In addition to the photographic books and posters by John published by Ventana Editions, there are a number of SUPERB photographic books published by independent publishers now available at the Ventana Editions web store. The recently added offerings include the following:

- MARK CITRET - "ALONG THE WAY"
- TILLMAN CRANE - "STRUCTURE"
- RICHARD GARROD - "VISUAL PRAYERS"
- HENRY GILPIN - "HENRY GILPIN PHOTOGRAPHS"

ALL of the books are signed by the photographers!

These recently added titles are all outstanding photographic books that should be available everywhere, but somehow they aren't. Now you can easily order them, as they join publications by NEIL CHAPMAN, STEPHEN HARRISON, and RAY McSAVANEY at the Ventana Editions web store.

Orders can be placed online or by calling Ventana Editions toll free at 888/390-4545 or 831/659-4377.

All of these volumes would make outstanding additions to a serious library of photography.

To view the selection of autographed photography books at the Ventana Editions online store check out:
http://store.yahoo.com/ventanaeditions/morebooks.html

FILM IS NOT DEAD!!!
KODAK PROFESSIONAL UPDATES BLACK AND WHITE FILMS

With the rapid growth in popularity and quality of digital imaging technology I find a question that frequently comes up during workshops, lectures, and photographic gatherings is "How long will film continue to be manufactured?" As many of you already know, Kodak Professional is in the midst of updating a number of their most popular black and white professional films in both roll and sheet film formats. During the past few months, I have received a number of questions and comments from photographers about this updating procedure -- along with interesting bits of information, some accurate and some fanciful beyond belief. Here is a sampling of some of the comments: "They're taking the silver out of the emulsions" (what would they be replacing it with???); "The new films have developers built into them" (they don't'); "They're synthetic films" (were they ever "natural" ???). I wanted to share some facts about the Kodak updates on the black and white films, as I best understand them, and as I have learned directly from Kodak during the past year!

Kodak is not changing the emulsions merely for the sake of change. Rather, they are moving the production of their most popular black and white films to their latest and most advanced film emulsion coating facility. I truly believe this is GOOD NEWS for black and white photographers.

This undertaking was a long and costly process. The new facility necessitated a significant change in the way the film was actually manufactured. These manufacturing changes necessitate a small change in the film developing time. I congratulate Kodak, not only for undertaking the updating of the films, but also for informing photographers about the changes.

The new films not only have slightly different names and packaging to help differentiate from their predecessors, but the sheet films even have new notch codes. That means, in the dark, you will know if you are handling a piece of the new film or the older emulsion. My experience in testing the films is that after a small adjustment in processing times, the results in terms of sharpness, grain, speed, development control, and reciprocity departure are identical. Generally speaking, most photographers will find that they will need to reduce their developing time by a small percentage (probably about 10-15 percent). That being said, not all the film and developer combinations work the same. Some may find that they do not need to make a change at all. Some might even find that their combination and method of working necessitates an increase in developing time. The bottom line –- run some tests to determine what will be the appropriate processing time to allow you to get the best results with these new emulsions.

Potential benefits of the change in manufacture of the film, according to Bob Shanebrook (a longtime friend and super knowledgeable person at Kodak Professional), are that there likely will be less static potential (hooray for less dust on sheet film!!!), less mottle, and even better batch to batch consistency. I am thrilled to see Kodak making this significant investment, and publicly featuring the new films so prominently, when so many people are saying that film is nearing the end of its life. I have nothing against digital imaging, but I do love silver-halide film and paper.

Here is a link to the Kodak Professional web site where you will find lots of information on the new films, their characteristics and suggested processing times:

http://www.kodak.com/go/bwfilms

One word of advice that I mention on workshops and follow myself...
It is clear to me that nothing has a finite life on this planet, and the photographic materials we are accustomed to using today will not be around forever. In all likelihood, the person or people that will make the decisions as to whether to discontinue or continue the production of a particular product will not be intimately familiar with its actual use, and will primarily be evaluating sales figures. For that reason, today I buy ONLY the materials I desire to work with. For years I have not made contact sheets on resin coated paper because I simply prefer the look, feel, and handling in the darkroom of fiber based paper. Today I make a point of making my contact sheets on papers that I use, enjoy, and want the manufacturer to continue producing (for me that's Kodak Polymax Fine Art). I suggest you look at your photographic purchases and make sure that the materials you are buying are those that you feel are important for your own work, rather than those that allow convenience or a slight cost savings. The more we buy a product the longer it will be available!