Exploring Color Photography, 6th Edition

Exploring Color Photography, 6th Edition

by Robert Hirsch
Released December 2014
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781317911142

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Book description

Robert Hirsch’s Exploring Color Photography is the thinking photographer’s guide to color imagemaking. Now in its sixth edition, this pioneering text clearly and concisely instructs students and intermediate photographers in the fundamental aesthetic and technical building blocks needed to create thought-provoking digital and analog color photographs. Taking both a conceptual and pragmatic approach, the book avoids getting bogged down in complex, ever-changing technological matters, allowing it to stay fresh and engaging.

Known as the Bible of Color Photography, its stimulating assignments encourage students to be adventurous and to take responsibility for learning and working independently. The emphasis on design and postmodern theoretical concepts stresses the thought process behind the creation of intriguing images. It’s extensive and inspiring collection of images and accompanying captions allow makers to provide insight into how photographic methodology was utilized to visualize and communicate their objectives.

  • The text continues to deliver inspiring leadership in the field of color photography with the latest accurate information, ideas, commentary, history, a diverse collection of contemporary images, and expanded cellphone photography coverage.

  • A "Problem Solving and Writing" chapter offers methods and exercises that help one learn to be a visual problem solver and to discuss and write succinctly about the concepts at the foundation of one’s work.

