The Negative: Exposure and Development

Ansel Adams Photography #2

by Ansel Adams

A great reference to learn or re-enter the basics of photography, and to clarify terms that may be confusing

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art, Reference, Film, Art and Photography, How To

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

People 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...

Reviews

[Puguh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't be able to say "i've finished reading this book'. This series: "the Camera", "the Negative", and "the Print" is a Bible for darkroom printer, so I go back and forth to this book.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three Ansel Adams books, I find this one to be the most helpful. I was suprised at this because the technology of photography has changed so much since it was introduced.

Most of the book does not (unlike the first book) focus on the mechanics of the actual negative, but it relies on how light interacts with it. So it goes over the zone system - every photographers joy and bane - and then natrual and artifical lighting situations. For all practicallity, this will be the most helpful of the three books to most new photographers.

Again the quailty of the writing and the content is like attending a master class, you'll learn a ton, but be prepared for what you get.

[Zanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adams was renowned for the exquisite quality of his prints, and it's easy to see why he achieved such magnificent results from this series of books; he was a consummate perfectionist who spent a lifetime honing his craft.

Some of the principles in this book apply exclusively or mainly to black and white film photography, some are more widely applicable. Adams' presentation is extremely clear and easy to understand, his style is unaffected yet engaging, and his choice of images to illustrate each technique or principle is always interesting and sometimes inspiring. This is an exemplary textbook!

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the classics for (aspiring) photographers; the zone system is very useful, absolute must-read; in addition the text is reassuringly 'slow' and feels intensely grounded in a lifelong experience in the field; be sure to check out the other volumes in the series: The Camera and The Print.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Negative is the second book in Ansel Adams’s 1981 three-book series about the fundamentals of photography. I’ve already reviewed the first book in the series, The Camera, and my sentiments there apply equally to this book, so you should check that out for my overall opinion.

The Negative is the most pertinent book in the series in that it focuses on how to record the image you want with the final print in mind. It is in this book that Adams discusses his famous Zone System, exposure, filters, and lighting, both natural and artificial. Except for the final 50 pages (which focuses on darkroom equipment and procedures), this book is packed with useful information thoughtfully and articulately presented.

As I noted in my last review, Adams teaches an approach to photography and focuses on the physics of light and lenses, so that no matter how the particular tools of the art have changed, the information in this book is still relevant and applicable. Whether you are creating a physical negative or whether you are adjusting your RAW file on your computer, the principles are all the same. In fact, when I first read this book 15 years ago, I blew past a couple of sections because I thought they were outdated that I found incredibly enlightening on this read through. Adams talks about N+1 and N-1 developing as a way of expanding and contracting the exposure range of a subject on the negative. Because that language is specific to film and chemicals, I dismissed it before. But now that I am familiar with curves in digital pictures, I can see that the principle is exactly the same as when I am working with my footage in Premiere.

Adams is a great writer and a great educator. He has a gift for explaining his craft in a way that is understandable and inspiring. This is a book I’m glad to have in my library because I pull it out regularly for pointers, inspiration, and enjoyment of the beautifully rendered photographs.

[Cheryl]

Wow. I just checked this out to see some pretty pictures, but it turns out I'm learning a lot, too. And not by reading the text, but rather just the captions to the photos. I'm not a photographer, never have been, but have learned a tiny bit over the decades from osmosis. Turns out that choosing the right emulsion and paper to make the print has a lot to do with the results; it's not just exposure, time of day, etc. Light meters come in different modes (not sure what word) like for incident light or reflective light, too.

What I love about this book is that it shows a bunch of pictures that were taken at the same time, and/or from the same place, and showing the dramatically different results Adams got.

He even shows some images that he admits were not done well. "In retrospect, this [choice of filter strategy] was a mistake."

If I were a photographer I would want to look over the whole series of these 'textbooks' from Adams, and maybe get into film photography, too. It seems that doing so would be both hugely frustrating (not to mention expensive) but also allow for so very much more creativity than can be done with digital cameras. Or maybe I'm wrong... maybe digital cameras can give results akin, in the hands of an artist who knows the possibilities.

I need to find a print of 'Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.' The sky, with setting sun, lit clouds, and moon all at the same time is amazing enough, but the white crosses of the cemetery also came out brilliantly.

I'd probably give this four stars but I 'read' so little of this that I can't legitimately rate it.
Skimmed, May 2024

[Carlomaria Berruti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by fare my favourite book about photography although admittedly i have not read that many.

