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Ansel Adams Photography #3
The Print
Samples of the author's works serve to illustrate his procedures for processing, enlarging, toning, and mounting black-and-white photographs
210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
50 people are currently reading
1530 people want to read
About the author
Ansel Adams
414 books361 followersPeople note black-and-white photographs of the American wilderness of American photographer Ansel Easton Adams.
Though wilderness and the environment were his grand passions, photography was his calling, his metier, his raison d'etre.
From: Ansel Adams, Photographer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_A...
Though wilderness and the environment were his grand passions, photography was his calling, his metier, his raison d'etre.
From: Ansel Adams, Photographer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_A...
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 2, 2013
Adams' reputation as the greatest print-maker in North American photography must be partly due to his absolute perfectionism in the craft. I never had the patience to work with such care...
These books are comprehensive, logically ordered, clearly written in plain English, and surprisingly interesting and inspiring. In the days of digital domination this one stands as documentary of a vanishing art form, far more difficult to learn, and finally far less flexible, than mastery of photo editing software, which can be attained in years (perhaps even months of intensive work and training) rather than the decades required for hand processing and printing.
These books are comprehensive, logically ordered, clearly written in plain English, and surprisingly interesting and inspiring. In the days of digital domination this one stands as documentary of a vanishing art form, far more difficult to learn, and finally far less flexible, than mastery of photo editing software, which can be attained in years (perhaps even months of intensive work and training) rather than the decades required for hand processing and printing.
May 18, 2023
A helpful text!
I thought this passage in chapter 4 was particularly poetic: “… [the work print] it represents a starting point itself. We have visualized the final image as best we can, and we can learn to judge the potential of the negative for fulfilling our visualization. But we are also free in printing to enhance our original visualization for expressive reasons” (pg. 63).
I thought this passage in chapter 4 was particularly poetic: “… [the work print] it represents a starting point itself. We have visualized the final image as best we can, and we can learn to judge the potential of the negative for fulfilling our visualization. But we are also free in printing to enhance our original visualization for expressive reasons” (pg. 63).
January 19, 2018
Some may think this book is outdated in the digital age. Some may be correct. You may not get a lot out of most of this book if you have no idea what Dektol or a hypo-clearing agent is. However, the section on displaying photos is worth the cost of the book. Whether digital or film a photograph should end up being displayed and Adams' ideas on photo exhibition are valid for both.
April 6, 2022
He sure is a photography scientist.
September 29, 2025
A little bit less generalizable to photography principles than the other two books. In large part because Ansel spends a lot of time talking about specific products he uses, many of which don’t exist anymore (especially the papers he keeps referring to). Also because although there’s a lot of technical knowledge required in printing, as Ansel points out, it’s much more important to spend time examining how the print looks rather than reading sensitometry readings. The result for the book then is that lot of the content ends up being guidelines based on his personal setups, but his personal setup as a world famous film photographer is obviously going to be different than his reader’s. He acknowledges this, but he still only has his own experience to draw on.
As per usual Ansel is very thorough and diligent in his explanations. Sometimes it can be pretty dry, such as when he talks about chemical mixing procedures. But I’m sure that if one were to need to actually follow his instructions to a tee this book would be a sufficient reference. Still, that puts the book in a bit of an awkward spot, since it should probably be used as a reference, but there’s not as much hard technical content as the previous two books.
As per usual Ansel is very thorough and diligent in his explanations. Sometimes it can be pretty dry, such as when he talks about chemical mixing procedures. But I’m sure that if one were to need to actually follow his instructions to a tee this book would be a sufficient reference. Still, that puts the book in a bit of an awkward spot, since it should probably be used as a reference, but there’s not as much hard technical content as the previous two books.
April 17, 2021
Quaint photography manual about adjusting light/dark portions of photos, and on darkroom development and printing and mounting, with a great focus on quality.
Much of the text is dated (the assumption of a male reader, the manual processes of dodging and burning) yet much is still relevant: Ansel shows his mistakes and how he improved his image development skills over time, and the general scientific approach to adjusting, printing, mounting and storing photographs for the long-term is an inspiration.
The writing is very clear. Would be nice to have an updated edition focussing more on the photographs and how they were improved... (and that doesn't assume the photographer is a bloke!)
I look forward to reading 40 Examples which I think might be more practical for the digital age...
Much of the text is dated (the assumption of a male reader, the manual processes of dodging and burning) yet much is still relevant: Ansel shows his mistakes and how he improved his image development skills over time, and the general scientific approach to adjusting, printing, mounting and storing photographs for the long-term is an inspiration.
The writing is very clear. Would be nice to have an updated edition focussing more on the photographs and how they were improved... (and that doesn't assume the photographer is a bloke!)
