Information and Links

Negatives - The film negative, like all other materials, deteriorates in one way or another. While film produced prior to 1960 will actually crumble and turn into vinegar, film produced after 1960 has a tendency to fade -  and will eventually disappear altogether. In an effort to preserve one major 20th century photography collection, valuable images (print and film) are actually being frozen and stored deep underground at the noted 'Iron Mountain' storage facility. In spite of extensive efforts to scan and digitally restore each of the crumbling and fading images (which are still in demand for commercial use), some eleven million images from the Corbis collection have yet to be processed. The collection, now owned by Bill Gates, is soon expected to go into frozen storage in a room the size of two football fields. Click here to read more about this amazing 'Iron Mountain' project.

Knowing that negative and slide materials can and will deteriorate over time, you might want to review YOUR collection and plan for the long term survival of your precious images. 

Digital storage - Each form of digital image storage has its pros and cons. CDs can fade, DVDs end up unreadable, and hard drives crash. For digital, its all about risk mitigation. Storage systems should be thought out carefully and scheduled upgrades included in long term planning for image preservation. It is strongly recommended that images be backed up on multiple electronic devices, i.e. hard drives, CDs and/or DVDs. Planning should take into account the possibility of fire or water damage, and environmental issues (i.e. temperature and humidity control). Or, what to take with you in the event of an emergency evacuation - say an approaching fire, storm or flood that could destroy your home and property. 

 For more information, click here.

Composition - There is more to composition than the Rule of Thirds. There is also the Golden Mean, the Golden Sections, Spiral Sections, Golden Triangles, and Harmonic Triangles. Some are nearly the same thing, or a slight variation, but does offer a new perspective on photo composition. For more information see: here (the Golden Mean), here (a great tool) and here (more composition links).

Photographic Cheat Sheet - thanks to Gordon McKinney, of www.night-ray.com, click here to go to the download. Its a handy pdf file, so you will need Acrobat Reader to read. "This "cheat sheet" provides a number of useful tables for any photographer who's interested in planning ahead for prevailing light, enabling the selection of lenses, flashguns, reflectors and associated shutter speeds." Gordon McKinney

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Books, Magazines, Movies, and other Favorites

There are hundreds of good books, magazines and  web sites about photography - some based on the darkroom, others on digital, and still others that try to do both. Here are a few of our favorites, but if you have different one, send us a note and we will include it.

Magazines:

Lenswork Magazine -"Focused clearly on the creative process, LensWork side-steps techno-talk and art-speak to offer a stimulating mix of articles, interviews, and portfolios for the photographic artist. Beautifully produced, this anthology-style journal pairs intelligent, insightful and entertaining reading with photographic works from well-known and emerging artists alike." The magazine also sells an extended digital version of the magazine on CD.

Black and White Magazine - "B&W Magazine is the premier high-quality magazine of black and white photography for collectors of fine photography."

Focus Magazine - fine art photography magazine (black and white) 

Black and White Photography - "Black & White Photography strikes a balance between inspiration and information, traditional and digital for the monochrome photographer. Each issue features stunning images from some of the finest names in black & white; regular features include guidance on printing technique, equipment tests and reportage, with plenty of opportunity for readers to see their own work in print."

Photo Techniques Magazine - "PHOTO Techniques is a photography magazine written for the serious amateur and those working in professional photography who want to create the best possible photographs and images. Bimonthly articles provide photography techniques on traditional and digital photography."

Digital Photo Pro Magazine - an new and popular digital photography magazine

Camera Arts Magazine - fine art photography [just updated with a new look and size]

View Camera Magazine - The Journal of Large-Format Photography (includes digital and film)

e-Magazines:

Rangefinder - an online photography magazine - traditional, digital, professional or just for fun! Excellent articles on skills and the working talents. Applications for free hard subscriptions are available at the site.

Layers Magazine - digital with the focus on how to do Photoshop. Aimed at pros, but excellent.

Arts Journal - daily digest of Arts, Culture and Ideas

Zone Zero - online photo magazine (images, digital photo books, photo essays - worldwide collection)

Books:

The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)  by Scott Kelby

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) by Bryan Peterson

Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2 by Bruce Fraser, David Blatner

The New Manual of Photography by John Hedgecoe

Basic Photography, Seventh Edition by Michael Langford

Lee Frost's Simple Art of Black and White Photography: Easy Methods for Making Fine Art Prints by Lee Frost

DVDs:

Alfred Stieglitz - The Eloquent Eye (American Masters) (DVD)
Starring: Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe Director: Perry Miller Adato

Richard Avedon - Darkness and Light (American Masters) (DVD)
Starring: Richard Avedon, John Lahr Director: Helen Whitney

Ansel Adams - A Documentary Film (DVD)

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