The Art of Photography, 2nd Edition

The Art of Photography, 2nd Edition

by Bruce Barnbaum
Released March 2017
Publisher(s): Rocky Nook
ISBN: 9781681982120

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Book description

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…

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Table of contents

  1. Acknowledgements
  2. 1 Communication Through Photography
    1. Enthusiasm
    2. Judging Your Own Personal Response
  3. 2 What Is Composition?
    1. How the Human Eye Sees
    2. Unified Thought
    3. Simplicity
    4. Expressing Your Own Point of View
    5. Simplicity vs. Complexity
  4. 3 Elements of Composition
    1. Contrast and Tone
    2. Line
    3. Form
    4. Line, Form, Contrast, and Emotion
    5. Pattern
    6. Balance
    7. Movement
    8. Positive/Negative Space
    9. Texture
    10. Camera Position
    11. Focal Length of Lens and Cropping
    12. Depth of Field
    13. Shutter Speed
    14. Relationships
    15. Involvement with the Scene
    16. Rules, Formulas, and Other Problems and Pitfalls
  5. 4 Visualization
    1. Step 1: Photographic Looking and Seeing
    2. Step 2: Composing an Image
    3. Step 3: Envisioning the Final Image
    4. Step 4: Suggested Procedures for Those Having Trouble Envisioning a Final Image
    5. Step 5: Planning a Strategy for a Final Image
    6. How Your Eye Differs from Your Camera
    7. Alternative Approaches
  6. 5 Light
    1. Looking at Light
    2. Exercises in Learning to See Light More Accurately
    3. Light Determines Form
    4. Types of Lighting/Quality of Light
    5. Light as Seen by the Eye and by Film or Sensors, and the Inverse Square Law
  7. 6 Color
    1. The Color Wheel and Color Sphere
    2. Color Composition
    3. Color Families, Color Contrast, and Their Emotional Effects
    4. Subjectivity and Mood of Color
    5. Working with Color Digitally
    6. Working with Color Traditionally
    7. In Summary
  8. 7 Filters
    1. Black-and-White Filters for Film
    2. Examples with a Hypothetical Landscape
    3. Contrast Control with Filters
    4. Infrared Film and Filters
    5. Color Correction Filters for Traditional Film Imagery
    6. Neutral Density and Polarizing Filters
    7. Problems Associated with Polarizers
    8. Digital Polarizing Filter
    9. Digital Black-and-White Filtration
    10. Digital Color Filtration
  9. 8 The Zone System of Exposure for Black-and-White Film
    1. A Brief Overview
    2. Film’s Response to Light: Building the Zone System
    3. Translating Negative Densities to Print Tonalities
    4. The Light Meter—How It Works
    5. Review of Negative Exposure Procedure
    6. Using the Zone System to Depart from Reality
    7. The Zone System for Color Negatives
    8. The Zone System and the Inverse Square Law
    9. In Summary
  10. 9 Contrast Control and the Extended Zone System for Black-and-White Negatives
    1. Chapter 9 Overview
    2. The Negative During Development
    3. The Bellows Analogy
    4. Putting Higher Zones to Work
    5. Reciprocity Failure
    6. Examples of Decreasing and Increasing Contrast
    7. The Exposure/Density Curve and Zone 4 Shadow Placement
    8. Differences Between Photography and Sensitometry: Texture vs. Tone and Zone 4 Shadow Placement
    9. Developing the Exposed Negative
    10. Explanation of Compensating Development
    11. Two-Solution Compensating Development for Negatives
    12. Development Procedures for Sheet Film and Roll Film
    13. The Zone System and Roll Film
    14. Negative Materials and Developers
  11. 10 The Print
    1. Black-and-White Enlarging Papers
    2. Variable Contrast vs. Graded Papers
    3. Fiber Base Papers vs. Resin Coated (RC) Papers
    4. Black-and-White Paper Developers
    5. Making Contact Proof Prints
    6. Preliminary Work Toward a Final Print
    7. Make Test Prints, Not Test Strips
    8. Dodging and Burning
    9. Integrating the Entire Process: Visualization, Exposure, Development, and Printing
    10. Burning with Variable Contrast Papers
    11. Advanced Darkroom Techniques
    12. Inspection, Evaluation, and the Myth of “Dry-Down”
    13. Potassium Ferricyanide Reducing (Bleaching)
    14. Final Fixing of the Image
    15. Local vs. Overall Contrast Control
    16. Scale
    17. Selenium Toning Prints
    18. Other Toners
    19. Chemical Coloration
    20. Full Archival Processing of Prints
    21. Toning, Intensifying, and Reducing Negatives
    22. Cold, Neutral, and Warm Tone Papers
    23. Review of Contrast Controls
    24. Infinite Contrast Control for Black-and-White after Negative Development
    25. Color Printing
    26. The Final Product Is What Matters
    27. Scanning from Film
  12. 11 The Digital Zone System
    1. Basics of Digital Exposure
    2. The Sensor’s Useful Brightness Range
    3. Translating Theory to Excellent Digital Exposures
    4. The Histogram—The Heart of the Digital Zone System
    5. The RAW Converter—Processing the RAW Exposure
    6. High Dynamic Range Images—The Extended Zone System for Digital Photography
    7. Converting Digital Color Exposures to Black-and-White
    8. Panoramas and Other Image Combinations
  13. 12 Image Adjustments—Using the Digital Tools
    1. The ACR Tool Chest
    2. ACR Summary
    3. The Photoshop Tool Chest
    4. Returning to ACR from Photoshop
    5. Closing Thoughts
  14. 13 Traditional, Digital, Art and Technique
    1. Art, Technique, and Their Importance
    2. Choosing Digital or Traditional
    3. Some Closing Thoughts
  15. 14 Exploding Photographic Myths
    1. Myth #1
    2. Myth #2
    3. Myth #3
    4. Myth #4
    5. Myth #5
    6. Myth #6
    7. Myth #7
    8. Myth #8
    9. Myth #9
    10. Myth #10
  16. 15 Presentation
    1. Dry Mounting Prints
    2. Making Positioning Guides for Print Placement
    3. Spotting, Etching, and Correction of Defects
    4. Print Finishing
  17. 16 Photographic Realism, Abstraction, and Art
    1. Photography as Fine Art
    2. Photography and Painting—Their Mutual Influence
    3. Some Personal Examples
    4. The Strength of Abstraction
    5. Inwardly and Outwardly Directed Questions
    6. The Power of Photography
  18. 17 Approaching Creativity Intuitively
    1. Intuition in Science
    2. Avoiding Intuition
    3. Understanding and Misunderstanding Intuition
    4. Examples of the Intuitive Approach
    5. Applying Intuition to Your Photography
    6. Conclusion
  19. 18 Toward a Personal Philosophy
    1. Flexibility
    2. Visual Arts
    3. Nonvisual Arts
    4. Expanding and Defining Your Interests
    5. Limitations of Photography
    6. Developing a Personal Style
    7. Self-Critique, Interaction, and Study
  20. Appendix 1 Testing Materials and Equipment for Traditional Photography
  21. Appendix 2 Enlarger Light Sources

Product information

  • Title: The Art of Photography, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Bruce Barnbaum
  • Release date: March 2017
  • Publisher(s): Rocky Nook
  • ISBN: 9781681982120