Photography Books

[Curos]

As I take more pictures, I wish more and more I had someone looking over me to point out when I'm doing something wrong, or to help me get the best picture possible. I find many times that i just can't capture what im trying to get with a picture, and since i don't personally know many people into photography like I am, I think a few good books would be a great place to start. Open to suggestions...

What are some good books to help a beginner photographer? I enjoy all kinds of photography..macro, wildlife, portraits, etc, so I'm not looking for a book on a specific type yet, more on composition, etc. Thanks!

edit- just noticed, maybe I should move this to the Talk about Photography forum? I guess more people will see it here, and besides, I'm learning with my 300d.

[aam1234]

We had that topic some time ago in this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33434&highlight=book+recommenatio n

Hope that helps

[Curos]

thanks very much, I'll give that a look.

[rick barclay]

Me, too, but I don't, so I just slog along on my own.

[elfyrulz]

this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=26677&is=REG

[Persian-Rice]

If you wait until next month, the new version of "Understanding Exposure" will go on sale. I checked the old one out at the bookstore, its really good, but the new one has info on digital as well.

[Olegis]

I want to recomend the "Photography and the Art of Seeing" book by Freeman Patterson. I have one of the first editions.
This book is great !

[rdenney]

As I take more pictures, I wish more and more I had someone looking over me to point out when I'm doing something wrong, or to help me get the best picture possible. I find many times that i just can't capture what im trying to get with a picture, and since i don't personally know many people into photography like I am, I think a few good books would be a great place to start. Open to suggestions...


There are tons of books on technique, but very few that connect technique to visualization, where you first see what you want in the final image, and the manipulate craft to achieve it. The very best books that have ever been written on this subject are The Camera, The Nagative, and The Print, by Ansel Adams. Yes, it's old and it talks about black-and-white film in view cameras, but I can't think of a thing in it that doesn't directly transfer to digital photography, and I can see lots of digital photography that would be better if the photographer had some sensitivity to those old principles. I'm sure that series has been updated into a new series since I bought mine.

I would not suggest overdoing technical books, either. I would rather recommend books of images made by photographers you admire. Study them and try to understand why the images are powerful. What is the powerful element? What did the photographer do to isolate that element from the surrounding clutter?

The two photography books that have had the most profound effect on me have been Quiet Light by John Sexton and In Wildness is the Preservation of Life by Eliot Porter. Both are hard to find, especially if you get the 1962 first edition of the Porter book (and it's worth it because of the ultra-fine screen prints on Kromakote with a lacquer overspray). Porter's The Place No One Knew is a good consolation prize. Another is the small Aperture retrospective book, Paul Strand.

Rick "thinking all artists require deep exposure to art" Denney

[aam1234]

Hi Olegis,

If I remember correctly, you also have "learning to see creatively" by Bryan Peterson. If that's the case, how do you compare the two books, and which one is better do you think.

Or maybe I'm mixing names here (titles & authors).