Not for my top shelf
There is no doubt that the author, Maurice Hamilton, made a great effort to produce a technical book about the finer points of using Photoshop to produce black and white images. It is technical and ’dry’, and a hard slog. He explains (at length) some of the detailed procedures, tips and methodology which go to making fine prints. But, the book made me think of some of the Hollywood epics where the idea is grand but the director and the editor let the cast down. I don’t care for the high price-low quality production of the book, either. Not that worthy and informational books must be slick and glossy; but for me they must be attractive and ’feel’ good. I will keep this book in my reference library, but I do not count it in my ’20 best photography books’ list!

Preserving the art of monochrome
Film photographers have long savored black-and-white photography for its stark alternative to realism, and the stripped down, minimalistic approach to creating an image. Digital photography threatened to push black-and-white photography to extinction, but, thankfully, artists like Hamilton have preserved the spirit of the medium and extended it through the use of Adobe’s flagship image editor.

The author shows you the proper way to create monochrome images while preserving -- or enhancing tonality. He explains that a good black-and-white image isn’t simply a color image that’s been desaturated. I also liked the exploration into reproducing traditional darkroom techniques in Photoshop. This is a must-have book for any serious black-and-white worker.

my photographs have improved with the help of this book
I consider this book to be in a class with the best books written on photography.
I especially appreciate the Ansel Adams quote and the way that Maurice Hamilton lets his own gallery speak for itself. The emphasis is not on showing off his own work but rather, on helping the reader advance their own art. My work has improved significantly since my first reading and I will read sections over several times.

Bravo Maurice and thank you, Linnea Nereim

my photographs have improved with the help of this book
I consider this book to be in a class with the best books written on photography.

I especially appreciate the Ansel Adams quote and the way that Maurice Hamilton lets his own gallery speak for itself. The emphasis is not on showing off his own work but rather, on helping the reader advance their own art. My work has improved significantly since my first reading and I will read sections over several times.



Bravo Maurice and thank you, Linnea Nereim

Nice Fine Art Book
This is a very nice fine art photography book dealing with black and white. The author is obviously very well versed in Adobe Photoshop and his expertise is evident through his writing. The inforamtion is well presented and clearly stated. The images are well done and have a broad appeal to both a professional and amateur.

Well worth the money

Excellent resource
Intrigued by the glowing review of this book by Garth Leach at The Daily Shooter.com, I acquired a copy and experimented with several of the black and white conversion techniques described.

Like Garth, I found this book guided me toward the creation of outstanding black and white images. This book seems geared toward the intermediate Photoshop user but should also be helpful to novice users.

Superb guide for black and white techniques
I am amazed at the audacity of a "reviewer" who has not even read the book to offer an opinion based on an online perusal of the table of contents. Such a cursory effort deserves similar attention to his/her opinion.

Hamilton’s book is a superb guide for a photographer who wants to learn digital techniques to enhance the original image and to transform color images to beautiful black and white photographs. His writing style is lucid and succinct but not boring. His instructions are comprehensive, almost as if he is looking over your shoulder guiding you through each step.

What I found most useful was his ability to explain in simple and clear terms how to apply curves and levels, adjust highlights/shadows, and to use dodge and burn techniques. His methods for converting a color image to black and white range from simple to complex. The chapter on colorizing techniques applied to black and white images provided interesting demonstrations of achieving sepia-like images and utilizing black/white conversion filters. Images supplementing the instructions were small but adequate to clarify the text.

I have applied some of his techniques to my color photographs, producing black and white images I was very pleased with and proud of. This book is a wonderful and inexpensive instructional guide for photographers who want to improve their Black and White photographs.

Looks sparse
I havent read this book, but a perusal of the table of contents doesnt bode well for it being an in depth treatment of the subject - a paltry 128 pages and dodging and burning is dealt with over 2 pages in ’dealing with problem areas’. Signs point to this book being pitched at an introductory level.

Lots of Great Information
This book is loaded with lots of great technical information on the creation of a quality black& white image. Although there are not a lot of images throughout the text does close with some great black & white photos.

Everything you would want to know about black & white (and a few things you probably didn’t need to know) are in this book. I would highly recommend it.