Two Great Books

The previous post seems to have done something that I seldom do any more these days, which is to piss a few people off. Sorry. As my comeuppance, I've been inundated with people sending me their digital B&W work, which is no less than I deserve (and pretty pleasant, now that I stop to catch my breath).

For the record, some people are doing B&W very nicely these days—even with DSLRs. If they know what they're doing, that is, which not everybody does. Still and all, those highlights are often a problem (I'm eager to try to get my hands on a Fuji S5 just to try out its B&W capabilities). Also, plenty of people are out there making a horrifying hash of their attempts at monochrome. Just please don't assume I was talking about you personally.

As an antidote to that earlier post, I'd like to recommend two recent books.

Disclosure: Any time you access Amazon from this site, we get a few pennies from every dollar you spend when you're there (no matter what, or how much, you buy). It doesn't raise the price to you. But that's not the reason I'll ever plug a book—promise.

The first of these books earns the strongest of recommendations. Long ago, on the old version of this site, I gave a "strong buy" recommendation to the late Bruce Fraser's Camera RAW. I said it was one of those rare technical books that stands head and shoulders above the crowd, that can change the way you work, even the way you think.

Such books are few and far between for me, but another that's just as much of a standout is Amadou Diallo's superb Mastering Digital Black and White: A Photographer's Guide to High Quality Black-and-White Imaging and Printing. I haven't learned this much from one book since Fraser's. It's actually a great book about digital photography and printing, not just of B&W. But there's more here to learn about B&W than I thought there was to know. Well written, well illustrated, well organized, well thought-out, and obviously the work of a guy who really knows his stuff—I might even venture to say, the work of a guy who loves his subject. Diallo seems to live and breath digital B&W, and much thought and research has gone into this work. This one should be short-listed for the technical library of anyone who's interested in the topic.

The other book, I would argue, is more in the nature of a mandatory purchase—for anyone. It's basically the first universally important book of photography's digital age. Nominally it is a contemporary account of original history, a documentary of digital printing's "incunable" period and one of its biggest early influences, Graham Nash. And it's important enough just for that. But it's also a wonderful collection of pictures, bringing together a large, beautiful, and indeed inspiring portfolio from the seminal work of this studio. It looks modest by its cover, and its title doesn't hint at its true importance—but don't let that fool you.

I'm speaking of course of Nash Editions: Photography and the Art of Digital Printing, edited by Garrett White, introduction by Graham Nash, with essays by Richard Benson, R. Mac Holbert, and Henry Wilhelm. This is a book that is just sure to bring you a lot of pleasure, and it absolutely belongs on the shelf of anyone who cares about digital imaging—or photography in the 21st century. A rare prize, this. (You can read more, including Nash's introduction to the book online, at Tom's Hardware.) 

Neither of these books will waste your time or money. But if you can get only one, get Nash Editions. And prepare to spend some "quality time" with it. It will not only educate but inspire you, almost regardless of your taste in pictures. You have my word.

________________

Mike  (Thanks to Arnaud)

Featured Comment by yunfat: "Got to see Mr. Nash at a Epson/Adobe workshop a few years ago and all I can say is wow, the guy really knows everything there is to know about state of the art printing, no BS. Not only that, but his experience seemed far more practical than almost any other printer out there, largely because he has been working with large format devices since their inception and can get anecdotal about things like $120,000 inkjet heads and modifying the hardware of $250,000 printers (voiding the warranty) in order to get the best prints from the printer back when there were only a handful of said printers in existence. I think that first printer he modified is on display at the Smithsonian now. Like whoa."

UPDATE: The Diallo title has elicited some dismissive remarks in the comments, so I thought I'd expand on my review of it a little. My feeling is that every technical book will have a lot of basic stuff that is already known by advanced readers. I've never read one that doesn't (well, since my first one, which was The Craft of Photography by David Vestal when I was 23, and I think I even knew some of the stuff in that one before I read it too). Any expert will find intermediate how-to books "a review," and 90% useless because they already know it all. So what? That's true of any how-to. The advantage of this book is that the process is presented in such a sensible, flowing way, that allows even a fairly advanced reader to proceed without undue annoyance, and the fact that the author presents the entire process as being subservient to the aims of a practicing photographer, rather than as technique for its own sake. Amadou also strikes a good balance between presenting his own preferred practices and acknowledging that some people may want to do things differently, which is not easy even for certain seasoned technical writers. I can hardly focus on most digital photography books, they're so breathless and fractured, but I found this one easy to read and easy to follow and I believe it will give most enthusiasts a very good foundation for doing the work they want to do in digital B&W. It's the best digital B&W book I've encountered yet. Certainly the easiest to recommend. Sorry if you don't agree, but if you don't, perhaps you're past the stage at which you need to read instructional texts. —Mike

Comments

[George]

The book on BW printing is precisely what I was looking for. Thanks. And keep up the fruitful discussions!

