Acknowledgements

Few books are the work of one person in complete isolation from the rest of humanity. This book is no exception, and I would like to thank the many individuals and organizations that have been helpful in putting it together.

First, I wish to thank the workshop participants who read my early papers and manuscripts, gave me encouragement to expand my writing concepts, and suggested additional topics to be considered. Other workshop participants pointed out errors, suggested improvements, and identified segments that were unclear upon initial reading. Altogether, the quality of the book rests upon these hundreds or even thousands of “co-editors” who helped me improve my writing over the past 35 years.

Second, I must commend a number of people who have helped me in my entry to digital photography. Bennett Silverman deserves special thanks for his tremendous help and his writing of the digital chapter for the first edition of this book. In addition to Ben, I thank Rajmohan Murali, Ron Reeder, Don Rommes, and Franz Messenbaeck for their needed and wonderful help getting me on board.

A number of individuals have been a great help by supplying me with ideas over the years. These ideas have subsequently been incorporated into my photographic thinking, and therefore into this book. Prime among them are:

Jay Dusard, who introduced me to potassium ferri-cyanide bleaching of prints, and who has been a great friend, a fabulous workshop collaborator, and my best honest critic;

Ray McSavaney, who helped me start our first private workshop program, the Owens Valley Photography Workshops, and gave me the idea of extremely dilute negative developer solutions (the “compensating” development technique) to greatly control negative contrast. He also inspired me with his artistic approach to life. I’ll always miss Ray as a friend and consummate artist;

Don Kirby, who has not only taught numerous workshops with me, hiked and photographed with me, rappelled into Lower Antelope Canyon with me long before it became grossly commercialized, and camped with me throughout much of the unsurpassed Utah Canyon Country, but who also has given me great insight into the value of negative masking and helped me expand my creative and instructional abilities;

Heike Maskos, a workshop student who has worked closely with me on previous editions of this book, making it read better and look better, and who has been of greater help than she will ever recognize or admit;

Alexander Ehhalt, who introduced my self-published book to Gerhard Rossbach, founder and publisher of Rocky Nook, who worked with me on this and other books, and has become a trusted friend and workshop co-instructor;

Reed Thomas, a wonderful friend and sometimes workshop co-instructor, who has opened up my eyes and thoughts to alternative ways of seeing any scene;

Morten Krogvold, who has inspired me with his powerful imagery and his ability to motivate photographers to higher achievements, and to touch them to the core of their souls;

And, above all others, my wife, Sonia Karen, who has made the good things throughout my photographic career possible by thoroughly supporting me and helping me in all phases of my endeavors. She is the quiet, lovely gem of my life!

To each of them, and to everyone else who has given me ideas, techniques, and tips of all sorts, I wish to say thank you for your contributions to this book.