Well, it's a great book for basic techniques. I bought the 'Book 1' and was able to understand the second one, unless you know about photography, you don't need to read the first book.

The 'Book 2' is really the continuation of the first one, and so it continues on subjects like exposure, development and printing. I am disapointed by the chapter on exposure though. I was searching for a deeper understanding on the exposure notion. Still! Great book.

I posted an in-depth review of this book previously but, for some reason, it did not show up here so I will try again. However, this time I will be more brief. This book is excellent but, like the other two books I have by Schaefer, it is riddled with technical errors. There's no excuse for that. The experienced photographer may catch most of the errors but the student probably won't and that could cause some real problems. The section on film testing, for example, has many serious errors.

I find it a bit irritating that Schaefer literally plagiarizes Ansels photography series of books. By that I mean, Schaeffer lifts whole pages, text, illustrations, etc. Some pages even have the same font styles as Ansel's books. If you took away what has been taken from Ansel's books, this book would be a lot slimmer. I have no idea why Schaefer doesn't simply speak for himself. It's fine to make references to Ansel's writings and photography but to copy it is another thing. But the one good thing about that is that the parts that are copied from Adams are at least correct.

This book has large sections on alternative processes. For someone really interested in those processes, the information doesn't have enough depth. However, it is a good overview of those techniques.

The sections on digital imaging are downright funny although that's not Schaeffer's fault. They are so out-of-date that the reader should get a good laugh from them. This book should have stuck with traditional photography because digital photography is changing so fast that it is more suited for periodicals.


If you use this book as a reference for film testing, etc., be very careful. There are so many errors that they can lead you seriously off the path. I have made so many corrections in my book that I might as well have written it myself. I cannot understand why Schaefer didn't have someone proof-read it. And some of the errors are glaring! But if you can identify the errors, you will find some very useful information. Just be careful. It can be very hard to spotin some cases and it could lead to costly mistakes.

All that said, I still think this book is a good addition to my photographic library especially since it is all marked up now with my corrections.

I like this book very much because it explains different concepts and terminology in simple terms -- good for people who are trying to learn photography but not knowing much yet (like me). There are a lot of pictures in the book, so it isn't boring at all.

It also explains traditional photography very well, including cameras, darkroom etc. However, don't expect much from the technology section of the book since it is quite outdated, however it does give you a brief background with the technology though. (It's only a minor problem... anyway)

Recommended to those who are interested in photography.... also get Book 1 as well.

This is a beautifully printed curiosity / collector's item.

Contrary to the book's title you won't find much useful information about photography in this book. Most of its pages are devoted to arcane and obscure film print development techniques. While many of these techniques are interesting and can produce fascinating results, let's face it; do you really want a book that teaches you how to print a black and white film photo with pasta sauce and Epsom salts?! If so, this is the book for you!

The rearmost 1/4 of the book is cursorily devoted to digital image processing. Note that this book dates back to 1998, absolutely ancient by digital standards. So although the basic concepts presented are good the changes to the digital scene have rendered the digital material basically useless. Which is probably fine with the author (note that that's NOT Ansel Adams), as I could almost hear him hissing as he wrote that section of the book.

I bought this book at a bookstore (what's that?) and it was shrink-wrapped in plastic. So all that i could learn about it was in the blurbs on the cover...which are very misleading.

Schaefer has taken on a major task in reworking the material to reflect changes in equipment and materials while maintaining the thoroughness, attention to detail, and spirit of the Adams' series. I feel that he has succeeded nicely.

While a lot has been borrowed directly from the previous work there is also much new material and the format itself has been changed substantially. The book now opens with a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit brief, history of photography before getting down to business...Although targeted at a bit different readership than its predecessor, An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography, Book I is a good read and destined to become as much a classic as the original.