This best-selling introductory photography text teaches students how to use the medium confidently and effectively by emphasizing both technique and visual awareness. Comprehensive in scope, this book features superb instructional illustrations and examples in its clear presentation of both black and white and color photography. London offers extensive coverage of digital imaging and the latest technological developments, such as Web page design and formatting photos on CD-ROMs.

Preface viii

1  Getting Started     2

Camera and Film          4

Getting Your Camera Ready     5

Focusing and Setting the Exposure        6

Taking Your Picture      8

What Will You Photograph?     9

Some Basic Guidelines to Get You Started        9

Photographing People   10

Photographing Places    12

2 Camera     14

Basic Camera Controls 16

The Shutter       18

The Shutter and Light    18

The Shutter and Motion            20

Conveying Motion in a Still Photograph 22

The Aperture    24

The Aperture and Light 24

The Aperture and Depth of Field           26

Using Shutter and Aperture Together    28

Choosing a Camera      30

Keeping the Camera Steady     33

photographer at work: Photojournalist James Nachtwey       34

3  Lens     36

From Pinhole to Lens    38

Lens Focal Length        40

Normal Focal Length    42

Long Focal Length        44

Short Focal Length       46

Zoom Lenses    48

Special-Purpose Lenses            49

Focusing Your Lens      50

Manual Focus   50

Automatic Focus          52

Focus and Depth of Field          54

Controlling Depth of Field         56

Zone Focusing  58

Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance     59

Perspective       60

Guidelines for Buying a Lens     62

Getting the Most from Your Camera and Lens  63

photographer at work: Mary Ellen Mark           64

4  Exposure, Sensors, and Film     66

Exposure Basics           68       

Equivalent Exposures    68       

How Exposure Meters Work    69       

In-Camera Exposure Meters     70       

Automatic Exposure     71

How to Meter  72       

An Overall Reading of a Scene with Average Tones      72

Using Different Types of Meters            73

Metering High-Contrast Scenes            74       

Exposing for Specific Tones and Bracketing      76

Hard-to-Meter Scenes 77

Responding to Light      78

Silver and Pixels           78

Selecting and Using Film           79

Exposure Latitude and Dynamic Range 80

How Much Can Exposures Vary?         80

Film and Sensor Speed 82

Speed and ISO            82

Grain and Noise           83

Extending Beyond Visible Light 84

Infrared Photographs    84

Special Purpose Films   86

Instant and Chromogenic Films 86

Polarizing Filters           87

Using Filters     88

Using Exposure            90

photographer at work: Advertising Photographer Clint Clemens     92

5  Developing the Negative     94

How to Process Black-and-White Roll Film      96

Equipment and Supplies You’ll Need    96

Processing Chemicals and How to Handle Them           97

Chemical Safety            98

Processing Black-and-White Roll Film Step by Step     100

 How Film Processing Affects Your Picture       106

Exposure and Development:  Under, Normal, Over       108

6  Printing in a Darkroom     110

Black-and-White Printing          112

Equipment and Supplies for Printing      112

The Enlarger     114

Printing Papers 116

Making a Black-and-White Print Step by Step  118

A Contact Sheet: A Whole Roll at Once           118     

Setting Up an Enlargement        120

A Test Strip for Your Print        122

A Trial Print–and Then a Final Print     123     

Processing a Black-and-White Print      124     

Evaluating Density and Contrast in a Print          128

Controlling Contrast      130

Graded- and Variable-Contrast Papers 130

Dodging and Burning    132

Cropping          134

Archival Processing for Maximum Permanence  135

Toning for Color and Other Effects       136

7  Color     138

Color: Additive or Subtractive   140

Color Photographs: Three Image Layers           141

Color Characteristics    142

Color Balance  144

Color Changes through the Day            144

Color Casts      146

Color Temperature       147

Filters to Balance Color            148

Developing Color Film  150

Making a Color Print From a Negative  151

Equipment and Materials You’ll Need   151

Exposing a Test Print    152

Judging Density in a Print Made from a Negative           154

Judging Color Balance in a Print Made from a Negative 155

More About Color Balance and Print Finishing  157

Making a Color Print from a Transparency        158

Judging a Print Made from a Transparency        159

photographer at work: Another Angle on Sports–Walter Iooss, Jr.      160

8 Setting up a Digital Darkroom     162

Hardware and Software            164     

An Overview    164

Capturing Detail: Resolution and Bit Depth        165

Photographs Are Files  166

File Formats     166

Importing Your Images 168

Downloading and Scanning       168

Making a Scan 169

Color Management       170

Histograms       172

Anatomy of a Digital Image       172

Three Histograms for Color      173

Setting Up a Workflow 174

photographer at work: Digital Storyteller–Pedro Meyer           176

9 Image Editing     178

Digital Post-Processing and Editing: Getting Started       180