[Charles Betz]

Thanks for the tips, especially the Diallo seems very interesting, at least to me. I sometimes find it very hard to get hold of a decent book about digital photography, the choice is huge and the quality most often very poor. So far your recommendations have always been worth it, so I make sure this one will end up in my (yet small) collection...

[the editor]

I bought the Diallo book some weeks back, and have found it to be little more than a competent, if quick and once over survey. As genial and as well informed as the book was, it did not strike me as a practical guide to much at all.

[mjay]

Graham Nash is my artistic hero. He's the Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and has revolutionized not one, but TWO artforms in his lifetime. Imagine yourself walking away from world-class fame and success in photography to begin a new career as a musician, and then completely transforming the way that music is created. That, in reverse, is what Graham Nash has done.
From bringing the house down at Woodstock to tearing down the house of traditional fine art printing, he's an icon of artistic creative destruction.

[Stephen Best]

"I bought the Diallo book some weeks back, and have found it to be little more than a competent, if quick and once over survey."

Maybe "Mastering Digital B&W for Beginners" didn't quite have the tone the publisher was after. I'm surprised at the number of endorsements for this. More worrying is the number of technical bloopers therein, only some of which I noted in my amazon.com review. Maybe people just have lower expectations for computer type books (quick to market before everything is dated) than for other publications.

[chuck kimmerle]

I found the Diallo book to be quite informative, and I am by no means a beginning digital b/w printer. Of course there are the uber-basic settings and standards that experience photographers will find a bit dull, but there are also a number of tricks and tips for the already experienced, many that I either didn't know or had forgotten. I've actually incorporated a couple new ideas into my workflow.

What's best about the book, however, is how the author presents the entire process from capture to portfolio to display. It's quite informative, especially for a photographer, such as myself, far from many other serious photographers.

And, as an added bonus (at least for me), the author used a friend of mine, Jean Miele (great shooter and teacher), as one of his numerous case studies in the book.

Diallo writes in a very comfortable and easy style, and knows his stuff. I'm with Mike....this is must read.

[Stephen Best]

Mike, just a brief follow-up to your follow-up. I'd consider myself a digital B&W beginner so no offence was intended. I print some B&W for others (most of the work I get is colour) and thought the results were pretty good using both Epson's Colour and ABW mode. Really, decent B&W output with any current printer with 3 (or more) concurrent blacks isn't rocket science. I bought the Diallo book specifically to lift my game. Frankly I got nothing out of it. Moreover, I got annoyed at the number of incorrect statements of fact. A peer review prior to publication wouldn't have gone amiss. But I agree that it's a competent and comprehensive (if slight) overview and I said so in my review. People should be careful with it though due to the errors.

Subsequent to reading the book, I spent some time myself with ABW and a densitometer and got to where I wanted (for now with the standard inks). Also with QuadToneRip which should have had at least a chapter devoted to it in Diallo's book. QTR isn't the best documented tool and was hoping for some insights from the book. If people are aware of the scope of the book, then they're in a better position to judge whether it's for them. A more suited title may have avoided disappointment, that's all.

[chuck kimmerle]

Stephen,

I'm not sure it's fair to expect the author of an instructive manual to offer comprehensive coverage of each and every software RIP package available. For every reader wanting a chapter on QTR, there would be someone wanting a chapter on Imageprint or Colorburst. Let's not forget software for tone mapping, sharpening, bw conversion, etc. It's simply too much for the scope of ANY book.

I guess Diallo could have provided links to appropriate web pages where specific software packages are discussed in depth, but they're fairly easy to find with the blessed Google.

Does this book make you, or anyone, a "master" b/w printer by simple sake of reading? Nope. However, it does give a very solid foundation for mastering the process. As with any instructive media (workshops, classes, manuals), there's an understanding that both the teacher and the student work together for the educational benefits of the latter. It's a partnership rather than a guarantee.

Regards,
Chuck