Mastering Black & White Photography

Mastering Black & White Photography is the definitive work on how to shoot black and white images on today's sophisticated digital SLR and compact digital cameras and smartphones. Aimed at the enthusiastic amateur photographer, the jargon-busting text, illustrated with the author's own stunning images, explains the theory behind digital photography, along with a guide to the equipment and software needed to take outstanding images.

It answers the much-asked question: should you shoot in colour and then convert to black and white, or shoot in monochrome from the start? From the basics of exposure and good composition, file types, manipulating captured images using popular software, and applying special effects (such as split toning, simulating film grain, lith prints, and using cyanotypes), a number of projects are described for photographing, for example, people, landscapes, architecture, and animals.

A final chapter on printing gives invaluable advice on outputting and displaying images.

Author: John Walmsley is a freelance photographer based in Cornwall, England. A love of the outdoors and a desire to capture more than just record shots has led to a photographic obsession that sees no sign of abating. He sells his work as limited edition fine art prints and shares his love of landscape photography as a workshop leader for his company, Focus on Light.

John's photographs and writing have been published in numerous national magazines, and he writes a blog sharing his thoughts on landscape photography and his travels.