Choosing Software       180

Your Work Area and Tools      181

Setting Up an Image to Edit      182

Channels          183

Color or Black and White?       183

Adjusting Color and Value        184

Different Approaches    184

Using Levels     185

Curves 186

Adjusting All or Part of an Image          188

Selection Tools 188

Using Layers    189

Other Editing Commands          190

High Dynamic Range    190

Filters for Special Effects          191

Retouching and Sharpening       192

Compositing     194

An Image-Editing Workflow     196

10 Digital Printing     198

Printers and Printing      200

Printer Choices 200

Drivers and RIPs          201

Profiles and Soft Proofing         202

Papers and Inks            203

Printing Options            204

Panoramic Photographs            204

Printing in Black and White       206

Displaying Your Work  208

The Internet–Gallery and Resource     208

Ethics: How Far Can You Go? 209

11 Organizing and Storing Your Work     210

Image Storage  212

Size Matters     212     

Metadata: Data About Your Files         213

Software to Keep You Organized         214

Archiving Digital Images            215

Archiving Film and Prints          216

12 Print Finishing and Display     218

Spotting to Remove Minor Flaws          220

Mounting a Print           221

Equipment and Supplies You’ll Need                221

Dry Mounting   222

Cutting an Overmat       224

Framing and Glazing     225

13  Lighting     226

Direction of Light          228

Degree of Diffusion: From Hard to Soft Light    230

Available Light–Outdoors       232

Available Light–Indoors          233

Artificial Light   234

Lights and Other Lighting Equipment     234

Qualities of Artificial Light         235

The Main Light: The Dominant Source  236

The Fill Light: To Lighten Shadows       238

Lighting with Flash        240

Flash Equipment           241

Basic Flash Techniques 242

Manual Flash Exposures           244

Automatic Flash Exposures       245

Fill Flash: To Lighten Shadows  246

Controlling Background Brightness        248

Simple Portrait Lighting 250

Multiple-Light Portrait Setups   252

Lighting Textured Objects         254

Lighting Reflective Objects        255

Lighting Translucent Objects     256

Using Lighting   257

photographer at work: Dance Photographer Lois Greenfield      258

14  Extending the Image     260

Using Scale      262

Pictures Very Large and Very Small      262

Multiple Images            264

More is Better  264

Fabricated to be Photographed 266

The Photograph as Object        268

Using Projections          270

Making a Book            271

Alternative Processes    272

Cyanotype Printing       272

Platinum and Palladium Printing 273

Gum Bichromate Printing          274

Image Transfer 275

A Photogram: A Cameraless Picture     276

Cross Processing          278

A Sabattier Image: Part Positive, Part Negative 279

Pinhole Photography     280

How to Make a Close-Up Photograph 282

Close-Up Exposures    283

Copying Techniques     284

15 View Camera     286

Inside a View Camera  288

View Camera Movements        290

Rise and Fall     290

Shift     292

Tilt       294

Swing   296

Using a View Camera to Control the Image       298     

Controlling the Plane of Focus   299

Controlling Perspective 300

Equipment You’ll Need            302

What to Do First–and Next    303

Loading and Processing Sheet Film       304

16  The Zone System     306

The Zone System Scales           308

Using the Zone Scale While Metering    310

Placing a Tone, Seeing Where Other Tones Fall            310

How Development Controls Contrast    312

Putting It All Together   314

Roll Film and Color Film           315

photographer at work: Using the Zone System–John Sexton    316

17  Seeing Photographs     318

Basic Choices   320

Content            320

Framing the Subject      322

Backgrounds    324

Basic Design     326

Spot/Line         326

Shape/Pattern   328

Emphasis/Balance         330

More Choices  332     

Using Contrasts of Sharpness    332

Using Contrasts of Light and Dark        334

Placing the Subject within the Frame     336

Perspective and Point of View  338

Looking at–and Talking About– Photographs            340 

Showing Your Work to Editors and Others       342

18 History of Photography     344

The Invention of Photography   346

Daguerreotype: “Designs on Silver Bright”         347

Calotype: Pictures on Paper      348

Collodion Wet-Plate:  Sharp and Reproducible 349

Gelatin Emulsion/Roll-Film Base:  Photography for Everyone     350

Color Photography       351

Early Portraits   352

Early Travel Photography          354

Early Images of War     355

Time and Motion in Early Photographs  356

The Photograph as Document   357

Photography and Social Change            358

Photojournalism            360

Photography as Art in the 19th Century 364

Pictorial Photography and the Photo-Secession 365

The Direct Image in Art            366

The Quest for a New Vision     367

Photography as Art in the 1950s and 1960s      368

Photography as Art in the 1970s and 1980s      370

A Gallery of Contemporary Photography          372

Troubleshooting            388

Glossary                       399

Bibliography     404

Credits             408

Index                410