Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual

A Basic Manual, 3rd Edit Revised is an excellent resource for the new (film) photographer. I'd also argue its not a half-bad general resource for the more experienced photographer. I used his previous version in an introductory course in black and white photography that I taught for a number of years. Of late I have been using Mastering Black and White Photography by Bernhard Suess but will now switch back to this text. Student response to both texts has been overwhelmingly positive however I feel Horenstein's writing style is easier for them to follow. The sequence, illustrations and figures of the Horenstein book seem both logical as well as well done. Particularly useful are the illustrations of common negative faults, something I had missed after moving to the Suess text. Highly recommended but please note that this is a book heavily weighted to using film cameras as well as processes and procedures in the darkroom. There are other works more suited for digital photography and for those who are looking for a reference on the "art" of photography.

I just want to add come comments to the previous reviews. Horenstein's manual is geared for the beginner and covers all of the basics and then some in a clear and precise manner. The book is extremely well illustrated with great shots that explicate the techniques that the author discusses. When I began to experiment with photography I came to regard this book as an absolutely superb resource, the ideal beginning point from which one can proceed to more sophisticated things. One reviewer noted that there is nothing in the most recent edition concerning digital photography. If you are a traditionalist who wants to stick to film, and all the complexities of developing film, this deficiency surely does not present a problem, and in fact may be an asset; even an earlier edition will be tremendously useful. This is a great book at a fair price and I very strongly recommend it.

I picked this book on recommendation by my darkroom teacher and I loved it! Henry Horenstein covers everything you need to know in order to make good quality black and white pictures from start to finish and well beyond just pressing the button. He discusses how to use different cameras and films that you might come across as well as different types of lenses and their pro's and con's. His discussion of exposures and appertures is very informative and beautifully illustrated with lots of examples. The sections on film and print developping are filled with numerous practical tips and step-by-step guides I found enormously useful - so much that after reading them I was able to set up a darkroom by myself on a minimum budget (and avoided buying a separate darkroom book altogether). The section on using multigrade filters was particularly good. The last few sections deal with toning and some creative effect and are just opening the door to unconventional photographic methods. (The goal of the author was deffinitely not to review all creative movements in photography which is another book by itself.) The book is printed on heavy paper and all illustations (black and white of course) are of excellent quality. There are numerous examples of beautiful photographs with a short explanation of how they were made. Overall, I was enormously satisfied with the book and find it to be an excellent B & W photography textbook. The book is very complete and full of important facts and tips of the "wish someone told me that" type. It is very exhaustive in covering the basics but goes well beyond the bare minimum. Despite my previous experience, I learned an awful lot by this book and now I am even more inspired by B & W photography and more confident in the darkroom. I would recommend this book to every beginner and slightly experienced aficionado of B & W photography. PS: This book does not address digital photography in any way. There are tons of other very good book which do that.

A few years ago I did a 1:1 study with a retired fashion photographer who recommended this book. Even though I have been working in b/w for over 30 years I find the book useful. Nice to have all the basic info in one place and this book does that!! As to a lack of "artistic suggestions" in the book...well I have a huge library of texts that were purchased to help me learn the "art" of photogaphy. My retired friend taught me a valuable lesson, learn the technical from a book then shoot, shoot, shoot!! That's about the only way you will learn the "art" of it. I've been asked to teach an intro to b/w photography this summer and this will be the textbook for it.

For 10 semesters I've taught a subject involving imaging and science. In their lab sessions, my students have to learn how to take, develop, and print B & W images. We use Horenstein each term as the recommended text. I can look at a print a tell if that student has worked with Horenstein - those who use this text produce much, much better prints than those who rely only upon what we teach in our lab sessions. Why? Because half of the art of great images lies in the darkroom, not the camera. (Or, for digital media, half of the art lies in Photoshop and not in the camera. The other half may lie in the printer.)To produce excellent images, you need to start with the basics (as laid out by Horenstein), and then spend lots of time in the darkroom learning these skills by using them. Once you know how the tools of the darkroom can transform a mediocre negative into a handsome print, you will be ready to learn how to capture excellent images on the negative and transform them into heart-stopping prints. Look through the table of contents - if you already know this things, then move on. If they strike you as things you really should know, give Horenstein a chance!