Learn how breaking photographic rules can result in stunning black-and-white photosBlack-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 photographyAppeals to professionals and serious amateurs who are interested in exploring creative black-and-white imageryPresents photography fundamentals and shows how black and white requires some of the rules to be bentEncourages creative thinking and confidenceLavishly illustrated with Harold Davis's outstanding monochromatic photosWhether you're a professional just venturing into black and white or a serious amateur, Creative Black&White will both educate and inspire you.

Now that you’ve bought that amazing new DSLR, you need a book that goes beyond the camera manual to capture stunning images. For digital photographers interested in black and white, this guide will help beginning- and intermediate-level shooters conquer the fundamentals and take amazing shots. Pro photographer John Batdorff starts with the basics, including composition, light, contrast, exposure, and when to choose black and white. He covers all the key camera features (regardless of what type of DSLR you have) that affect your image, including the shutter speed’s ability to freeze and convey motion, and the aperture’s direct correlation with depth of field. Once you’ve captured those great shots, John takes you step by step through the color conversion process to black and white in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom using simple presets. He also covers the enhancements and features that can be added using Nik Silver Efex Pro software–from presets to control points using U-Point Technology. Follow along with your friendly and knowledgeable guide and you will: Learn to see in black and white by understanding contrast, texture, and lighting Understand all the best tricks and techniques for getting great black and white action shots, landscapes, and portraits Create your own digital workflow by understanding the basics of post processing in Lightroom, then go beyond the basics with Nik Silver Efex Pro Share your images and learn tips on printing and presenting your work online And once you've got the shot, show it off! Join the book's Flickr group, share your photos, and discuss how you use your camera to get great black and white shots at flickr.com/groups/blackandwhite fromsnapshotstogreatshots.

How to create stunning black and white photos in a digital formatShooting pictures in black and white presents unique challenges for beginners and experienced digital photographers alike. A strong understanding of photography’s fundamentals is crucial to capturing great black and white images, and factors such as contrast and lighting are much more integral to black and white photography than to color. Black and White Digital Photography Photo Workshop teaches digital photographers the skills they need to master black and white photography.Focuses on the rules of photography and how they apply differently to black and white photographyOffers guidance for properly uploading digital images to a computerExplains insider tips and tricks for using Photoshop and Lightroom to successfully enhance black and white imagesBlack and white photography presents different challenges than color photography. In Black and White Digital Photography Photo Workshop, photographers learn how to identify great opportunities for black and white photographs and how to turn those opportunities into stunning monochrome images they can be proud to display. From the Author: Sample Photos and Their Stories One vital element of good black and white photography is lighting and how the light affects your subjects. I believe that many of the black and white images that I shoot are light driven, meaning that many times I will see how the light and shadow are interacting with the subject in front of me, and will use the tones and contrast there to determine if it should be a color or black and white image. This can happen whether there is the bold contrast of big areas of light and shadow, or the subtle tones of gray, smoothly fading towards bright and dark areas. Pay attention to the shapes and textures of the scene in front of your camera, and start to engage your brain in trying to learn how the colors of real life will convert into tones and textures in monochrome. In your home, on a walk or even on your commute, begin to see the tones of light and dark all around you to help visualize how the contrast of the light is creating the emotional tone of the scenes in front of you. Ask yourself questions about the light always helps in visualizing-is this a bright or dark scene? Is the interaction of the light and dark areas of the scene hard and abrupt or is it soft and gradual? How does this light fit the scene? And finally… how does the light in the scene make me feel? Spend more time trying to visualize how light is creating the shape, texture and contrast in the scene in front of your camera and the feel that you are attempting to share in your black and white photographs, than worrying too much about a lot of technically perfect settings. Imparting the feel and emotion of the scene in front of you will be far more impactful to the viewer than making sure you had just the right f/stop. Commuter(see story below) Sunset(see story below) Boxer(see story below) Commuter The image of the commuter’s legs is interesting to me because of the strong lines and contrast of the scene. With a square shaped image, the line of legs and shadow created with the backlight of the setting sun on the sidewalk keep our eyes moving right back to the shoes and the step. All of the other line and texture in the scene continue to do the same thing, bringing interest right back to the point of the step. This image really breaks the rule of thirds, and yet there is subtle interesting balance by being off kilter and just off center. 1/1600 second, f/4 and ISO 320 Sunset So often the color of a sunset becomes such a big focus in photography that we forget how much the beauty of that sunset can be seen in black and white. The layers of the scene are shown with the different textures from top to bottom, from ethereal sky, to smooth foothills, to the soft rounded texture of the trees down to the pastoral agelessness of the barn and wagon. 1/80 second, f/7.1 and ISO 320 Boxer A moment of reflection is captured in a split second after a bout; the boxer readies himself for the judges’ decision. Black and white photography brings the focus right to his lean and muscular shape and expression in the soft tones of the shadows, while in color this image may be full of distraction colors, from the ringside ropes to the color of the light itself. 1/320 second f/2.8 and ISO 4000

