Creative Black And White 2nd Edition

Black-and-white photography poses unique challenges; without color to guide the eye, contrast, lighting, and composition take on even more importance. In Creative Black and White, 2nd Edition, renowned photographer Harold Davis explains these elements and demonstrates the basic rules of black and white photography, as well as when and how to break them. He breaks through the complexity of this photographic medium, explores opportunities for black-and-white imagery, and shows how to capitalize on each and every one of them. This new, revised, and expanded edition brings the tools up to date with extended sections on monochrome in Lightroom, Photoshop, and related plugins.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE MONOCHROMATIC VISION

Past, Present, and Future

Thinking in Black and White

Contrast

Color Implied

The Tonal Landscape

Visual Implication

Seeing in Black and White

Pre-Visualization Techniques

Black and White Composition

Framing

Patterns and Lines

Shape and Form

High Key

Low Key

Shades of Gray

Finding Monochromatic Subjects

Black and White at Night

Photographing People

Portraiture in Black and White

BLACK AND WHITE IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Digital Black and White Roadmap

The RAW Advantage

Black and White in Adobe Camera RAW

Black and White in Lightroom

Grayscale Conversion Using Presets

HSL Conversion

Exposure Gradients and Adjustments

Exporting Virtual Copies into Photoshop as Layers

Multiple Layers and Masking in Photoshop

Multi-RAW Processing in Photoshop

Black and White in Photoshop

Blending with Black

Using the Channel Mixer

Black & White Adjustment Layers

Silver Efex Pro

Topaz B&W Effects

OnOne Perfect B&W

The Digital Analog to the Analog Zone System

Combining Conversions in Photoshop

CREATIVE BLACK AND WHITE OPPORTUNITIES

Lighting and Monochromatic Photos

Creating High-Key Effects

Creating Low-Key Effects

HDR in Black and White

Shooting for HDR

Using HDR Software

Toning and Tinting

Tinting with a Black & White Adjustment Layer

Split Toning

The Ansel Adams Effect

Selective Color

Hand Coloring

Using LAB Color

Inverting the L Channel

Equalizing LAB Channels

Swapping Tonalities

Using Blending Modes

LAB Inversions

Soft Focus

Adding Soft Focus

Pinhole Effect

Solarization

Using Curves to Solarize an Image

Simulating the Blossfeldt Effect

Duotone and Tritone Effects

Adding and Reducing Noise

Film Effects

Infrared Camera Conversions

Infrared Conversion without an IR Camera

Creating X-Ray Images

MOBILE BLACK AND WHITE

Black and White using a Cell Phone Camera

Working with Snapseed

Toward a Monochromatic Mobile Workflow

Notes and Resources

Glossary

Index

Learn how breaking photographic rules can result in stunning black-and-white photos Black-and-white photography poses unique challenges; without color to guide the eye, contrast, lighting, and composition take on even more importance. Renowned photographer Harold Davis explains these elements and demonstrates the basic rules of black and white photography as well as when and how to break them. He breaks through the complexity of this photographic medium, explores opportunities for black-and-white imagery, and shows how to capitalize on every one. Richly illustrated with the author's own images, this beautiful guide presents the skills needed for great black-and-white photos while encouraging your confidence and creativity. Goes beyond basics to teach photographers how to conquer the challenges posed by black-and-white photography Appeals to professionals and serious amateurs who are interested in exploring creative black-and-white imagery Presents photography fundamentals and shows how black and white requires some of the rules to be bent Encourages creative thinking and confidence Lavishly illustrated with Harold Davis's outstanding monochromatic photos Whether you're a professional just venturing into black and white or a serious amateur, Creative Black & White will both educate and inspire you.

Own composition, use composition, and make composition your own in your photographs!

Of all the magical elixirs that make up a successful photograph, composition is perhaps the most fundamental, and at the same time the most elusive. What makes a composition “good”? It’s hard to define exactly, but we instinctively recognize good composition when we see it. There is an undeniable emotional response when a composition resonates with and complements the subject matter of an image.