I look forward to reading 40 Examples which I think might be more practical for the digital age...
January 9, 2023
While printing today is much different than in Adams's day, the concepts are similar so this book is still a useful resource for photographers who do their own printing. The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were the photos and how he visualized the final print and then used the tools available at that time to accomplish his vision (dodge and burn primarily). I have more respect for Adams after reading this book because of the tools he had available at that time and the art he was able to produce with those tools. In today's digital world, we have many more tools available, yet I'm sure most of us would struggle to produce the art that Adams did.
April 30, 2022
Like the other book "The Negative (1948)", this book proves that Ansel Adams was a genius.
The amount of technical stuff and details are mind blowing on this book but if you are a modern photographer who shoots RAW digital and uses Photoshop, then it's not the best book that you can learn things from anymore.
The time that it was released (1950), it might be something landmark, I guess.
The amount of technical stuff and details are mind blowing on this book but if you are a modern photographer who shoots RAW digital and uses Photoshop, then it's not the best book that you can learn things from anymore.
The time that it was released (1950), it might be something landmark, I guess.
January 29, 2021
Another excellent book by Ansel Adams now focusing on the printing phase (analog). A must read for all analog photography fans that want to understand all the details about printing their photos.
February 28, 2017
This is indeed a magnificent book. As another reviewer has mentioned, while the books were written in the pre-digital era, the concepts are timeless
It is an excellent book in the simplicity of the text, the clarity of the instructions, and the manner in which he has analysed the pictures he has made.
Every step is clear, and not a word is wasted.
The principles can be applied even today, and this is what makes it even more brilliant.
A master at his best
It is an excellent book in the simplicity of the text, the clarity of the instructions, and the manner in which he has analysed the pictures he has made.
Every step is clear, and not a word is wasted.
The principles can be applied even today, and this is what makes it even more brilliant.
A master at his best
October 12, 2007
This book covers what happens in the dark room. This really is my favorite part personally so I'm going to be totally biased, I'm going to say that up front. Printing is the best part because you can do whatever you want with the negative that you took and to be honest, I think that Adams is rather boring with his advice in this book.
It's a good ground work for setting up the basics for doing black and white printing. If you want to learn to recrate an Ansel Adams print in your own dark room, this really is a book for you. If you want to learn the joys of crative printing build a darkroom according to how he recommends in the book, do thousands of prints, then tear out all the extra crap you really don't need, put in all the fun stuff you like and make the images you like to see.
It's a good ground work for setting up the basics for doing black and white printing. If you want to learn to recrate an Ansel Adams print in your own dark room, this really is a book for you. If you want to learn the joys of crative printing build a darkroom according to how he recommends in the book, do thousands of prints, then tear out all the extra crap you really don't need, put in all the fun stuff you like and make the images you like to see.
April 26, 2016
Ansel adams in this book goes quite deep into the print making process. I do not recommend reading this book before you have read the previous 2 in there series (as I did). Because in the first two he helps you to understand and develop the system he uses to make photographs and subsequently, prints. So he alludes to certain facets of information from the previous 2 books. Nonetheless, if you have read the previous 2, there are detailed instructions, diagrams, examples, and formulas to perfecting a print in respect to your vision. I think more photographic examples may have improved the book even further.
January 9, 2017
El tercero de la trilogía escrita por Ansel Adams que trata sobre la técnica. En este caso se centra en la obtención de la copia fotográfica con los máximos estándares de calidad y siguiendo su máxima:
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”
Nos describe las diferentes opciones de papeles fotográficos, reveladores, fijadores, baños de paro, etc. y la forma de usarlos para obtener los mejores resultados.
“Photography, as a powerful medium…offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.”
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”
Nos describe las diferentes opciones de papeles fotográficos, reveladores, fijadores, baños de paro, etc. y la forma de usarlos para obtener los mejores resultados.
“Photography, as a powerful medium…offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.”
July 19, 2014
I find the information in these three books are still useful for processing in the digital age. If you are willing to take the content for what it was intended you can directly apply it to digital processing techniques. Great books!
April 23, 2018
Learning about exposing the actual print was the most interesting part by far - it feels the most creative and the results are rewarding. I think this is what Ansel Adams was a real expert in, so this was the best book out of the 3.
September 21, 2008
Great timeless information from the master of printing.
July 24, 2009
Ansel got bit so hard.
April 8, 2010
A great reference.
August 31, 2011
Ansel Adams...absolutely beautiful.
June 26, 2013
Some good info but a lot at is no longer relevant to me as I no longer develop prints using chemicals.
January 23, 2016
I'm probably never going back to film, so this is obsolete for me.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews