own course

I am just an amateur and one day picked up a camera and started shooting. I

have read stuff on the net and browsed a few books here and there. I can't take

any courses due to time constraints, but am happy to read about photography in

the middle of the night.

What are some must read books that would help a medium level amateur move up to

the next level (shooting digitally now). Would like to build a solid foundation

and a somewhat wide knowledge of the field (I shoot both color and b&w and do

shoot people, travel, and landscapes). Can some of the more experience people

recommend some sources to get started (past the basic technical stuff - fstops,

shutter speed, etc.).

Also some resources on learning to process raw images and digital workflow would

be appreciated. Currently trying to setup a system to do this and need to

decide on software, etc. Probably will do windows based.

Thanks.

The standard textbook is by Barbara London. It's expensive as all textbooks are. The link is below. You need a camera capable of manual settings and an inexpensive, hand-held, exposure meter. You can buy a Gossen Luna Pro on ebay (it was high-end in 1969). The idea is to learn well fstops, shutter speed, and ISO combinations. Magazines are not a good source of basic knowledge. Books are better. Work with a normal lens for a year before getting anything else. Then a moderate wide angle to moderate telephoto zoom.

http://www.amazon.com/Photography-9th-Barbara-London/dp/0131752014/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213189434&sr=1-1

There was a Photography Educator in England named Michael Langford, who wrote some standard works in the field. Modern editors have updated some of these works to produce three very good photography training books.

(1) Langford's Starting Photograpy

(2) Langford's Basic Photography

(3) Langford's Intermediate/Advanced Photography.

These cover both film and digital photography, including digital workflow. They combine a good mix of helpful and infomative text, useful charts, diagrams, and tables, and plenty of example photographs.

They sell these at Books A Million retail book stores, in the Photography section, and should be able to order them for you if they dont have them in stock.

Another digital photography handbook that might fit your needs is

Tom Ang's Digital Photographer's Handbook

Here's a link to it, on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photographers-Handbook-Tom-Ang/dp/0789489074

Also, check out the *set* of books in this series

National Geographic Photography Field Guide books

you can see em here

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/gateway/210/114/page/1.html

Just scroll thru these pages, and you'll at least 1/2 Dozen photography Field Guides on various aspects of digital photography.

Hi Sumit

one great book to get is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson - http://tinyurl.com/6c2aff

There are many photographers also, that offer seminars / workshops at their studios. This is a great way to learn quickly and efficiently. One place in particular is www.vgallery.net. You can also take a "trek" with your camera and learn from seasoned professionals, such as Joe McNally and Moose Peterson - http://www.digitallandscape.org/

We offer a two day, one on one course as well here in Chicago. With a one-on-one, it's only you, so there are no other photographers slowing you down, asking questions you're not interested in. More on this course here - http://www.3dgarage.com/product_p/dmashoot.htm

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