Mastering Black and White Digital Photography

As a professional photographer I found Michael Freeman's book to be the most informative and concise study on the complex and somewhat baffling world of digital photography. He is a master of his craft and opens one's eyes to the major developments. His writing and illustrations are supberb, he simplifies what could be compex adjustments and tasks. Excellent, a must for any serious photographer. Thanks Michael

Whenever I read a photogrpahy book such as this one, I always carry around those little plastic post-it notes to mark any important pages. After reading it, I found that I had marked almost half of the entire book! Freeman explains different ways of converting color files to black and white using layer masks, contrast, desaturating, and everything else. The great thing, though, is that he gives you solid examples and a step-by-step process for each one. He tells you how to fix a washed-out sky that unbalances the photo, how to manipulate each color when it has already been converted to black and white and why this is such a useful tool, how to work with skin tones, how to get great contrast without clipping, and even how to use layers with each color. As a bonus, at the end of the book he talks aboout printing; what inks are good, what paper is good, etc. A very thorough and easy to understand book with great detail. I recommend this book for anyone interested in B & W photography or B & W Photoshop techniques.

I am impressed with this book. I have read many run-of-the-mill Photoshop books and this isn't one of them for all the right reasons. This book is chock full of useful, long term learning about black and white photography from the moment you look at a scene to the final print. While it is geared toward work in Photoshop, it spends enough time in basic design principles and how to shoot, that after practicing the principles in the book I will be a much better photographer rather than just a more skilled user of Photoshop. The examples in the book are plentiful, useful, and gorgeous. Many side-by-side photos show you the before and after, and in fact many of them are 6 or 8 side-by-side comparison shots of different techniques or adjustments. This is the book for someone who loves looking at spectacular black and white work and wants to bring her work closer to that level. There are five large chapters: The Language of Mono, Color into Grayscale, Digital Black and White, Image Editing & Effects, and The Print. In the first two chapters, the basic thrust is on colors -- the colors we see and that the camera records -- and how they can be manipulated to create stunning black and whites. The sections on filters I found particularly helpful. I often stopped and tried the various techniques on some of my own photos. Digital Black and White, Image Editing & Effects are the meat and potatoes. Freeman is of the Ansel Adams school and so begins to talk about tonal ranges using the zone system. Then he does so much more, covering gradient maps, multiple exposure composites, and how to mimic specific film types. He uses a series of case studies interspersed throughout the text to show how various techniques might be brought into the workflow on a given photo. At first glance, I was disappointed in the book because his sections are usually only two pages long. But it turns out he is a good writer who conveys precisely what he needs to in a minimum of words. The book is remarkably clear while discussing complex artistic issues and techniques. It requires dedicated study and experimentation: especially spending time evaluating the photos. If you're willing to do this, indeed if you're looking for a guide to do this, then Michael Freeman is the one to help. The book is inspiring as well as instructive, and will remain a reference on my desk for a long time to come.

This is wonderfully organised book and presents a multitude of techniques to use in Photoshop to create black and white images from color images. The book transitions from beginner techniques to more advanced methods. Freeman describes all of the steps taken in converting color images to black and white while showing all of the creative aspects in adjusting the channel mixer to elicit the effect desired. This is a great "cookbook" of techniques and has found a space on my desk by my computer.

While color photography has clearly taken over the world of photography, who can forget the imagery of an Ansel Adams black and white print. For some images, for some applications such as black and white printing in newspapers, magazines and books, for a lot of industrial applications you will still be called on for black and white images. The first thought of many photographers is to go back to film cameras and shoot using your old equipment. This book is by a professional photographer with work published by the Smithsonian, Time-Life Books, Readers Digest and many more. In the book he points out that the advantages of going digital in the first place apply even more to black and white than to color. The power of image processing allows you to have greater control, greater experimental reach than is possible with film. He covers several aspects of photography not covered elsewhere. This including the black and white monotone image, as well as duotones, tritones and producing images that appear to be hand colored. All in all, this book opens up new capabilities in producing photographs.