Good Photography Books

[helenjenkins]

<p>We've just been told that as a thank you for last year (which was rather hard work!) my company is giving everyone £100 ($150-ish) in Amazon vouchers. I would like to spend some of it on photography books, but there's such a wide choice out there, some recommendations of other peoples' favourites would be very welcome.</p>

<p>If you could tell me why you like what you recommend as well, that would be really helpful. Thanks.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>I have always found 'Lens, Light and Landscape' by Brian Bower to be useful and inspiring for landscape photography. Available in hard and soft cover. I find his mix of technical detail and feel for landscape to be right for me. The book is film era but still beats more modern 'digital' books in this area. </p>

[py-photography]

<p>What do you like to shoot? I have number books that I have enjoyed.<br>

If you want to get into lighting then, Light: Science and Magic: An Introfduction to Photographic lighting is a great book.<br>

With a little more info, would really help.</p>

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[helenjenkins]

<p>Hi</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Peter - you're absolutely right, it's like saying I want books about history! I'm not so interested in the lighting / more technical side, (although I ought to know more about it). </p>

<p>I'm particularly interested in landscape photography and animals and birds (nature in general, really) as well. I also would love to be better at portraits, so anything that can help with that I'd be interested in knowing about.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Take a look at this recent thread in the Nikon Fourm. Just skip over the Nikon D90-specific suggestions (unless you happen to need such info): <a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00VTqJ">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VTqJ</a></p>

<p>As I mentioned over there, the books by American nature photographer John Shaw are well known for learning photography, but they are a bit dated with the last one published 10 years ago. E.g. there is no information on digital photography, but topics such as composition, lighting, etc. have not changed. There is also plenty of overlap among his 6 books: <a href="http://www.johnshawphoto.com/books.html">http://www.johnshawphoto.com/books.html</a></p>

[charles_stobbs3]

Why not check out your local public library to see if they have anything in their archives you'd like to own. Or go into a bookstore where you can peruse before you buy (from Amazon).

[colin carron]

<p>I should maybe mention that Brian Bower who wrote the 'Lens, Light and Landscape' book I recommended above is English and many of his photos are of Derbyshire, Lake District etc.</p>

[richard_]

<p>A favorite : By Charis Wilson, "Through another Lens: My years with Edward Weston". A mixture of bio.,technical details, and their relationship. Btw, people i know who don't even care about photography like this one.</p>

[jay a. frew]

<p>"The Online Photographer" has some pretty good book recommendations/reviews on his blog<strong>:</strong></p>

<p>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/books/</p>

<p>Cheers! Jay</p>

[david_henderson]

<p> Here's a selection of books that I've enjoyed- they're all landscape orientated, in colour or b&w.</p>

<p>Ghosts in the Wilderness by Tony & Eva Worobiec<br>

Retrospectives One and Two, Michael Kenna<br>

Fractal Dreams , Roman Loranc<br>

Zones of Exclusion, Robert Polidori<br>

Scotlands Coast, Joe Cornish<br>

Lost in Iceland , Sigurgeir Sigurjonsson<br>

Intimations of Paradise, Christopher Burkett</p>

<p>Some of these books are quite expensive- no aplogies for that on the basis that the great thing about windfalls is spending them on things you otherwise couldn't justify.</p>

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[mark_loader]

<p>"The Moment It Clicks" and "The Hotshoe Diaries" by Joe McNally. Even non-photographers will get a kick out of this. Also "Digital Photography vols 1-3" by Scott Kelby. Short, bite-sized pieces of info that can benefit any snapper no matter their experience level.</p>

[steve_t.1]

<p>I recently purchased Bryan Peterson's new book "Understanding Close-up Photography". It is not a concentration on macro work (he does go through some macro), rather the concentration is getting up close and personal with a variety of lenses not normally considered and pointing them toward a whole world of subjects. I have a pretty strong interest in macro, but after reading this book it really broadened my horizon to take a small step away from the macro subject for close-up work in general. Great book, great photos and inspiration. Peterson is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Understanding Exposure", a must for just about every photographer.</p>

<p>Another newer one I picked up is John and Barbara Gerlach's "Digital Landscape Photography". Through every season and just about every kind of setting they provide great examples and explanations of how they get the results they do, both through the skill of the photographer and through the equipment (camera, lens, and beyond) utilized. They aren't bashful about name-dropping their gear, though. One shoots Nikon, the other Canon, so both of these brands are well represented. Not that that should matter one iota anyway. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Olympus, Sigma, Leica, Polaroid, blah, blah. Regardless of the make, you need to know how to use the darned thing...</p>

<p>Also, the "BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography" by Jim Miotke. Very good book on getting a firm grasp on the basics of the topic. And if one can master the basics of any skill set, you are way ahead of the game.</p>

<p>"The Photographer's Eye" by Michael Freeman. I don't think there's a single reference to "set the aperture to this..." in this entire book. It's all about seeing the image you want to capture. It's a book on composition skills, not a tech manual of how to use a camera. Very in-depth and conceptual.</p>

<p>Of course I always recommend Volumes I, II, and III of Scott Kelby's "Digital Photography" books. Landscape, portrait, product, travel... he does it all and tells you how to get there very fast. Great books.</p>

[william_roberts4]

<p>Well if you want to learn from the Landscape master... you can't go wrong with the Ansel Adam set of books "The Camera', 'The Negative', and 'The Print'. Although they cover film, you can get some freat information about the basic photographic techniques. I would second the John Shaw books also or if you find any of the books by the late Galen Rowell. Hope this helps<br>

William</p>

[marcaubin]

<p>I really enjoyed Freeman Patterson's "Photography of Natural Things". Not a technical manual, but rather about story-telling, composition and the peculiarities/challenges of photographing different natural subjects.</p>

[helenjenkins]

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions - there's some interesting sounding things there. Sounds like my husband's going to be getting a big wish list of books for my birthday as well!</p>

 

[mart_e]

<p>The 2 books that I've felt give me the most value, and that I keep thumbing through have been mentioned already - but I would fully ensorse getting them:</p>

<p>The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman: It's all about seeing and composing, it's a book you can dip into and still get something from.<br>

<br /> Light: Science and Magic: An Introfduction to Photographic lighting - written for studio lighting, but useful for flash, and the principles for light modelling apply equally well to natural light.</p>

<p>Martin</p>

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