  • Exploringcolorphotography.com, the companion website, has been revamped and updated to feature more student and teacher resources, including a new web-based timeline: As It Happened: A Chronological History of Color Photography.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Artist Contributors
  9. Dedication
  10. CHAPTER ONE COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY CONCEPTS
    1. Newton’s Light Experiment
    2. Separating Light
    3. Dual Nature of Light: Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
    4. Young’s Theory/RGB
    5. How We See Color
    6. How the Brain Sees Color
    7. Color Blindness
    8. Young’s Theory Applied to Color Photography
    9. How Film Produces Color
    10. How Digital Cameras Record Color
    11. Color Reality
    12. Absence of Color Film Standards
    13. Talking About Color
    14. Color Description—Hue, Saturation, and Luminance (HSL)
    15. Color Relativity
    16. Color Contrast
    17. Color Harmony
    18. Color Observations
    19. Color Memory
    20. Color Deceives
    21. Color Fluctuates
    22. Subtraction of Color
    23. Afterimage
    24. Eye Fatigue: Bleaching
    25. Reversed Afterimage
    26. Positive Afterimage
    27. Cooking with Color
    28. Color Is a Personal Experience
  11. CHAPTER TWO A CONCISE HISTORY OF COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
    1. The First Color Photographs: Applied Color Processes
    2. Direct Color Process: First Experiments
    3. The Hillotype Controversy
    4. The Additive Theory: First Photographic Image in Color
    5. Maxwell’s Additive Projection Process
    6. Direct Interference Method of Gabriel Lippmann
    7. Additive Screen Processes
    8. Joly Color
    9. Autochrome
    10. Paget Colour Plate
    11. Finlay Colour Processes
    12. Dufaycolor
    13. Polachrome
    14. Additive Equipment
    15. Additive Enlargers
    16. Digital Enlargers
    17. Television
    18. The Subtractive Method
    19. Primary Pigment Colors
    20. The Subtractive Assembly Process: Heliography
    21. The Krōmskōp Triple Camera and Krōmskōp Viewer
    22. Carbro Process
    23. Color Halftones
    24. Dye-Imbibition Process
    25. The Dye Transfer Process
    26. Subtractive Film and Chromogenic Development
    27. Chromogenic Transparency Film
    28. Chromogenic Negative Film
    29. C-41: Chromogenic Negative Development
    30. The Kodachrome Integral Tri-Pack Process
    31. Additional Color Processes
    32. Silver Dye-Bleach/Dye-Destruction Process
    33. Internal Dye Diffusion-Transfer Process
    34. The Polaroid Process: Diffusion-Transfer
    35. Color Gains Acceptance
    36. Amateur Systems Propel the Use of Color
    37. The Rise of Digital Imaging
    38. Early Digital Imaging: The Facsimile
    39. The Birth of Computing
    40. The 1960s: Art in the Research Lab
    41. Computers Get Personal
    42. Digital Imaging Goes Mainstream
    43. Digital Truth
  12. CHAPTER THREE EXPOSING THE LIGHT
    1. An Exposure Starting Place
    2. How a Camera Light Meter Works
    3. Reflective and Incident Light
    4. How a Histogram Works
    5. Using a Gray Card
    6. Camera Metering Methods and Programs
    7. Matrix Metering/In-Camera Metering Methods
    8. Utilizing a Camera’s Monitor
    9. Electronic Viewfinder (EVF)
    10. Brightness/Dynamic Range
    11. Exposing to the Right
    12. High Dynamic Range/HDR
    13. Basic Light Reading Methods
    14. Average Daylight
    15. Brilliant/Hard Sunlight
    16. Diffused/Soft Light
    17. Dim Light
    18. Contrast Control/Tone Compensation
    19. Light Metering Techniques
    20. Metering the Subject
    21. Exposing for Tonal Variations
    22. White Balance
    23. Color Modes/Spaces
    24. Image Enhancement Modes/Picture Controls
    25. Electronic Flash and Basic Fill Flash
    26. Red Eye
    27. Unusual Lighting Conditions
    28. Subject in Bright Light
    29. Subject in Shadow
    30. Alternate Solutions: Using a Handheld Meter
    31. Subject in Dim Light: Long Exposures, Increased ISO, and Digital Aberrations
    32. Mixed Light
    33. Reciprocity Law
    34. Reciprocity Law Failure and Film
    35. Reciprocity Failure and Its Effect on Color Materials
  13. CHAPTER FOUR FILTERING THE LIGHT
    1. Our Sun: A Continuous Spectrum Source
    2. Color Temperature and the Kelvin Scale
    3. Color Temperature Meters
    4. Color Temperature of Digital Devices
    5. The Color of Light
    6. Digital White Balance
    7. How Film Sees Color