It was not easy for me to read as it was referring often to relatively old equipment so I really had to put some effort to "go back in time" and understand how photograph would be taken then. Surprisingly that was the best part of the book as it forced to take back a bit of control from my camera as I discovered many functions previously handled manually now automated in modern DSLR.

By far the most relevant part of the book for me was the zone system which thoroughly changed the way I take picture today.

[Mehdi Taba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book proves what a genius was Ansel Adams.

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 (1948), it might be something landmark, I guess.

[Guang Hua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if want to enter B/W Photography

This book contains lots of information about black and white negatives, how to shoot, how to develop & enlarge, and useful tips to further improve the quality of the negative and pictures. MUST READ!

[Kristina Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you a photopraphy nerd, who likes knowing everything there is to know about photographs, then this is an awesome read. If you have never shoot on film or developed or is just not interested in film photography, then it's not for you.

[Feli Hator · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that helps to understand the very basics of photography.
Although some points may be tailored specificaly to analog-photography (as digital didn't exist yet), it still teaches everything you need to know for digital photography as well.

[Gokuloko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

[Danny Touw · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books I used to understand and study the zone system, in the 80's. It's been a reference book for me ever since.

[GORDON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction to the Zone System-which may be based on an earlier testing modality developed by William Mortensen, the Pictorialist photographer.

[ROGAAD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This autor is great.

[Rosiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is excellent.

[Aylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

He sure is a brilliant film photography artist.

[Grof J. Kešetović · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent dive into the magic of the negative. At times a bit overtechnical and very personal, but useful to know in this world of dying analog art. Especially a must if you develop film at home!

[Dil7worth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very technical and a bit outdated unless you are a film photographer that develops your own negatives. But the part about his famous zone system was interesting (but also very technical).

[Andres Nieves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 of a spectacular trilogy, a must read for any aspiring beginner photographers

[Alan Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meticulously thorough and direct. It's a blessing that Ansel Adams was as much a master of teaching as he was of photography.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because it is rather on the technical side for me (I have never taken a photography class or read a photography book, other than my camera manual [Panasonic DMC-FZ50]), I wanted to review the chapters I've read thus far for myself, and I figured while I was at it, I might as well begin a long book report. Although Adams discusses film photography rather than digital, most elements are also applicable to digital photography (and you'll have to forgive me for skipping over those that are not).

Chapter 1 Visualization and Image Values
Adams discusses the process of visualization: "a conscious process of projecting the final photographic image in the mind before taking the first steps in actually photographing the subject" (p. 1). Although his work is considered "'realistic,'" he "employ[s] numerous photographic controls to create an image that represents 'the equivalent of what I saw and felt' . . . " (p. 1). This helped me see why my "point & shoot" theory is so haphazard. I need to "become aware of the world . . . in terms of a photographic image" and look for "significance, substance, shape, texture, and relationships of tonal values" (p. 2). Adams suggests three items to look for in a subject:
1. The darkest significant part.
2. The lightest significant part.
3. Visualize the middle of the scale.
Because his emphasis is black & white photography, this involves mentally converting the values to various shades of grey, and "becom[ing] aware of light and tonal values in terms of print values" (p.3). Next come the technical, photo-taking steps of "measuring the luminances of the subject and using this information to determine exposure and development, and considering possible further means to control or alter the values in accordance with our visualized image" (p. 7). We must learn to see intuitively as the lens/camera sees, and to understand how the negative and printing papers will respond" (p. 7, emphasis added).

Chapter 2 Light and Film
Adams tells us that what we see in terms of image values is not what the camera sees, because we perceive electromagnetic radiation (400 to 700 nm, particularly) differently. He defines different types of light, as follows:
Incident light: or illuminance is light cast on a subject from the sun, sky, or bulb (measured in units of foot-candles).
Reflected light: or luminance is what we see and photograph (measured in units of candles-per-square-foot). A surface's luminance "is determined by the amount of light incident upon it and [its] reflectance . . . expressed as a percentage that indicates the proportion of incident light that is reflected by that material" (p. 12). The relationship of this light and the visualized print values determines the outcome of the photograph. Reflected light may be one of the following:
Diffuse reflection: light is reflected equally in all directions from a matte surface.
Specular reflection: light is reflected as a beam in one direction from a polished surface.
This chapter also covers film qualities.

