johnw63 Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 I found the link to the list of books , from Amazon, they members here purchased over hte last year. That's pretty cool. What I'd like to hear is some thoughts on this list and if you think the best books are near the top or some great books just don't seem to sell well. Here's the link: http://www.photo.net/learn/books/bestsellers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_evans4 Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 <p>While I don't know most of those books and therefore shan't comment on them, I note that Harry Potter outsells the best-selling (indeed, the only) book of/by Cartier-Bresson. And Lange, Evans, Avedon, Atget? Nowhere -- each is outsold by <cite>Elvis and Me</cite> and <cite>The Encyclopedia of Tarot</cite>.</p><p>My own most recent purchase (not received yet) is a vast collection of photos by Edouard Boubat, and the latest one I've got my paws on <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BBDL">seems to be of no interest whatever to Photo-Net readers</a>.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw63 Posted February 27, 2005 Author Share Posted February 27, 2005 May I get from your reply that you feel books that sell the best are not nessisarily the best books ? Are NONE of these books on the list worth looking at ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 I guess not very many people are interested in books of photographs, and the few that are only like the biggest names. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpolaski Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 I'll read ANY book with photographs in it. Only limitation is cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Many of them have nothing to read. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 A much more interesting list, Photo-Eye's picks for best books of 2004, can be found <a href="http://www.photoeye.com/Booklist/2005_Spring_Best_Books_of_2004.pdf">here (PDF.)</a> Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug_garrett Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Interesting list. Different from the original list, which seems to be more How To books versus books with great photos. Another interesting point is that the number 2 book on the original list, Understanding Exposure, is by Bryan Peterson, who also has another book on that list, Learning to See Creatively. What's interesting about that? Well, many of the pictures I've submitted here were critiqued by him, and the ratings here are in some cases the very different from his ratings. Interesting. By the way, Bryan gives some great online classes and reasonably priced in person workshops (hope that's okay for me to say here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_sullivan Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 actually, I think Jeff Spirer's list of photography books would be pretty interesting...........how about it jeff? If you need a start, <a href="http://tssullivan.net/info.html"><u>my list</u></a> probably is a good start for ya........heck, you recommended half of them to me ;o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Where would you like me to begin?<p> <img src="http://www.spirer.com/images/books.jpg"> Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Maybe that was over the top. My favorites, at this very moment in time:<p> Disfarmer: Disfarmer<br> Avedon: In the American West<br> Yanagi: White Casket<br> Palma: Il Silenzio dei Maya<br> Rio Branco: Miguel Rio Branco<br> Scianna: Feste Religiose in Sicilia<br> Moriyama: Vintage Prints<br> Iturbide: Pajaros<br> Boystown<br> Bravo: 100 Years, 100 Days<br> Araki: 100 Flowers, 100 Butterflies<p> Well that's a start... Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_sullivan Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 heh........that's a nice start Jeff, thanks. sometimes I wish cataloging collections of things one enjoys to have around them could be made easier than it presently is. anyhow, on the original post, I think that however well it might represent the actual case of purchases by members here, it seems to be severly heavy on the "technical book" side. Although I have read my fair share of tech books, most were borrowed from the library and I took notes or copied the pages I needed. The monograms, etc. I own had to be bought due to their image content only being enjoyable in the book form.....although original prints would do nicely too.......heh, if I could afford such an endeavor. For me one of the reasons that the best books aren't on top is because of one look at the prices on jeff's link to the photo-eye pdf. $50 US is about my limit on any book. Especially if I havent been able to see it before hand, such as at Amazon or Photo-eye. And Borders and B&N are sadly lacking in photography book stock to check out before hand. I actually find the Philadelphia Art Museum more help in that arena........but their prices are outrageous. I actually would buy $100 book if I could see it before I payed the money.....sadly, one thing the internet buying doesnt allow, and apparently one thing the local book stores aren't willing to provide. I wish more photography image oriented houses made use of Amazon's and photo-eye's "look inside this book" feature. I made a few expensive choices thanks to those features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw63 Posted March 2, 2005 Author Share Posted March 2, 2005 I think the reason that the photo.net -> Amazon list is comprised of the books that it is, is because many photo hobbists want to know HOW to do stuff. I think the photo community has a lot of aspiring folks who need the help that a good "how to..." volumm might give. Look at the computer shelves at your book store. How many " How to..." books do you see vs. catalogs of great web sites, or slick data base design, or artfully typed out C++ code ? I guess my meaning is that there seems to be a LOT more people with a need to know stuff than people who can just appreciate stuff. So, are any of those books a really good "How to" book ? You guessed it, I'm still in the "need to know" group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_sullivan Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 what do you shoot? color? black and white? do you use film or digital? do you print in the wet darkroom or "digital darkroom" (ie computer and inkjet printer)? 35mm, medium format, large format? If B&W film, do you do your own film developing?....your own printing? I would recommend different books depending.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw63 Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 At this point, my desire to know is how to go from snapshot like pictures with an SLR to taking shots that might be worth hanging on my wall. Composition. How to get on film, what your eyes see. Here's an example of what I mean... I was leafing through the photo section at my local bookstore and found a book called " Changing light " http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861083807/qid=1109830606/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-2833313-3660820?v=glance&s=books It was mostly a book on how the light can change on a scenic shot and make BIG differences in the result. Conceptually, I know this. Anyone watching a sunset change can understand this, but... anticipating the change and knowing ahead of time, that something good will come up is the key. Knowing how to use the equipment to best record the shot is also something I need to really grasp. When to use which lens, which film, which camera settings to make it great is a biggie for me. The odd, but cool thing about this book is that the guy used a simple Pentax ME Super and a 50mm lens for a LOT of the shots. A simple camera and a lens that most people turn their noses up at. I probably ought to get that one, but...If some one here can say that, if you like THAT book, you will get more out of THIS book and it also covers, bla, bla, bla . That's what I am looking for, with this thread. Are these actually good books for the subject matter, or are they just popular ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_evans4 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 <p>First off, you can strip a lot from an Amazon URL: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861083807/">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861083807/</a> is enough.</p><p>I'm a crap photographer myself, but my few moderate successes have resulted from perseverance. Most people (certainly including myself, most of the time) just can't be bothered. Get this book -- thanks to the author's praise of inexpensive equipment, it may in effect pay for itself -- and get out there and burn up film (or megabytes). Learn from successes and failures.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_sullivan Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 that's probably a good book, although I've never read it. Any book that ties nature shots and quality of light together, at least has a good idea of what nature photography is all about. If nature is your thing, you also couldn't go wrong with John Shaw books for color mentioned in Amazon's list of pn best sellers. Mind you, from experience, these shots they all do are NOT walk up and take the shot. You can get to the point of semi predicting possible light conditions for a given scene, but you will have to spend lots of time just waiting....and waiting....for it to actually happen. Not to be done while friends or loved ones wait. I've spent 3 hours just waiting to take about 10 shots. I read about a photographer in western US that spends days camped out in the spot he is interested in just waiting for the perfect light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_p Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 This is an interesting link for those in search of photo books and critique: http://coincidences.typepad.com/still_images_and_moving_o/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_lieberman1 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 I consider myself an intermediate photographer and have grown tired of the "how to" books and glossy photo-gear magazines. I just bought "In Focus- National Geographic Greatest Portraits." What an amazing book! It is a great introduction to the evolution of photographic styles, techniques, and tastes and to some of the legendary photographers. The book contains a half dozen essays by the likes of David Alan Harvey, Jodi Cobb, and William Allard Allard. I recommend "In Focus" to any amateur photographer looking for motivation and insight for going beyond family snap shots and cliche travel photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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