Preface

This revision is a bridge between the classic world of film photography and the new world of digital imaging. Just as the class this book was originally written for, Materials and Processes of Photography here at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is slowly moving from a film-based class to a digital-based class, so, too, is this text. However, as a student of Dr. Leslie Stroebel's from days gone by, I will never be able to remove film totally from its pages. As I have found in teaching this class over the past four years, first learning about film in all its glory allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the digital world. The classic knowledge provides them with insight into how to get the most out of every pixel they capture from making an exposure to printing the final image.

My hope is that this is the first in several revisions over the coming years that will allow the knowledge held within these pages to change at a similar pace with the rapidly changing field of digital photography. I also hope that the students who use this book will find the mixture of the old and new intriguing and helpful on their journey from wide-eyed young freshman to the successful photographers of tomorrow. As you will see from the many images some of my students have provided for the pages of this book, many are already well on their way.

I have to thank my incredible husband Carl, for his support during the past months while I spent many hours working on this book. I also have to thank my son, Philip, who assisted in capturing many of the figures here. Without this help, I would never have finished in time.

I extend my deep appreciation to Paul Schwartz for rescuing me in the area of black-and-white development and chemistry. I also would like to acknowledge all of the students and faculty members who provided images, starting with our new cover. Credit for this photograph goes to Noelle Pensec, a Biomedical Photographic Communications student here at Rochester Institute of Technology. She captured this image for an assignment—the goal was to create an image that could be a book cover. I also need to acknowledge my colleagues and students Brandon Balch, Derrick Clark, James Craven, Andy Davidhazy, Stephen Diehl, Oscar Durand, KT Evans, David Filiberti, Douglas Gaston IV, David Kelbe, Elliot Krasnopoler, Robert Lussen, Glenn Miller, Michael Peres, Jessica Peterson, Sarah Priestap, Lydia Richards, Jessica Scott, Josh Shagam, Natalie Sinisgalli and Rob Weber for so graciously contributing their photographs to my effort.

Regards, Nanette