    8. Daylight Type Film
    9. Tungsten and Type L Films
    10. What Does a Physical Filter Do?
    11. How Filters Work
    12. Filter Factor
    13. How Filters Are Identified
    14. Matching Film to the Light
    15. Filter Categories for Color Films
    16. Color Compensating Filters
    17. Conversion Filters
    18. Light Balancing Filters
    19. Correcting Color Balance with Electronic Flash
    20. Neutral Density Filters
    21. Reflections: Polarized and Unpolarized Light
    22. What a Polarizing Filter Can Do
    23. Using a Polarizer
    24. Linear and Circular Polarizers
    25. Ultraviolet Light Filters
    26. Special Effects Filters
    27. Homemade Colored and Diffusion Filters
    28. Digital Filters and Plugins
    29. Fluorescent and Other Gas-Filled Lights
    30. High-Intensity Discharge Lamps/Mercury and Sodium Vapor Sources
    31. Testing for a Critical Neutral Color Match
    32. Why a Color May Not Reproduce Correctly
    33. Color Crossover
    34. Taking Chances
  14. CHAPTER FIVE SEEING THE LIGHT
    1. How We See
    2. Visual Literacy
    3. Societal Values
    4. Visual Illiteracy
    5. The Photographer as a Reconnoiterer
    6. Visual or Haptic—Which Are You?
    7. The Work of Viktor Lowenfeld
    8. Visual-Realist Photographers
    9. Visual-Realist Working Methods
    10. Haptic-Expressionist Photographers
    11. Haptic-Expressionist Working Methods
    12. Photography’s Visual Transformation
    13. The Process of Rediscovery
    14. The Color Key and the Composition Key
    15. The Color Key
    16. The Composition Key
    17. Figure–Ground Relationships
    18. What Is Figure–Ground?
    19. Figure–Ground Strategies
    20. Natural Light
    21. Good Light and the Camera
    22. The Time of Day/Types of Light
    23. The Cycle of Light and Its Basic Characteristics
    24. The Weather and Color Materials
    25. Fog and Mist
    26. Rain
    27. Dust
    28. Heat and Fire
    29. Snow
    30. Battery Care in Cold Conditions
    31. Cold Weather Protection
  15. CHAPTER SIX THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF COLOR DESIGN
    1. Seeing Is Thinking
    2. What Is a Good Photograph?
    3. Discovering What You Have to Say
    4. Effective Photographs Communicate
    5. Putting It All Together
    6. Working Subtractively
    7. Point of Departure
    8. The Photographer’s Special License
    9. The Language of Vision
    10. Line
    11. Shape
    12. Space
    13. Texture
    14. Pattern
    15. Unity and Variety
    16. Rhythm
    17. Balance
    18. Emphasis
    19. Proportion
    20. Golden Ratio
    21. Scale
    22. Symbolism
    23. Shapes and General Symbolic Associations
  16. CHAPTER SEVEN COLOR STRATEGIES
    1. Defining the Subject: Angle of View
    2. Wonderment: Breaking the Eye-Level Habit
    3. Working Methods
    4. Working the Angles
    5. Depth of Field: Selective Focus
    6. Contrast with Color
    7. Complementary Colors
    8. Warm and Cool Colors
    9. Creating Color Contrast
    10. Color Harmony
    11. Harmony Is Subjective
    12. Creating Harmony
    13. Dominant Color
    14. Simplicity
    15. Maintaining a Strong Composition
    16. Isolated Use of Color
    17. Executing a Plan: Being Prepared
    18. Monochrome
    19. The Personal Nature of Monochrome
    20. Environmental Color Contamination
    21. Aerial Perspective
    22. Perspective
    23. Perspective Control
    24. Converging Lines
    25. Subdued Color
    26. Working Techniques
    27. Opposites: Colors Attract and Repel
    28. Overcoming Color Bias
    29. Pairs of Contrast
    30. Counterpoints
  17. CHAPTER EIGHT THE INTERACTION OF COLOR, MOVEMENT, SPACE, AND TIME
    1. Searching for Time
    2. The Flow of Time
    3. Mastering Digital Layers
    4. Controlling Photographic Time
    5. Breaking Away from 1/125-Second Mentality
    6. Breaking into Digital Blur and Motion Effects
    7. Stop Action
    8. Electronic Flash and Dim Light
    9. Blurred and Out-of-Focus Images
    10. The Pan Shot
    11. Moving the Film
    12. Equipment Movement
    13. Free-Form Camera Movement
    14. Electronic Flash and Slow Shutter Speed
    15. Extended Time Exposures
    16. Rephotography
    17. Multiple Exposures
    18. Layering Multiple Images Together
    19. Expose the Same Roll Twice
    20. Painting with Light
    21. Slide Projection
    22. Postvisualization
    23. Moving the Easel
    24. Moving the Fine Focus
    25. Painting the Print with Light
    26. Multiple Exposure Using One Negative