But traditional attempts to define “good composition” and to pass on rules for good compositional construction are often doomed to failure. The truth is, there are no hard and fast rules. Rules eliminate experimentation and spontaneity, which are crucial for creating compelling, dynamic, and exciting compositions. The best compositions contain an element of the unexpected. “Expect the unexpected!” is perhaps the only viable “rule” of composition. To create exciting compositions, you must have a willingness to embrace serendipity and change as part of your artistic practice. After all, composition is a process, not a result.

In Composition & Photography, photographer and bestselling author Harold Davis teaches you how to perceive patterns and abstractions and incorporate them into your image-making process. If one of the goals of photography is to show viewers things that are new, or things they haven’t seen before, or things they have seen many times but need to see anew, then it’s with the thoughtful and considered use of composition that you do that.

In this book, you’ll learn how to reduce your subject matter to the fundamentals, and to show familiar subjects in unfamiliar, novel ways. Harold covers topics and themes such as:

▪ Lines and circles

▪ Rectangles

▪ Combinations

▪ Repetition

▪ Symmetry and asymmetry

▪ Abstraction

▪ Entering and exiting

▪ Vanishing points and perspective

▪ Emphasis

▪ Designing within a frame

▪ Creating order from chaos

Composition & Photography will help you find the tools and visual vocabulary to creatively design your photographs. Regardless of the genre and kind of photography you practice, you’ll learn to create powerful compositions that incorporate structure and form into your work in ways that best support your images. Along the way, Harold shows and discusses his own work relating to each compositional element or theme he’s exploring. And featured throughout the book are exercises about flexibility and process, designed to spur your creativity and help you begin an internal creative discussion.

“My goal as a photography teacher and writer about photography is to inspire and to help you become the best and most creative photographer and image-maker that you can be.”
―Harold Davis

“Harold Davis is a force of nature―a man of astonishing eclectic skills and accomplishments.”
―Rangefinder Magazine

This is the classic guide for analog photography enthusiasts interested in high-quality darkroom work. The fourth edition from darkroom master Steve Anchell is packed with techniques for silver-based processing. In addition to "recipes" for darkroom experiments, this book contains invaluable information on developers, push-processing, reversal processing, enlarged negatives, pyro formulas, printing, and toning prints. The Darkroom Cookbook also offers advice about where to get darkroom equipment, how to set up a darkroom, safe darkroom working spaces, and more. Key features of this revised edition include: Over 200 step-by-step or do-it-yourself formulas Tips for mastering the "ingredients" of analog photography processing, namely the chemicals used to develop, fix, stop and tone Special technique contributions and stunning black and white imagery by professionals such as Bruce Barnbaum, Tim Rudman, John Sexton, and more.

This second edition of the classic text directs dance teachers through what they need to know to teach creative dance from pre-K through adult levels in a variety of settings. It includes a sequential curriculum, lesson plans, editable forms, and teacher strategies created by master teacher Anne Green Gilbert.

Make great photos of flowers, gardens, landscapes and the beautiful world around us

Gardens are everywhere, all around us. In this long-awaited guide to garden photography, noted botanical photographer and author Harold Davis tackles the subject of garden photography with an expansive brush. In this book, you’ll find techniques for photographing extreme macro subjects while becoming a better landscape photographer. From tiny flowers to vast landscapes, your photography can be enhanced using the techniques you will discover in Creative Garden Photography.

What is a garden? The topic of garden photography encompasses a huge range of photographic styles and techniques that can be applied to almost any kind of photography. Learn to use this toolset from one of the acknowledged modern masters of photography.

