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There are tons of resources on the net and in your local bookstore to
study the art and technique of photography. Listed below are a
collection of some of my favorites. I don't provide a rating, per se.
But, if a book is on this list, you'll find it valuable. This list is
offered in no particular order. I'd spend more time ordering/rating
them if I
didn't spend so much time fussing over my MP3 collection. Reading how-to books has its limits... the best studying you will do will focus on the examination of the collections of other photographers. A few sites I highly recommend: Thom Hogan's, Strobist, Glen Johnson's, and Joe McNally's. Also, while not listed specifically, consider your equipment's instruction manuals a must read. If you can't decode the book in the box, seek out a third party guide. Thom Hogan's are excellent. Avoid Magic Lantern Guides... they're basically the same as what's in the box with prettier fonts and design. Of course, the best way to learn is to go out and shoot!
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Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs An oldie but a goodie. (Ok, it's depressing to me that 1989 is oldie now...) Ansel Adams is easily the most celebrated American photographer of all time. Here he candidly discusses from of his most famous images, demonstrating his skill and confessing to the 'happy accidents'. This book, and his autobiography (listed below) should be part of any photographer's collection. |
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Ansel Adams: An Autobiography Ansel's story is fascinating beyond his talent alone. Ansel began his career at the dawn of modern photography, and he documents what he considers the struggles between interpretive photography - which he opposed - and 'straight' photography. As he discusses his work with the f/16 group and the relationships he developed with Albert Bender, Cedric Wright, Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe provide, you get a rich feeling of what it was like to be there as photography came of age as an art form. My biggest takeaway rests in Ansel's efforts to preserve America's natural treasures. Absent his photography and personal pleas (many made at the White House), it is unlikely our National Park System would appear as it does today. He believed it was his responsibility to use the pulpit his talent afforded him to champion these causes. He may well be photography's Bono. Not a bad thing to aspire to... |
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The Moment It Clicks Joe McNally may be the best creative contemporary magazine photographer out there these days. In this book, he discusses several of his most iconic images, touching on not only the technology, but also the intangibles involved in creating them. His writing style is somewhat humorous, very informal, and candid. This book is in that rare class of photography instruction that can also serve as a coffee-table art book. If only they had hard-bound it. |
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The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light From Small Flashes This book serves as a follow-up to Joe's The Moment It Clicks. It is more technique heavy, focusing solely on the use of small flash units. If you have a modern DLSR with remote flash control, you'll love this book. Joe teaches you how to do some pretty amazing things with those little flash heads. |
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Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for
Location Photography This is another excellent resource for lighting on a tight budget. Kirk starts with an excellent review of equipment you'll want to look into along with several practical examples for putting it to good use. He finishes the book with a review of several commissioned shoots. I wouldn't describe this book as inspirational, per se, but rather a basic technical/mechanical foundation to build on. |
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Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful
Memories Got a nice camera? Seen with it in your hands a lot? Eventually you'll have to brace yourself for these words... "Can you take pictures at our wedding for us?" You see, wedding photography is pricey... the going rate in my area is $2000 for 4-6 hours of coverage, and that's usually just the shooting fee to cover the photographer's time. Thus, people are always looking for a deal, and they may just think you are it. If you say yes, do so knowing it will likely be the most photographic stress you have ever experienced. Wedding photography is work first, fun second. A typical wedding translates into 20 or so hours with prep, the shoot, post-processing and client communications. If you charge $500, you are only making $25 an hour. That just isn't worth it. When (before) you do decide to jump into this arena, buy and read this book. Then, read it again. Glenn reviews the equipment you need (your kit lenses stay home...), where to be, how to act, what to shoot, how to see, how to design a workflow... It really is the most complete work on the subject. I also strongly recommend you visit his site for inspiration. There are a lot of wedding photography books out there (I've read most of them) - this is the one to own and learn. |
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The Annabel Williams Book of Wedding and Portrait Photography This book can be hard to find - although it pops up on Amazon's used book list often enough. Annabel isn't the best of writers (in fact, you can skip the text if you want). I bought the book for her images - she's a fantastic shooter. Her images have a gritty, oft cross-processed, style yet they maintain a strong sense of spontaneity, intimacy and tenderness. If you're 'stuck in a rut' with your wedding and portrait work, this is a great place to garner ideas. |
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The Digital Photography Book Series: Volumes 1-3 These books (volume three due out August 2009) are the best selling digital photography books of all time, and my first recommendation to anyone getting started. These books trade depth for breadth, giving hundreds of quick tips to help you take advantage of your camera and accessories in just about any shooting situation. Highly recommended. |
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The Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers This is the best Photoshop book I have read to date. It is clear and concise, focusing on exactly those topics you need (and use) the most. All examples are provided with detailed step-by-step instructions, complete with screen shots. The sections on color correction and black and white conversion are among my favorites. |
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Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 If you enjoy Scott's writing style, this is definitely another book worth checking out. I'd read his main Photoshop book (listed above) first. This book really serves as an appendix of sorts, with several step-by-step recipes to fix problem images. It's an excellent resource for polishing just about any image in your collection. (Note that while this book has CS3 in the title, its techniques are generic enough for CS2 and CS4 as well.) |
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Understanding Digital Photography This is an excellent work on the basics of digital photography. It offers an overview of key terms and concepts, building into illustrations of several techniques for getting better digital pictures. This book focuses more on getting great pictures than the technology itself, making it great for beginners. The author's writing style is enjoyable, and he is a great photographer to boot. The book contains several of his images. If I ever decide to imitate a photographer, Bryan Peterson would be it. |
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Beyond Portraiture: Creative People
Photography Bryan's turning himself in to a bit of a publishing powerhouse, 6+books now. Yet, Understanding Digital Photography and this book, are all you need from his collection. This book serves as the opposite of most formal portrait photography books in that it teaches you how to get not only a natural pose from your subject, but also a pose that reflects true person in front of the lens. I'm not sure I'll ever be as bold as Bryan advocates, but his approach to talking to a subject has greatly helped me. |
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Annie Leibovitz At Work While Annie's a great photographer, she's definitely not the world's best writer. Still, the content of the stories behind her career are compelling enough to rise above her literary limitations. There's little technique here - in fact, Annie stresses being there over all else. Read this book for inspiration. Annie's vision is unique - any exposure to it, no matter how small, will make you a better photographer. |
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A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 This most recent collection of Annie Leibovitz's work contains more private images from her family life than her professional work, up to and including the death of her partner, Susan Sontag, as well as the death of her father. Text is limited to a few short pages of introduction at the beginning. This is a remarkable collection - few works have inspired me as much as this one. |
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Landscape Photography While written in the context of film-based photography, the majority of the topics are relevant in today's digital age. I especially enjoy the sections on composition and light. The book is very well illustrated, and I find the inspiration I receive in the images more valuable than the text itself. John has written several good books, this one happens to be my favorite. There is a lot of overlap from one book to the next in his line-up - if you read one, you've pretty much read them all. |
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Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's
Most Powerful Feature Building on the work of Scott Kelby's Photoshop book, Matt focuses in more depth on how to quickly and easily use layers to strengthen your images. Photoshop's layer tools can be complex and abstract, yet Matt cuts through the theory to give the digital photographer an core set skills which will be used again and again. An added plus - this book is version independent. |
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