    27. Combination Printing
    28. Multiple Filter Packs
    29. The Cinematic Framing
    30. The Matrix-Grid
    31. Many Make One
    32. Contact Sheet Sequence
    33. Joiners
    34. Slices of Time
    35. Composite Pictures
    36. Photographic Collage
    37. Three-Dimensional Photographs
    38. Photo-Based Installations
    39. Public Art
    40. Appropriation: Where Does Art Come From?
    41. Mashup: Collaborative Images
    42. Penetrating the Photographic Mirror
  18. CHAPTER NINE DIGITAL INPUT
    1. Digital Photography: An Introduction
    2. Truth and Illusion
    3. Pixels Form Images
    4. Differences Between Digital and Film Realism
    5. Digital and Silver Merge
    6. The Comparative and the Cultural Eye
    7. Immateriality of the Digital Image
    8. A Digital Conundrum: What is the Original?
    9. What Constitutes Reality?
    10. Digital Differences
    11. Appropriation, Stock Images, and Copyright Issues
    12. Pixels and Silver Crystals
    13. Digital Cameras
    14. Cellphone Cameras
    15. Cellphone Photography vs. Waiting
    16. The Mobile Advantages
    17. High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography
    18. Visual Acuity and 300 dpi
    19. Digital Camera Features
    20. Resolution
    21. LCD Monitor
    22. Lens Coverage, Depth of Field, and Bokeh
    23. Digital ISO
    24. White Balance
    25. Color Modes/Picture Controls
    26. Optical and Digital Zoom
    27. Memory Buffer
    28. Removable Camera Memory Storage
    29. High-Definition (HD) Video
    30. Digital Camera File Formats
    31. Compression Algorithms: Lossless and Lossy
    32. JPEG
    33. TIFF
    34. RAW Capture: The Digital Negative
    35. RAW Pros and Cons
    36. Storage Media for Final Image Files
    37. Compact Disk (CD) and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)
    38. Mechanical Storage: Hard Drives
    39. Solid-State Storage: Hard Drives, USB Drives, and Flash Memory Media
    40. Cloud Storage and Cloud Computing
    41. Scanners
    42. Flatbed and Film Scanners
    43. Digital Camera Backs
    44. Drum Scanners
    45. Scanning Guidelines
  19. CHAPTER TEN DIGITAL OUTPUT
    1. Digital Printing Technology
    2. Screen Resolution (ppi) and Dot Pitch
    3. Print Resolution (dpi)
    4. The Image Window
    5. Sizing a Digital File
    6. Interpolation or Resampling
    7. Equivalent Image Size
    8. The Real Size of a Digital Negative or Image File
    9. Printers, Inks, and Paper
    10. Inkjet Printers: DPI to Dots to More Dots
    11. Inkjet Inks
    12. Paper: Uncoated and Coated
    13. Paper Brightness and Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs)
    14. Paper Materials
    15. Paper Surface
    16. Paper Weight
    17. Paper Finishes
    18. Textured Paper
    19. Print Permanence
    20. Printing Methods and Output Issues
    21. Laser Printing
    22. LightJet
    23. Iris Print
    24. Giclée Printing
    25. Mural-Size Prints
    26. Mixed Digital Media
    27. Local Digital Printing Centers
    28. Service Bureaus
    29. Film Recorders
    30. Imagemaking with a Computer
    31. Stitching and Authoring: QTVR Panoramas
    32. The Color Monitor
    33. How Monitors Show Color
    34. Image Processing/Editing
    35. Adjusting Color Balance with Curves
    36. Software and Imaging Applications
    37. Raster/Bitmapped Software
    38. Vector Software
    39. Basic Digital Imaging Categories and Tools
    40. Top Main Menu Bar Options
    41. Toolbar Icons for Additional Photo Editing
    42. Common Photoshop Toolbar Icons
    43. Digital Memory
    44. RAM
    45. ROM
    46. Hard Disk
    47. Cloud Storage and Cloud Computing
    48. The Computer as Multimedia Platform
    49. The Internet and the World Wide Web as a Virtual Gallery
    50. The Chemical, the Virtual, and the Hybrid Darkrooms
  20. CHAPTER ELEVEN ANALOG WORKFLOW: COLOR FILMS AND PRINTING
    1. Transparency Film
    2. Characteristic Advantages
    3. Disadvantages of Transparencies
    4. How Transparency Film Works
    5. E-6 Processing
    6. Temperature Control
    7. Diversity of Films
    8. Film Speed
    9. Amateur and Professional Films Compared
    10. Daylight and Tungsten Films
    11. Transparency Viewing and Duplication
    12. Transparency Duplication
    13. Color Negative Film
    14. Color Negative Film Characteristics
    15. Negative Film Construction
    16. C-41 Process: Chromogenic Development of Negative Film
    17. How the Chromogenic Color Print Process Works
    18. C-Print Misnomer
