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Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written treatise for fine photography buffs
Review: A superbly written book. Could be used as an example of great technical writing. Reads almost like a novel - I couldn't put it down until I finished. I am now digging my darkroom equipment out of the garage with a new sense of excitement. I rushed off and bought Book 2, which I am eagerly awaiting. No, I'm not associated with the author, but I am in awe of his talents! :^)
Rating:
Summary: Great book ON Adams, not BY Adams.
Review: Although I loved this book, and knew what I was buying, Amazon's attribution of this book to Ansel Adams is misleading. This is a book about Ansel Adams' technique, and his zone system in particular. It's not a book by Adams. If you want Adams' own take on the basic techniques of photography, check out his three books: The Camera, The Negative, The Print, as well as his book of case studies, The Making of 40 Photographs. It takes a lot of nerve to write a book like this when Adams has already done a bang up job of it himself. Surprisingly, Schaefer's effort doesn't pale in comparison to the master's own. Plus you have the advantage of a single book rather than Adams' three. Schaefer provides an excellent guide to Ansel Adams' zone technique, with great illustrations. And despite a bit more attention paid to color photography than in Adams' own books, it still seems like an afterthought.
Rating: 
Summary: Practical Introduction to Black and White Photography
Review: The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.
Rating:
Summary: Practical Introduction to Black and White Photography
Review: The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.
Rating:
Summary: Practical Introduction to Black and White Photography
Review: The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.
Rating:
Summary: *whew*
Review: This book has everything, and then some. It will take you from not knowing anything to being a quasi-expert in a fairly short amount of time.That said, it is pretty dry. Very textbookish in form, the book is difficult to read straight through. This is made more palatable by the extreme depth that the book goes into for each topic that it discusses. Starting with the differences in photo gear, the author leads the reader through selecting a first camera to selecting a lens to selecting a film and finally the development of the negative and print. The book is exhausting in its depth and breadth. Much time was spent on Adams' Zone system and its usefulness in taking beautiful photographs. This focus throughout the book really drove home the importance of exposure. The pictures used in the book are fantastic and the personal accounts of some photos by Adams himself are very interesting. The only thing that I felt was skimped on was the process of selecting a shot. Adams was a large-format photographer so he wasn't able to make the hundreds of shots of a scene that a 35mm photographer could make, so it was important for him to select his shots carefully. More text space devoted to Adams' method or instinct for finding shots would have been the final piece of information that would have made this a complete guide to photography. It wasn't easy reading, but I learned a lot and was able to immediately use the information in the book to improve my own photography.
Rating:
Summary: *whew*
Review: This book has everything, and then some. It will take you from not knowing anything to being a quasi-expert in a fairly short amount of time. That said, it is pretty dry. Very textbookish in form, the book is difficult to read straight through. This is made more palatable by the extreme depth that the book goes into for each topic that it discusses. Starting with the differences in photo gear, the author leads the reader through selecting a first camera to selecting a lens to selecting a film and finally the development of the negative and print. The book is exhausting in its depth and breadth. Much time was spent on Adams' Zone system and its usefulness in taking beautiful photographs. This focus throughout the book really drove home the importance of exposure. The pictures used in the book are fantastic and the personal accounts of some photos by Adams himself are very interesting. The only thing that I felt was skimped on was the process of selecting a shot. Adams was a large-format photographer so he wasn't able to make the hundreds of shots of a scene that a 35mm photographer could make, so it was important for him to select his shots carefully. More text space devoted to Adams' method or instinct for finding shots would have been the final piece of information that would have made this a complete guide to photography. It wasn't easy reading, but I learned a lot and was able to immediately use the information in the book to improve my own photography.
Rating:
Summary: This book uses a good blend of instructional methods.
Review: This book is an excellent choice for beginning photographers as well as more seasoned photographers who wish to review the basics. This book covers a wide variety of techniques, as well as providing information about the history of photography, cameras, and film. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in taking up black-and-white or color photography as a hobby or as a career.
Rating:
Summary: Good book - too text bookish!
Review: This is indeed a great book. It talks a lot about the basic photographic techniques and is a good read for a beginner. However, most of the book is limited to black and white photography. The book is also a bit out dated. Overall a good book for a serious beginner. It will help a person get accostomed to both the scientific and the creative aspects of photography.
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