From Oz to Kansas

The ability to create a stunning black and white image remains one of photography's greatest and most aspirational skills. Being able to "see" in black and white is an enviable capability, and a well-crafted black and white photograph remains the finest of the fine arts. Master photographer Vincent Versace has spent his career teaching the art of perception and how to translate it into extraordinary black and white images.

In From Oz to Kansas: Almost Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man, Versace discusses digital black and white photography-with a nod to traditional film-based techniques. As Versace states, today the goal is "to use what was right and good about silver photography, leaving behind what was limiting, and use what is right and good about digital photography, while avoiding its pitfalls. This is what this book is all about."

The reason you must learn "almost every black and white conversion technique known to man" is because, depending on the image-and your goals for it-there are many paths you can take in order to arrive at your final destination. Working through Versace's techniques will give you the essential knowledge you need, as well as the ability to select the appropriate conversion technique for any image, allowing you to create a black and white image that best and most accurately reflects what you felt at the moment that you pressed the shutter.

Foreword by Dr. Richard Zakia, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology

Afterword by John Fraser, Chef and Proprietor, Dovetail Restaurant, New York