    19. Film Speed, Format, and Grain
    20. Chromogenic Black-and-White Film
    21. Scanning Negatives
    22. Instant Photography
    23. Instant Formats: Fuji and The Impossible Project
    24. Diffusion-Transfer
    25. Instant Image Transfer Method
    26. Instant Image Emulsion Transfer
    27. Special Films and Processes
    28. Cross-Processing/Slides as Negatives
    29. Litho Film: Bas-Relief
    30. X-Ray Equipment at Airport Security
    31. Analog Output: Basic Equipment and Ideas for Color Printing
    32. Enlargers
    33. Enlarging Filters
    34. The Voltage Stabilizer
    35. The Enlarging Lens
    36. The Easel
    37. The Safelight
    38. Color Printing Notebook
    39. Safety
    40. Principles of Subtractive Printing: The Qualities of White Light
    41. Neutral Density
    42. Color Paper Types
    43. Paper Handling
    44. Changes in Paper Emulsion
    45. Contact Printing
    46. Making A Contact Print/Determining Correct Exposure
    47. Print Evaluation
    48. Utilizing Viewing Filters
    49. The Color Ring-Around
    50. Discover the Method That Works for You
    51. Burning and Dodging
    52. Final Decisions and Cropping
    53. Display and Print Materials
    54. Prints from Transparencies
  21. CHAPTER TWELVE COLOR PROJECTS
    1. The Camera
    2. Camera Formats
    3. The Pinhole Camera and Birth of the Camera
    4. How the Camera Works: Circles of Confusion
    5. Building a Pinhole Camera
    6. Converting a 35mm Camera to a Pinhole Camera
    7. Self-Portraits/Selfies
    8. View from Within/Portrait as Social Identity
    9. The Human Form
    10. Landscape Defined
    11. Traditional Viewing Concepts
    12. Photography and the American West
    13. The Landscape Today
    14. The Power of Nature: Visceral vs. Theoretical
    15. Still Life
    16. Close-Ups: The Macro Lens
    17. Internal Color Events: Evoking Inner Realities
    18. Fabricating Photographic Reality
    19. Photographs and Words
    20. Photographs from a Screen
    21. Handmade Photography
    22. Methods
    23. Inkjet Transfers
    24. Artists’ Books and Albums
    25. Individual Problem Solving
    26. Guide to Evaluation—Before Photographing
    27. Guide to Evaluation—After Photographing
    28. Photograms
    29. Chemigrams
    30. Non-Silver Approaches
    31. Postcards
    32. Stereoscopic Photography
    33. How the Stereo Effect Is Achieved
    34. The Effect of Distance
    35. Stereo Card Size
    36. Digital 3D Images
    37. Future Developments
  22. CHAPTER THIRTEEN PHOTOGRAPHIC PROBLEM SOLVING AND WRITING
    1. Deliberate Practice
    2. Challenging Fear
    3. Journal Keeping
    4. Tolerating Failure: Photography Is a Lot Like Baseball
    5. The Problem-Solving Process
    6. Birth of a Problem
    7. Acceptance
    8. Analysis
    9. Definition
    10. Idea Formation and The Possibility Scale
    11. Selection
    12. Operation
    13. Evaluation
    14. Results
    15. Understanding Photography’s Roles
    16. Writing About Images
    17. Writing an Artist’s Statement
  23. CHAPTER FOURTEEN PRESENTATION AND PRESERVATION
    1. Digital Retouching and Repair
    2. Analog Spotting: Chromogenic Prints
    3. Repairing Scratches
    4. Fixing Mistakes
    5. Spray Lacquers
    6. Waxing a Print
    7. Archival Presentation
    8. Presentation Materials
    9. Dry and Wet Mounting
    10. The Dry Mounting Process
    11. Cold Mounting
    12. Floating a Print
    13. Frames
    14. Unusual Frames and Presentations
    15. Portfolios
    16. Self-Publishing: Print-on-Demand
    17. Images on a Screen: Web Sharing
    18. Website Design/HTML
    19. Print Preservation
    20. Factors Affecting Print Stability
    21. Print Display Environment
    22. Storage Environment
    23. Digital Archives
    24. Transferring Film-Based Images to a Digital Format
    25. Long-Term Storage and Migrating Digital Archives
    26. Post-Production Software: Lightroom
    27. Cataloging Image Files
    28. Digital Print Stability
    29. Camera Copy Work
    30. Lens Selection: Macro Lens/Mode
    31. Copy Lighting
    32. Copy Exposure
    33. Presenting Your Work
    34. Ensuring a Good Welcome
    35. Shipping
    36. Copyright of Your Own Work
    37. Where to Send Work
  24. APPENDIX SAFETY IN THE DIGITAL STUDIO AND ANALOG DARKROOM
  25. INDEX

Product information

  • Title: Exploring Color Photography, 6th Edition
  • Author(s): Robert Hirsch
  • Release date: December 2014
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781317911142