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) is one of the most influential and beloved figures in the history of photography. His inventive work of the early 1930s helped define the creative potential of modern photography. Following World War II, he helped found the Magnum photo agency, which enabled photojournalists to reach a broad audience through magazines such as Life while retaining control over their work. Cartier-Bresson would go on to produce major bodies of photographic reportage, capturing such events as China during the revolution, the Soviet Union after Stalin's death, the United States in the postwar boom and Europe as its older cultures confronted modern realities. Published to accompany an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, this is the first major publication to make full use of the extensive holdings of the Fondation Cartier-Bresson-including thousands of prints and a vast resource of documents relating to the photographer's life and work. The heart of the book surveys Cartier-Bresson's career through 300 photographs divided into 12 chapters. While many of his most famous pictures are included, a great number of images will be unfamiliar even to specialists. A wide-ranging essay by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of Photography at the Museum, offers an entirely new understanding of Cartier-Bresson's extraordinary career and its overlapping contexts of journalism and art. The extensive supporting material-featuring detailed chronologies of the photographer's professional travels and of spreads of his picture stories as they appeared in magazines-will revolutionize the study of Cartier-Bresson's work.

BLACK&WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY is a comprehensive instructional book that covers every element of photography. Henry Horenstein's books have been widely used at leading universities, including Parsons School of Design, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and MIT as well as in continuing education programs. Horenstein is a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. BLACK&WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY is a real bargain among photographic how-to books.

Fans of black-and-white photography can bring their skills up-to-date with this revised and richly illustrated guide! Extremely popular in its first edition, it now includes information about the latest cameras and photographic technology, as well as new filters and software tools such as Adobe® Photoshop® 5.5.  John Beardsworth explains how to think in monochrome, creatively convert pictures to B&W, fine-tune the monochrome image, and record expressive, eye-catching black-and-white interpretations.   

George DeWolfe is a master of the fine print: he studied with photographic geniuses Ansel Adams and Minor White, and worked as a consultant to the most significant companies in the digital photography world. Now, he passes on his considerable expertise to all, in a breathtaking new DIGITAL MASTERS guide that combines artistic concepts for taking beautiful photographs with an array of practical techniques. With interest in black-and-white exploding, digital photographers will rush to take advantage of the knowledge he imparts.    

Black and white conversion techniques are like politicians making election promises: every one of them claims to be the penultimate solution to your needs. Regardless of their claims, you still need to create images that look like photographs and not like something the viewer sees as “something you did in Photoshop.”   There are numerous ways to convert an image from color to hues of gray. But which one works best–and why–are questions that may be asked but are rarely if ever answered. Vincent Versace will show you some of the best ways to convert an image to black and white without ever leaving the RGB color space. In this book, you will learn which methods give you the best results and when to choose a simple or a complex solution.  Different images have different needs as they are converted to black and white, and Vincent covers them all, leaving no stone unturned in his quest to create amazing, timeless black and white images–and teach the reader how to do the same. From Oz to Kansas includes coverage of Adobe Photoshop and Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro. Vincent explores all the options in Photoshop for converting color images to black and white, and discusses the merits of each, including when one conversion technique is more appropriate than another.   Versace shares the knowledge he's gained from decades of research and real-world experience to help the reader take black and white images from "good enough" to fine art quality.   Master black and white fine art photographer, Photoshop expert, and master printer Vincent Versace delivers the book that fans and readers have long been waiting for: a comprehensive reference and set of tutorials covering the best ways to convert color images into stunning black and white photographs.

A totally revised edition of one of the best-selling books in the field. The best basic photography book on the market has now been updated to include all the latest techniques, materials, and processes.