• Explore gardens, types of gardens, and how best to photograph them

• Create stunning floral macros and high-key imagery

• Learn techniques for adding impressionism to your photos

• Use light and creative exposures to enhance your imagery

• Master close-up focusing, depth-of-field, and focus stacking

• Create your own custom field studio “in a bucket”

• Complete exposure data and the story behind every photo

“My goal as a photography teacher and writer about photography is to inspire and to help you become the best and most creative photographer and image-maker that you can be.”
—Harold Davis

“Harold Davis’s etherial floral arrangements have a purity and translucence that borders on the spiritual.”
—Popular Photo Magazine

“Davis is a pioneer and a new art form—part photographer, part digital illusionist.”
—Rangefinder Magazine

“Harold Davis’s Creative Photography series is a great way to start a photography library.”
—PhotoFidelity

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ENTERING THE GARDEN
Understanding Gardens
Garden Styles and Purposes
Different Kinds of Garden Photography
Garden Purpose and Design Informs Photography

OF LIGHT AND GARDEN
Sunrise, Sunset, Blue Hours, Golden Hour

ON LOCATION: THE ROMANTIC GARDEN, SCHWETZINGEN AT SUNRISE, GERMANY

ON THE IPHONE: SNAPSEED

USING A TRIPOD
Using a Tripod for More Creative Options
Tripods for Garden Photography: Materials, Legs, Types of Heads
Tripod Tips and Tricks

BLENDING EXPOSURES TO EXTEND RANGE

BLACK AND WHITE IN THE GARDEN
Photographing the Zen Garden

ON LOCATION: IMPERIAL GARDENS OF OLD NARA, JAPAN

CONVERTING TO BLACK AND WHITE

IMPRESSIONISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Camera in Motion
Subject in Motion with Camera Stationary
Creative Exposures
In-Camera Multiple Exposures
Post-Production

ON LOCATION: PHOTOGRAPHING MONET'S GIVERNY, FRANCE

ON THE IPHONE: WATERLOGUE

FOCUSING ON REPETITION
Compositions with Repeating Garden Elements and Patterned Spaces
Best Practices in Focus
Depth of Field

ON LOCATION: THE PARC DE SCEAUX, FRANCE

FOCUS STACKING

DRAGONFLIES, BEES, AND WASPS
Stopping Motion
Getting Close
Dealing with Those that Sting
Auxiliary Lighting: Reflectors, Macro Strobes, LED Lighting

WATER DROPS AND SPIDER WEBS
Refractions in Close-Up Photography
Spider-Web Studio

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

GARDENS OF THE MIND

PRINTING GARDEN PHOTOS

NOTES & RESOURCES
Off-Beat Garden Photography Tools
Places to Practice Garden Photography
Recommended iPhone Apps for Garden Photography
iPhone Workflow
ImageBlender

NOTES AND RESOURCES
GLOSSARY
INDEX

This is an updated and newly revised edition of the classic book The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression. Originally published in 1994 and first revised in 2010, The Art of Photography has sold well over 100,000 copies and has firmly established itself as the most readable, understandable, and complete textbook on photography. Featuring nearly 200 beautiful photographs in both black-and-white and color, as well as numerous charts, graphs, and tables, this book presents the world of photography to beginner, intermediate, and advanced photographers who seek to make a personal statement through the medium of photography. Without talking down to anyone or talking over anyone's head, renowned photographer, teacher, and author Bruce Barnbaum presents how-to techniques for both traditional and digital approaches. In this newest edition of the book, Barnbaum has included many new images and has completely revised the text, with particular focus on two crucial chapters covering digital photography: he revised a chapter covering the digital zone system, and includes a brand-new chapter on image adjustments using digital tools. There is also a new chapter discussing the concepts of “art versus technique” and “traditional versus digital” approaches to photography. Throughout the book, Barnbaum goes well beyond the technical, as he delves deeply into the philosophical, expressive, and creative aspects of photography so often avoided in other books. Barnbaum is recognized as one of the world's finest landscape and architectural photographers, and for decades has been considered one of the best instructors in the field of photography. This latest incarnation of his textbook—which has evolved, grown, and been refined over the past 45 years—will prove to be an ongoing, invaluable photographic reference for years to come. It is truly the resource of choice for the thinking photographer. Topics include: • Elements of Composition • Visualization • Light and Color • Filters • Black-and-White • The Digital Zone System • The Zone System for Film • Printing and Presentation • Exploding Photographic Myths • Artistic Integrity • Realism, Abstraction, and Art • Creativity and Intuition • A Personal Philosophy • And much, much more…