Basic Photographic Materials and Processes

Authors: Leslie Stroebel, John Compton, Ira Current, Richard Zakia

I admit, I haven’t completely read Basic Photographic Materials and Processes yet. But I wanted to give you an idea of what the text covers. It is actually very interesting to me, and I plan on completing the text soon.

Basic Photographic Materials and Processes discusses photography from a more scientific perspective. Topics such as photometry, sensitometry, and optics are covered in the first half of the book. Yes, there are even mathematical formulas. Admittedly, it’s a rather technical discussion of light, but I’m pretty sure you’ll come away from this book with a better understanding of how light interacts with its environment, and how to use that knowledge to improve your photography skills.

In the second half of the text, you’ll find a more “practical” application of scientific concepts — from photographic emulsions, development, and tone reproduction to filters and color reproduction. The zone system is also discussed, probably in a little more technical detail than I’ve read elsewhere.

The last chapter of the text covers digital photography — including “a brief history of digital imaging.” I found this section interesting, as it discussed early ASCII text images, and how the digital image is recorded…and how that process differs from the analog image.

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