Technical photo lending library (So Cal)

[H. G. Hart]

I run a small print shop in South Pasadena and thought I'd put together a couple shelves of books on technical topics in photography (not only large format) for the community here. Wanted to see if the forum had any suggestions for books they've found especially useful over the years. Would appreciate an emphasis on books that aren't particularly expensive since I'd prefer to be able to loan them out on the honor system. Thanks for your feedback.

-Heyward

[Chester McCheeserton]

Darkroom 2 and Landscape Theory books published by Lustrum press in the 70s, I think I tried selling/giving one of those away on here a couple years ago, pretty sure it ended up the Glendale Goodwill lol. Super cool idea. Maybe that Darkroom Cookbook one? some of those time life photography series like 'The Camera'..

[H. G. Hart]

Good suggestions. I have a copy of the Landscape Theory book and I think I've seen Darkroom 2 pretty cheap in the past. Maybe older editions of the cookbook series go cheap too. Haven't looked in a while.


Darkroom 2 and Landscape Theory books published by Lustrum press in the 70s, I think I tried selling/giving one of those away on here a couple years ago, pretty sure it ended up the Glendale Goodwill lol. Super cool idea. Maybe that Darkroom Cookbook one? some of those time life photography series like 'The Camera'..

[Chester McCheeserton]

2 others I'm remembering from a long time ago that helped me get better technically were John Shaw's 'Closeups in Nature' and a Bernice Abbott one either 'A Guide to Better Photography' or 'The View Camera Made Simple' can't remember which..

[Dan Fromm]

Books on closeup photography and photomacrography:

Angel, Heather. 1987 (revised, originally published in 1983). Book of Close-Up
Photography. Originally published by Ebury, London. Revised edition published by A.
A. Knopf Inc. 168 pp. ISBN 0394532325. A much better book than John Shaw's
Closeups In Nature. If nothing else, she uses and discusses more than Nikons. Angel
does the John Shaw thing better than he does.

Blaker, Alfred A. 1976. Field Photography. W. H. Freeman & Co. San Francisco, CA.
451 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0518-4. A deep discussion of all aspects of photography, with
considerable emphasis on close-up. Discusses getting the magnification, lighting, and
exposure. Weaker than Lefkowitz on working above 1:1, stronger on lighting, especially
flash. Extensive bibliography.

Also, Blaker's Handbook for Scientific Photography.

Bracegirdle, Brian. 1995. Scientific PhotoMACROgraphy. Bios Scientific Publishers.
Oxford. 105 pp. ISBN 1 872748 49 X. A terse drier updated version of Lefkowitz. Very
useful bibliography, unfortunately scattered into small sections after most chapters.

Gibson, H. Lou. Close-Up Photography and Photomacrography. 1970. Publication N-
16. Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY. 98+95+6 pp. The two sections were published
separately as Kodak Publications N-12A and N-12B respectively. Republished in 1977
with changes and without the 6 page analytic supplement, which was published
separately as Kodak Publication N-15. 1977 edition is ISBN 0-87985-206-2. Gibson is
very strong on lighting, exposure, and on what can and cannot be accomplished. His
books, although relatively weak on getting the magnification with lenses made for
modern SLR cameras, provide a very useful foundation for thinking about working at
magnifications above 1:10 and especially above 1:1. Extensive bibliography.

Lefkowitz, Lester. 1979. The Manual of Close-Up Photography. Amphoto. Garden
City, NY. 272 pp. ISBN 0-8174-2456-3 (hardbound) and 0-8174-2130-0 (softbound). A
thorough discussion of getting the magnification, lighting, and exposure. Especially good
on working above 1:1. Extensive bibliography.

[H. G. Hart]

Thanks for all the recommendations Dan. Love the ISBNs... it makes searching so easy

[Oren Grad]

Alfred A. Blaker. Applied Depth of Field, Focal Press, 1985, ISBN 0-240-51730-X

John B. Williams. Image Clarity: High-Resolution Photography. Focal Press, 1990, ISBN 0-240-80033-8

[Michael R]

Freeman Patterson, Photography and the Art of Seeing

[Dugan]

"Creative Elements" by Eddie Ephraums.

