The Negative (The New Ansel Adams Photography Series, Book 2)

 (44 customer reviews)

This is the book I turn to for the heavy duty technical data on the most important aspects of photography, but guess what? This is probably one of the most readable and easy to digest technical books on photography you are ever likely to read or need. Adams has a way of making mysterious worlds within Photography accessable. I will admit though that this book is not for the absolute beginner, though having said that those who want to stretch a little could find much that is of use without having too much knowledge off the mark.When I looked at the three books of this series, The Camera, The Negative and the Print, I waded into each wanting to choose only the best one from the series. I quickly realised that neither of the other two had what The Negative had and I have subsequently realised that this was by far the best choice for me. The negative deals with Visualization and image values, Light and Film, Exposure, The Zone System, Filters and Pre-Exposure, Natural Light, Artifical...Read more

There are a number of good reviews here, and I recommend to you especially the one by S. White. This is a great book, a classic that is important both historically, because it defines the zone system as no other work can, and practically, because it gives you the best combination of practice and theory available in print (at least that I have found). For the uninitiated, in the "zone system" you stop thinking about "the" one correct exposure for a photograph (which is usually the correct exposure for a single subject in the photograph) and instead think about the range of exposures needed across a scene with a variety of subjects with different colors, textures, and light characteristics. This approach is made possible by the observation that a one-stop shifts in exposure, in black and white photography, ultimately create 10 "zones" for aesthetic purposes - that is, the full range of grays between black and white can be associated with 10 stops of exposure.

I don't want...Read more

Ansel Adams expressed more with B&W then most can even DREAM of doing with color...This is my second foray into learning the basics of exposure through the Zone System, and who better then The Master himself to lead. He has taken a fairly technical system and made it a breeze to grasp. No misleading sidebars or relationships here. Just the facts. Much better then my first indoctrination. No matter how deeply you wish to delve into his techniques, even a redimentary understanding of previsualization before exposure will improve ones photo making, even in color. An outstanding reference. The entire series, Book 1: The Camera, Book 2: The Negative, and Book 3: The Print are invaluable additions to a personal photography library.