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Jan Van Hove
3-Dec-2004, 13:30
Hi,

I'd like to have you advice on a book about the scientific and technical aspects of the photographic process :

Chemistry of image formation...
Developpment chemicals...
Optics...
etc...

Can be the driest book you've ever read, as long as it contains all the information...
And I've got the basics of photography covered with Ansel's Camera, Negative and Print, so i'd like something a little more advanced...
Any online ressource would be welcome also, but i'm really looking for a book...

Thanks

PJ VH

Gem Singer
3-Dec-2004, 13:44
Hi Jan,

"The Film Developing Cookbook", by S.Anchell and B.Troop, is a good place to begin. It contains references to many other books, journals, and articles on the subject of the photographic process. It is a relatively small book, and it is easy to read. It does not have much info on optics, however.

bob carnie
3-Dec-2004, 13:45
Hi Jan

The book of pyro- gordon hutchings
The film deveoping cookbook- Stephen Anchell Bill Troop
the darkroom cook book - stephen anchell
creative elements - eddie ephraums
zone V1 news letters -three binders- fred picker
The compact photo lab index-ernest pittard
the focal encyclopedia of photography
post exposure -ctein
The permanence and care of colour photographs - Wilhelm
Tim Rudmans books x3

Phil Davis also has published very good technical manuals

tim atherton
3-Dec-2004, 13:54
"The permanence and care of colour photographs - Wilhelm "

And that's free online as a giant PDF

Jan Van Hove
3-Dec-2004, 13:55
Thanks,

I already had my sights on the Anchell and Troop Cookbook, so i guess that this is where i'm going to start...

I'll comb through Amazon for your other suggestions, bob...

Any others ?

I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in understanding what he does when he sploches his films and prints in strange smelly liquids ?

Cheers,

PJ

george jiri loun
3-Dec-2004, 14:10
Photographic Materials and Processes by Leslie Stroebel and coll. Mine is from Focal Press 1986 there could be a newer edition. 585 pages.

kthompson
3-Dec-2004, 14:13
try this one: _Photographic Materials and Processes_ by Leslie Stroebel, John Compton, Ira Current and Richard Zakia. Focal Press, ISBN 0-240-51752-0.

I used this as a textbook in college and can guarantee you it's a dry technical read, but it's all in there. Stroebel's "View Camera Technique" is another good one, along with his book on Visual Perception in photography.

Oren Grad
3-Dec-2004, 14:13
Two complementary volumes:

Photographic Materials and Processes

Leslie Stroebel, John Compton, Ira Current, Richard Zakia

Focal Press, 1986

Applied Photographic Optics

Sidney Ray

Focal Press, 1988

These are the editions I have - you should check whether revised editions have since been released. Certainly for the materials and processes book, if a revised edition hasn't been released by now I doubt there will ever be one.

David A. Goldfarb
3-Dec-2004, 14:24
Grant Haist, _Modern Photographic Processing_ (unfortunately out of print, and used copies are costly, but you can find it in libraries or through interlibrary loan).

Emmanuel BIGLER
3-Dec-2004, 14:32
This book covers (among other 'very dry' questions ;-) the difficult aspects of image noise in silver halide plates & films.

Mees, C.E.K, and James, T.H., __The Theory of the Photographic Process__ (Mc Millan)

John C Murphy
3-Dec-2004, 15:01
Stroebel's book is probably the next best book to buy, though it is not comprehensive. It goes into greater depth than Adams' books on the details of the chemical aspects of photography, but not into as much detail on the subject of optics. It is written at a lower level than the Adams' texts, but makes a good attempt at bringing the physics and chemistry of photography to the reader in a more palatable form (assuming you don't like formulas).

Craig Schroeder
3-Dec-2004, 15:07
A favorite of mine is "Photographic Science" by Earl N. Mitchell. John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-09046-8

Neal Shields
3-Dec-2004, 15:27
As others have said: Basic Photographic Materials and Processes.

Second: I highly recomend: Post Exposure by Ctien

Third: Image Clarity by Williams.

Mark Sawyer
3-Dec-2004, 15:57
One book I think every serious photographer should have is John Schaefer's re-write of Ansel Adams' guides. Schaefer was a chemistry professor at the University of Arizona who became president of the UA, got seriously involved in large format photography, worked with Adams to establish the Center for Creative Photography, and thoroughly updated the three volume set into one, then followed with a separate new guide. Oh, by the way, he re-worked the books because Adams told him to. All in all, that pedigree alone makes it worth having...

...and it's well-done and a great informational resource.

Charles Hohenstein
3-Dec-2004, 16:49
Since you mention optics, you may be interested in reading Rudolf Kingslake's _History of the Photographic Lens_. Some might find it dull, but I thought it was fascinating.

darter
4-Dec-2004, 07:31
Anything by Ctein.

Conrad Hoffman
4-Dec-2004, 21:53
Agree on the Mees & James books. They were college texts and have both deep and broad coverage. Also, find a used copy of the Focal Encyc. of Photography. Not the newer revised edition, but the old three inch thick yellow one with blue printing on the dust jacket. It's a wealth of info. Some of the good stuff was eliminated when it was updated a few years ago.

Jan Van Hove
5-Dec-2004, 01:29
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the great suggestions...
I have a copy of the latest edition of "Basic Photographic Materials and Processes" coming my way as we speak...

As for the rest of this great list, I Think i'll make a list and put it up in a new "book suggestions" section on my website...

Cheers,

PJ

Stephen Hall
30-Dec-2004, 23:37
Hi
the book we used in college was "The Manual of Photography" by Ralph Jacobson published by focal press. It covers all aspects of photo science from optics, sensitometry and chemistry.
Should be in about its tenth edition by now.