you to make this photo marketable and or a work of art. While I don't agree 100% with everything said, I am on board for 95%. The provided photos are great and inspiring and the book address both manual ways in photoshop to convert to B/w (besides just clicking greyscale or desaturate) as well as the plugins available out there. Having said this,be aware that this is a very photoshop centric book too.

In my opinion, the publisher and author of this book are guilty of bait and switch tactics. For a book entitled, *Professional Techniques* for Black & White Photography, it is a huge disappointment.

The book is a general introduction to digital photography targeted at readers who are beginners to photography. Almost the entire content of the book is on the level of a very simple magazine article written for non-specialists. For instance, there are sections on the rule of thirds, on avoiding dividing the frame in the middle, and so on. Only a handful of very simple techniques are presented, such as how to convert an image to grayscale and then use curves to adjust the contrast. The entire discussion of the channel mixer takes up only a few lines -- this in a supposedly "professional" book on B&W technique. There is nothing in here that any slightly experienced amateur digital photographer does not already know.

From the title of the book and the glowing reader reviews, I expected detailed, technical discussions of how to handle the challenges involved in producing fine-art-quality digital B&W work. Nothing in the book even approaches that. (Michael Freeman's Mastering Black and White Digital Photography has plenty of this sort of content, though his exposition is not particularly clear or well organized.)

I'm appalled at the audacity of the publisher and author and wish I could get my money back.

I don't understand the grounds for the positive reviews posted here. I can only imagine they were written by friends or associates of the author.

Postscript: Sure enough, I checked out the first few of the positive reviews below, and they are obviously all fake. Each reviewer has reviewed all and only the books by Patrick Rice and one other person and given them all high marks. Wish I'd looked before.

This book has great photographs, which is why I bought it. The poses and lighting are very helpful. Although the author stated he creates his digital photos in color, his black & white conversions look as good as any B&W film pictures I have seen.

This is a worthwhile book on digital black & white

I found this to be a very good book on digital B&W photography. Although there is heavy emphasis on portraits and wedding pictures, the concepts can be applied to any area of B&W photography.

For anyone just making the switch to digital, there is a wealth of information on digital cameras and working with digital files. There is plenty of Photoshop information and he highlights some of his favorite plug-ins to make quality B&W pictures. There is also valuable information about printing digital B&W files.

Overall, it is a very good book.

The author completely covers the topic of making a high-quality digital black & white photograph. The pictures in the book are all very well done. Strong wedding and portrait images permeate the book and were very helpful. The section on infrared was very interesting.

This book is a good reference material for any working photographer or someone who hopes to become one.

This book is loaded with fine examples of digital black and white digital photography. Although very heavily weighted toward portrait and wedding photography, there are some nice pictorials in black and white.

The section on digital black and white infrared was very extensive. I was pleasantly surprised about how much of the book was actually dedicated to this specialty. I have since found out that the author has a book on Digital Infrared Photography with the same publisher. I'll have to pick it up.

Wow - i loved this book - it is so easy to understand and put the concepts to work. I have just begun experimenting with black and white digital photography and this books gives great ideas on ways to shoot, how to eliminate all or partial color, how to draw the audience's eyes - everything. I found this book very helpful.

I found this to be just what I was looking for in a digital B&W book. The author gives a basic overview of digital cameras and equipment, shows a couple of different ways to convert a digital colour file to B&W and spends most of the time with ways to make money. This was perfect for me. Too many authors I feel are intellectuals with no real world experience. This author obviously has a viable portrait and wedding photography business. His images and those of others that he chose to include are salable. This is real world photography. Excellent book for anyone that wants to make money shooting digital B&W photographs.

I just completed a three day class with the author of this book and purchased this book and two of his other titles. This author is the consomate photography instructor and his books are written in the same easy going nature that he has.

This black and white book is just what I need as a up and coming professional photographer. He does not get real involved in the book on the zone system or hand printing of black and white photos. Rather he offers a practical approach to digital black and white imaging to help photographers make money at what they love. The sections on presentation and framing are especially helpful to this end.

The photographs included in the text are just outstanding! There is a lot of emphasis on wedding and portrait photography which I thought was beneficial. Anyone and everyone that is fairly competant can take great pictures of beautiful landscapes and national parks. I was delighted to to see great people pictures throughout the book.

For the photo hobbiest, this may not be the best book for you. This book is about understanding enough about digital black and white to make money doing so. There is a lot of business and marketing in here.

I just met this author at the WPPI Convention and bought three of his titles. This book is an excellent introduction to B&W digital photography for the wedding and portrait photographer.

There is a solid explanation of digital cameras and working with digital files. I found the sections on portraiture and wedding work to be the most helpful and the pictures are all very well done.