I have been reading entries on the site hoping to gain some knowledge of b&w processing. I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Can someone point me to the "bunny slope" of photographic processing? I'm looking for a good book to help me learn the basics of processing and what is needed to start a darkroom. Plus I'm hesitant because of the huge push in the digital area. Are darkrooms going to go away? Please help!

-- Kelly Hodge (kelbil@effingham.net), February 07, 2002

Answers

Kelly, I would recommend Henry Horenstein's Basic B/W book, very clear and simply written. But most of all I would recommend that you do a short course, or evening class, or summer school. It's not impossible to teach yourself but it's the slowest, hardest way to learn. In a group you learn from your fellow students as much as your teacher, when one of you makes a mistake you all learn from it; when one of you has a breakthrough you all share it.

-- Rebecca (rebecca@antart.com.au), February 08, 2002.

Basic photography by Tom Grimm

-- Jorge Gasteazoro (rossorabbit@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.

Kelly, go to the Kodak web site and search around until you find their primers on film processing and printing. It's free. (Books at the library are free, also.)

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), February 08, 2002.

The bunny slope would be something like Barbara London and James Upton's "Photography" now in its seventh edition. It looks large (huge!) but has every bit of information you need to get you where you want to be. I use it all the time for reference on things I may have forgotten or don't normally focus on (pardon the pun).

After that you should read "The Negative" by St. Ansel. Everything you need to know about B/W exposure and development starts there.

Another good book for beginers is Carson Graves's "The Zone System for 35mm Photographers."

As far as digital vs. darkroom, while some here might tell you that darkrooms are going the way of the 286 computer running Windows 3.1, some of us believe that b/w silver based photography will be with us for quite some time. As I've said time and time again, ever notice there are still tons of arts supplies stores and craft stores doing very well selling things like canvas and oil paints even though why anyone would want a painted picture when they can download it from the Internet.....??

Plus it's a lot more fun doing it yourself, a la the darkroom, than letting a computer do it for you.

-- David Parmet (david@parmet.net), February 08, 2002.

"Mastering Black and White Photography" by Bernard Suess is what I started with. It is has lots of good general photography stuff like metering, depth of field theory, filter use,etc. as well as all the basics about black and white processing. It's also pretty inexpensive.

-- John Perry (jperry@list-clark.com), February 08, 2002.

"Mastering Black and White Photography" by Bernard Suess is what I started with. It is has lots of good general photography stuff like metering, depth of field theory, filter use,etc. as well as all the basics about black and white processing. It's also pretty inexpensive. Highly recommended.

-- John (jperry@list-clark.com), February 08, 2002.

I like David Vestal's books on the basics. I don't know whether they're still in print, but check the library or used book shop. Adams' The Negative is especially inspiring because of its well reproduced illustrations of the effects of the various controls on exposure and development.

-- Tim Nelson (timothy.nelson@yale.edu), February 08, 2002.

Kelly, I highly recommend the book "Zone VI Workshop" by Fred Picker. It is dedicated to quality B&W work. It is especially good in teaching you how to do your own film and paper tests with any product.

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), February 08, 2002.