Beyond Basic Photography: A Technical Manual (Paperback)

~ (Author) "To make consistently good negatives, you must have full understanding of and control over the exposure/development process..." (more)
Key Phrases: teaspoon sodium sulfite, subject brightness range, developer formulas, New York, Zone System, Kodak Publication (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Answers the more technical questions of photographers who are already familiar with the basics so well detailed in Henry Horenstein's recent Black and White Photography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; Revised edition (June 30, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316373125
• ISBN-13: 978-0316373128
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A clear guide to B&W photography technique, October 10, 2001

By A Customer

This is an ideal text for a photographer who wishes to advance his/her understanding of black & white photography methods. Without excessive detail, the steps that go into the making of a print, and the reasons that justify these steps, are clearly discussed. As the author points out from the start (in the subtitle), this is a technical manual. Those who are looking for a book on the "creative" and "inspirational" aspects of photography should look elsewhere. However, a prerequisite to "creativity" is a solid technical background, and you probably cannot learn "creativity" from a book if you haven't got it to begin with. If you think the techniques of photography are "dull", do not try this book. But for a photographer who wishes to understand them, rather than merely follow them as a cookbook recipe, this is a superb intermediate textbook.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful book, February 26, 2001

By	magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I read this book after Photography for Dummies, and it was just what I needed to get a more technical slant on some things. I am still basically a neophyte at photography, so there was a lot of new, useful, more in-depth info in this book for me. I thought the author's discussion of exposure issues was especially good, as getting a feel for all of the things that affect this, and how they interact with the developing process, is one of the things that separates the experienced photographer from the less skilled.

For example, the author discusses of how and why you should expose for the shadows, and develop for the highights, and why even a negative that is overexposed by two stops is still usable versus one that is underexposed. Since the negative reverses everything, it is impossible to recover from an underexposed negative for the shadows, since you can't get detail that isn't there, no matter how long you develop. However, film that is overexposed for the shadows can still be used because there are ways to deal with the highlights during developing.

Overall, I found the book full of useful info like this and can recommend it to photography buffs who want a more in-depth understanding of the processes.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a clear and easy to understand technical manual., March 7, 1999

By A Customer

Lets read the last part of that title again, "Technical Manual". While some people might consider the creativity or spirituality of photographs "Technical" I don't think that's what this book is supposed to be about. This book covers in detail techiques for improving image quality and technical problem solving. And it does a great job at it. The author doesn't get condescending or lose the average intelligence photographer with writing, and provides a valuable tool for improving photographs.