Recommended Photo-chemistry book?

colinh

colinh

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Hi,

I'm sure I saw a recommendation for a book on photo-chemistry a while back - but I can't find it now :(

I think it was mentioned as being out of print.

I'd like something that covers B&W in a fair amount of detail. (I have a Chemistry degree, so I should be able to at least read most texts :) )

colin
 
Hi Mark,

good try, but no. I have those two already. I was more interested in the real chemistry (stability of the photon-energised bromide, activation, electronic effects of substituents, how/why the pH affects things - that sort of thing :) ).

colin
 
I have no idea, but what about:

basic photo science: how photography works, H. J. Walls & G. G. Attridge by Focal Press

It is not all chemistry, but a lot of it is. It also covers photography as a process, rather than just one aspect. It is out of print.

You may find this interesting:

Photographic Sensitometry: the Study of Tone Reproduction, Todd & Zakia, by Morgan & Morgan

Here again, it looks at the process including the chemistry and how it affects the results. And it is also out of print.
 
colinh said:
Hi Mark,

good try, but no. I have those two already. I was more interested in the real chemistry (stability of the photon-energised bromide, activation, electronic effects of substituents, how/why the pH affects things - that sort of thing :) ).

colin
Click to expand...
Grant Haist, "Modern Photographic Processing" is a good starting point.
After that you might want to read C.E.K. Mees's "Theory of the Photographic Process"

Mees created the Kodak Research Lab in the early 20thC, and Haist was its director until recently, IIRC.
 
Thanks everyone.

More recommendations would be welcome.

I might at some stage try formulating developers (for fun :) ) And one day, even try making some emulsions :eek: I've seen some interesting sites on this.

colin
 
Colin, not to push the point further unduly, but once you read Haist and Mees, you might as well just go read directly the scientific literature. They're not beginner books, they are the books which everyone else cites. Anchell and Troop extracted quite a large amount of information from Haist (his book and himself), so they are the practical version of theory.

Haist and Mees ARE the theory.
 
OK, thanks. I'd better get them then :)

edit: Ah. The Haist book (2 volumes) is USD 500 !

colin
 
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colinh said:
OK, thanks. I'd better get them then :)

edit: Ah. The Haist book (2 volumes) is USD 500 !

colin
Click to expand...

Yep! Knowledge ain't cheap...

I've managed to find it in university libraries, so if you get a borrower's card (isn't terribly expensive, might be a hundred a year) then not only will you be able to borrow the book, but also you can photocopy the useful bits...
 
sepiareverb said:
This one is pretty good Colin- gets over my head with chemistry.

Photographic Materials & Processes by Leslie Stroebel et al

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Boo...rchurl=bi=h&bsi=60&kn=Leslie+Stroebel&x=0&y=0
Click to expand...

This is an excellent book, but then it was my first year college textbook and I studied with three of the four authors. It is a great overview of the photographic process, but there is not a lot of detail about photochemistry except how it work - don't get me wrong, it has more detail than most books or the avage photographer knows, but not enough to please a chemist, I would think.

But this is a great book to have in your library.
 
Thanks again, everyone.

My shopping list now includes 4 books for USD 120.

And I've "discovered" AbeBooks :)

BTW, I already have the two cookbooks.

colin
 
Finder said:
This is an excellent book, but then it was my first year college textbook and I studied with three of the four authors...
Click to expand...

Which ones?

I learned photochemistry from Paul Krot (Sprint chemistry founder), loved his way of having us do something to learn it by seeing it happen. I try to follow that lead in my classes as much as possible.
 
sepiareverb said:
Which ones?

I learned photochemistry from Paul Krot (Sprint chemistry founder), loved his way of having us do something to learn it by seeing it happen. I try to follow that lead in my classes as much as possible.
Click to expand...

Stroebel, Compton, and Current. While Zakia was around for my first year, I did not have the pleasure of studying with him. He was mostly teaching the Zone System to senior students.

Stroebel was god-like - eternal and omnipresent. He forte was the view camera and he seemed to been around since the first ones were made. You had the impression that Fox Talbot personally inspired him to enter photography. No photo student got through their program with out M&P - the catalog said it stood for Materials and Processes (of Photography), but most called it Misery & Pain. I can't imagine RIT without him.
 
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