[Dan Fromm]

Alfred A. Blaker. Applied Depth of Field, Focal Press, 1985, ISBN 0-240-51730-X

John B. Williams. Image Clarity: High-Resolution Photography. Focal Press, 1990, ISBN 0-240-80033-8

Oren, do you have a copy of Applied Depth of Field? I do, and found it pretty useless. It was useful, before programmable calculators came along before handheld devices that ran spreadsheets came along.

+1 on Williams.

[Oren Grad]

Oren, do you have a copy of Applied Depth of Field? I do, and found it pretty useless. It was useful, before programmable calculators came along before handheld devices that ran spreadsheets came along.

I do have a copy. I'd agree that if you're going to have only one Blaker in your library, one of the two you mentioned is probably a better bet.

For thinking a bit beyond the usual conventions, I should also recommend Harold Merklinger's two little books, "The INs and OUTs of FOCUS" (ISBN 0-9695025-0-8) and "FOCUSING the VIEW CAMERA" (ISBN 0-9695025-2-4).

[Jim Noel]

Books on closeup photography and photomacrography:

Angel, Heather. 1987 (revised, originally published in 1983). Book of Close-Up
Photography. Originally published by Ebury, London. Revised edition published by A.
A. Knopf Inc. 168 pp. ISBN 0394532325. A much better book than John Shaw's
Closeups In Nature. If nothing else, she uses and discusses more than Nikons. Angel
does the John Shaw thing better than he does.

Blaker, Alfred A. 1976. Field Photography. W. H. Freeman & Co. San Francisco, CA.
451 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0518-4. A deep discussion of all aspects of photography, with
considerable emphasis on close-up. Discusses getting the magnification, lighting, and
exposure. Weaker than Lefkowitz on working above 1:1, stronger on lighting, especially
flash. Extensive bibliography.

Also, Blaker's Handbook for Scientific Photography.

Bracegirdle, Brian. 1995. Scientific PhotoMACROgraphy. Bios Scientific Publishers.
Oxford. 105 pp. ISBN 1 872748 49 X. A terse drier updated version of Lefkowitz. Very
useful bibliography, unfortunately scattered into small sections after most chapters.

Gibson, H. Lou. Close-Up Photography and Photomacrography. 1970. Publication N-
16. Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY. 98+95+6 pp. The two sections were published
separately as Kodak Publications N-12A and N-12B respectively. Republished in 1977
with changes and without the 6 page analytic supplement, which was published
separately as Kodak Publication N-15. 1977 edition is ISBN 0-87985-206-2. Gibson is
very strong on lighting, exposure, and on what can and cannot be accomplished. His
books, although relatively weak on getting the magnification with lenses made for
modern SLR cameras, provide a very useful foundation for thinking about working at
magnifications above 1:10 and especially above 1:1. Extensive bibliography.

Lefkowitz, Lester. 1979. The Manual of Close-Up Photography. Amphoto. Garden
City, NY. 272 pp. ISBN 0-8174-2456-3 (hardbound) and 0-8174-2130-0 (softbound). A
thorough discussion of getting the magnification, lighting, and exposure. Especially good
on working above 1:1. Extensive bibliography.

I second Blaker's "Field Photography". I have over 300 technical photography books, and it is used more than any other 10 books combined.
Also, any of the Kodak series are down to earth and full of info. There were 2 series, one about 8.5 x11 and the other about 5.5 x 8,5. They cover the gamut of photography.

[Dan Fromm]

I second Blaker's "Field Photography". I have over 300 technical photography books, and it is used more than any other 10 books combined.
Also, any of the Kodak series are down to earth and full of info. There were 2 series, one about 8.5 x11 and the other about 5.5 x 8,5. They cover the gamut of photography.

Jim, when I had friends who were starting out with closeup photography I gave them copies of Field Photography.