Chapter 3 Exposure
A hypothetical perfect negative would be "one exposed and developed in specific relation to the visualized values of the functional or expressive print" (p. 29). A definition to help achieve this end:
Exposure = Intensity x time (E = I x t), because film can be given equal exposure "using relatively high intensity of light for a short time, or less intense light for a longer duration" (p. 30). For example, open the lens aperture one stop more and reduce the shutter speed by half, and the net exposure is the same. So in the end, the term indicates "the camera aperture and shutter speed used" (p. 30). Exposure meters are discussed, and I'll summarize with Adams' statement that a meter "reading made from any uniform luminance surface used directly to determine exposure will give exposure settings that will reproduce that surface as a middle gray in the final print" (p. 33). He also points out that "it is better to overexpose slightly than to underexpose" (p. 37). I found the exposure corrections section somewhat confusing, so I have to study it further before I can report it here.

[Dr. Abhijit]

Awesome book

[Alfonso de Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente para todo aquel que quiera conocer en profundidad y desde un punto de vista práctico todo lo referente a la película fotográfica, en especial las que tienen emulsión en blanco y negro.

[andreas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most brilliant book I've read in quite a while, and it's not even a book-to-be-read in the traditional sense. It details, in lucid writing and with the help of countless photographs, Ansel Adams' philosophy of photography. It's all in one word, pre-visualization - but what would you really know if you read that word?

The book deals almost exclusively with black-and-white photography and mentions color only in passing. It was written before the advent of digital. Nevertheless, it would be a grave mistake to discount it as irrelevant. Most of the concepts still apply. There needs to be detail in the shadows while the the highlights must not be washed out.

Adams talks about light, about exposure and about getting it right. He uses some of his greatest photos to illustrate his ideas. Read the description to Sunset, Hernandez, and then read it again. Talk about enlightenment! But he's also confident enough to show what he considers poor shots, explains what's wrong with them and how they could have been made better.

I bought my first SLR in 1996, and have been taken pictures somewhat seriously ever since. Still, I didn't know half the concepts that Adams describes in his book. For just about four years now, I've had this book on my shelves in three different countries. I'm so grateful to have finally read it and am eager to work on my skills, practicing in the spirit of Adams, probing the effects of light and exposure, to eventually learn and improve.

Adams lugged his heavy wooden 8x10 around and loaded a new sheet for every photo. Thus he could not only optimize the exposure but also the development afterwards. With digital cameras, everyone can do this without breaking his back. Adams even explains how to determine the dynamic range of the chip in your digicam.

If you want to see what the world looks like from the shoulders of giant, read this book. Your pictures will never be the same again.

[Rajiv Chopra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book. This is a masterpiece, by a master craftsman.

While the details may have changed, the principles have not. These are timeless, and this is what he sets out to demonstrate again.

The book is laid out in the most logical manner. The section on the Zone System is a must read for any photographer.

His grasp of the subject is masterly, and so is his treatment of the subject.

[CURTIS NUGENT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I STILL shoot a lot of film.

Many would think that this book is outdated in the age of digital photography. It does discuss chemicals (younger readers may not know what Dektol, D-76, Hypo or clearing agents are), negative densities and diffusion and condenser enlargers. Certainly a stroll down memory lane for me! I leave most of this to a lab these days.
However, I think this book is still relevant in the digital age. Just the explanation of the Zone System is worth the price of the book. We must remember that good photography is made three inches behind the camera, in the photographer's brain. Having the Zone System in mind while taking a shot will make a better image. My belief is that the less you have to do in Lightroom or Photoshop the better.
It is easy to get bogged down in the technical details presented in this book and for the most part I will admit they can be overlooked in this day and age. Overall, if you are a serious photographer I would recommend this book. It is probably too technical for a hobbyist.

[Carlos Quijano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in Adams' series on photography. It was written before the advent digital photography, yet it is still worth reading. It can be a bit technical and geeky, and one can quickly scan over much of what pertains to the chemical processing. More importantly, Adams gives a thorough presentation of his Zone System, which he came up with 40 years earlier as a solution to figuring out exposure. For that alone, this book is a must read.

[BR Hischier · Rating 5 out of 5]

He admits he's a creative scientist early on, which is fine by me, since photography is barely an art and photographers are the least likely to become artists. The photos inside are pristine, but you'll never find them in wall calendars or on t-shirts with his deified name underneath in some heavily serifed font. This is real photography. This is search and destroy. Voila.

[Mountainman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book by the master of black and white photography. If you are curious about the NEGATIVE and how to perfectly expose your photographs with EXTREME precision, this is your book. The famous ansel adams ZONE SYSTEM is fully explained. The zone system makes this book necessary to black and white photographers. A must read after "the camera".