Working in Black-and-white

My latest book in the Basics Photography series is published tomorrow, 29 September 2008 by ava Academia. Basics Photography: Working in Black-and-white covers picture taking in black-and-white and digital conversion, looking at the origins and art of black-and-white photography. Though primarily of interest to students, the book is designed to appeal to anyone with an interest in taking their imagery further. Available at all good book shops.

A very informal launch party is being held at Community Darkroom Rochester, NY on the evening of 6 October 2008 from 7.00-9.00.

Consumer reviews

Don’t believe everything you see in the papers. Reading Kate Bevan’s review of the Pentax Optio A40 in The Guardian (Thursday September 11 2008) I learn that “the flash blasts out a lot of light at close range but doesn’t penetrate very far”. Call me picky but I think all light sources are subject to the same law of physics – namely the inverse square law. This is not a complaint you can level at Pentax and its engineers. Light falls off as one over the square of the distance from the source – 2m away its 1/4 as bright, 4m away its 1/16th. If you’ve huddled round a campfire you’ll be familiar with the rapid fall off of light – clearly Kate was never a Girl Guide.