Complete Guide to Black and White Photography

by John Hedgecoe

Once considered the preserve of the specialist photographer, the art of black and white photography is now considered a sophisticated art form in its own right. More and more amateur photographers are being attracted to its graphic qualities and are taking black and white images in preference to colour. This revised edition of John Hedgecoe's bestselling book on black and white photography tackles the most common problems associated with the medium. The first chapter, Basic Principles, explains how to convert from colour into black and white, as well as the issues inherent in tonal range, texture, contrast, framing, movement and filters. Discover how to implement these techniques into your work using still life, portrait and landscape photography. Digital photography is now so commonplace that many photographers use nothing else. This edition includes a fully updated section assessing the role of the digital darkroom, including darkroom setup and how to make the most of computer manipulation, converting images, spotting, retouching and cloning. Readers will also find a comprehensive glossary at the end of the book, which explains at-a-glance many of the most commonly used terms in photography.

Genres: Photography, Art, Reference

Paperback

First published December 31, 1996

About the author

John Hedgecoe (24 March 1932 – 3 June 2010) was an award-winning British photographer and author of over 30 books on photography. He established the photography department in 1965 at the Royal College of Art, where he was Professor from 1975 to 1994 and Professor Emeritus until his death. He was also Pro-Rector of the college from 1981 to 1993. His photographs appear in permanent collections at the New York Museum of Modern Art and London's National Portrait Gallery.

"Professor John Hedgecoe was a photographer who took the portrait of the Queen which is used on British postage stamps; as such he is credited with the planet's most reproduced image, which has so far sold more than 200 billion copies." (The Telegraph)

Reviews

[CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the last books of this type to reference and deal with film.

A good addition to any photographer's shelves.

Another re-set read date in 2011 as I went through this classic work to see where I am going to re-shelve it as I am probably almost at the end of my using film ever seriously again.

There are several concepts that translate to digital imagery, but they are covered as well or more precisely in other books and references that I use more often.

[Wendelius · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much to say about that one. It's about black and white and the various related techniques. I found the book out of date, light on content and I'm not a fan of the author's style. So it made it pretty much a waste of money and time for me.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like most of his photography books, but this one was more about photography in general than b&w in particular, which was what I was looking for. Not a bad book, but not what I needed and to be honest I didn't like his pictures much.