Traditional Monochrome printing book

[Rhys_Hardwick]

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could call on your collective advice. I am starting a course in advanced photography at my local college this year, and it will involve monochrome printing. I have not done any before, but I have developed my own black and white for scanning. Does anyone know of a good bread and butter book that will give me the basics, and a bit more, of monochrome printing. I need to get some reading in before I start, so I don't look like a complete beginner!

Thanks all

[spinno]

nothing specific but try your local library.
If they haven't got any you may be able to order books.

[Rhys_Hardwick]

I went down to the library, as suggested, and have picked up two of Ansel Adam's books. They had The Negative and The Print from his new series. I should let you all know what I think after I have finished them.

[OneTen]

Hi Rhys, I found this book, Photographic Printing by Gene Nocon to be excellent.

[taxor]

I went down to the library, as suggested, and have picked up two of Ansel Adam's books. They had The Negative and The Print from his new series. I should let you all know what I think after I have finished them.

They may be OK, but Ansel Adams was an early exponent of the zone system (in fact I think he devised it)and reading 'The negative' may prove a little confusing at this stage. I'm not sure about 'The print' but he would have used graded papers (as opposed to multigrade) and again may prove confusing. The Gene Nocon book mentioned by the other poster would, I think, be a much better bet especially as he advocates the 'f-stop' method of printing. The best book I've ever used on the subject is 'Way beyond monochrome' by Ralph Lambrecht and Chris Woodhouse. It assumes a basic knowledge which (from your original post) you obviously have and covers printing methods and controls not covered by any other book I've seen. Look out for any books by master printer Les Maclean who was a pioneer in the split-grade method of printing.

[Zou]

Roger Hicks has made some useful books. I can't recall titles, but a couple I've had from the library for info on development had printing information too. Worth a look. Also see his website for lots of really good stuff.

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool2.html

[Wiesmier]

Tim Rudman?

[Zou]

Tim Rudman?

Mmmmmmm, lith prints. :drool:

[John_K]

Hi Rhys, I found this book, Photographic Printing by Gene Nocon to be excellent.

Absolutely brilliant. I managed to find a copy a few months ago and he talks a lot of sense with no flannel.

[apochromatic]

You can pick up a copy of Larry Bartlett's book through Amazon.co.uk for £4.00. Excellent advice on BW

[Rhys_Hardwick]

I'm about half-way through The Negative now.

Ansel Adams was the original proponent of the Zone System. I would strongly recommend reading Ansel Adams' new photography series if you are technically minded and can understand things like logarithms and reciprocals, and enjoy the scientific side of photography. I'm loving reading it, as it is answering a lot of questions.

I'll take a look at the above suggestions, thanks very much.

[Wheelu]

Have to agree that "The Negative" is a must read if you are into film photography, and in particular if you develop your own.

I have heard it suggested that his style was a tad difficult to follow, but I have not found that to be the case, he's a great communicator having spent a lot of time teaching. Sure, not all of the ideas are as appropriate today, but the basics remain and are very well explained in that book. It has stood the test of time in my view.

Re the earlier reference to Roger Hicks, I have two of his books (actually co written with his wife Frances Schultz) The Film Book, published in 1994 and Perfect Exposure, published in 1999. They are well presented and written, but I would recommend Ansel Adams' text in the first instance.

It's interesting to note that Roger was at that time advocating the use of Delta 100, but that he appears to have gone back to HP5 if you consult his website. A wise move IMHO