Photography Books You Should Read

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posted on 23rd of june, 2012

Thie Photography Books Authors are for you to learn and step forward on your photography, this list is not of books of photographs.

Since there are some newbies here all the time, I decided to publish a small list of books I think could help you on your journey.

This list is of course not extensive enough, it doesn include Ansel Adams and other classics, but they express my personal experience, all those books and authors I personally have read and have used their knowledge as a basis to learn and improve my photography.

Inspiring Books.
Those are those books that give you inspiring insights on how to take better images.

John Hedgecoe is an old fellow, but his books are very nice to read. He passed away in 2010, but this one is one of the best, The Art of Digital Photography

Bryan Peterson He has several good books, Learning to See Creatively and Understanding Exposure are my personal favorites. Its an easy reading, but once in a while you come back there and you allways find something new to help you move forward with your photography.

Michael Freeman The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos is probably one of the best books I´ve ever read on composition, but he has other nice ones,
Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure is very good, The Photographers Mind and the Photographers Vision I am reading right now.

Joe McNally is an amazing photographer, his Hot Shoe Diaries is a tremendous source of inspiration. A must for flash photography. Besides that Joe is a hot gun photographer, he is the real deal.

David du Chemin This is really inspiring reading, Within the Frame. More philosophical reading, that helps you do better images.

Now, on the technical processing side.

Martin Evening Besides being a tremendous photographer, his series of books on Photoshop, Lightroom are very easy and straightforward to read (but bulky to hold...)

Tim Grey Tim Grey stopped in CS3, I dont know why, he totally opened my eyes on how to process using masks, the book is still available and its still valuable even today.

Scott Kelby Scott has a series of books on all the major processing softwares available. He has a very didatic way of explaining it to you. Besides software, Scott has a series of field books, The digital Photography book, is a series of tips, you will find some amazing things inside it. Its a good reading,

National Geographic field guide is a very good start, full with high quality information in a pocket size. It cover all the basics.

Well, I think this pretty much covers the more important aspects.

Those other two are for more advanced usres, to expand their horizons.

Harald Mante The Photograph was translated to english, I dont know if he has any other books in english since he only writes in german. This is a book on composition and color design.
It analysis the diferent elements that form an image and the interelationship between them, the point, the line, the frame, the area, etc...
It can really help you step forward on your images, once in a while I go back to it.

Richard Zakin Perception and Imaging, is a book that analysis the relationship of the elements of an image, is deep thought on the subject.

Well folks, I hope this help you, if you have any question, feel free to ask me.

Tags: books learning photography skill technical

Comments (21)

	Posted by Afagundes on June 27, 2012 Thanks Ponytail1414
	Posted by Ponytail1414 on June 27, 2012 Useful!
	Posted by Kikkerdirk on June 26, 2012 You missed one of my favourites! The best photography book I own: Light science and magic, an introduction to photography lighting By Fil hunter, Paul Fuqna and Steven Biver Some nice information here!!!!!!!!
	Posted by Afagundes on June 25, 2012 Hi Anne Power, the CreativeLive sight looks very interesting and full of informative data, I will certainly check it out, thanks for sharing!
	Posted by Afagundes on June 25, 2012 Hi Gordon Bell, thanks for the tips on the two books, Brad Calkings have already told me about Light Science and Magic and the book from Douglas Freer I actually have read and is quite good, I didnt mention it, because I was focusing on the more technical details of photography, but it makes sense for us microstocker, thanks for reminding me of that.
	Posted by Jdanne on June 25, 2012 Thanks for sharing!
	Posted by Adpower99 on June 25, 2012 I participated in a CreativeLive workshop led by Don Giannatti this weekend and he was great! I haven't read his books, but if they're anything like his teaching, they should be wonderful as well. Plus, he does a lot of still life and product photography, so it's perfect for stock. Here's a link to his stuff on Amazon: http://amzn.to/MTCrid
	Posted by Gbphoto27 on June 25, 2012 Two books I would most certianly read are 1) Douglas Freer - Microstock Photography , How to make money from your Digital Images 2) Light, Science and Magic, an Introduction to PhotographicLighting by fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua Bot are excellent but different aspects of stock
	Posted by Egomezta on June 25, 2012 Thanks this is great info. Very interesting.
	Posted by Clearvista on June 25, 2012 Ok thanks very much, didn't realize there was a number 4, will check on amazon. :)
	Posted by Pardojavi on June 25, 2012 Very interesting. Thanks for share.
	Posted by Waihs on June 25, 2012 Thank you! Very appreciate!
	Posted by Afagundes on June 25, 2012 Clearvista, thanks for the comment, Scott has launched a fourth book on the series Digital Photography Book in the same way, a series of valuable tips.
	Posted by Clearvista on June 25, 2012 Thanks for the helpful information. Just to say that recently I borrowed a book that you mentioned from our library-"The digital photography book" written by Scott Kelby. I have found this book very helpful and have now sent of for all three volumes. I found lots of helpful tips that i didn't know about and would also recommend these books. :)
	Posted by Afagundes on June 24, 2012 Not exactly like that, many of them I read in my ipad...sorry.
	Posted by Angelaostafichuk on June 24, 2012 Awesome thanks! I'm glad to see people still reading books in the age of digital media!
	Posted by Chanevy on June 24, 2012 Thank you for posting this useful list! I can vouch for the Freeman book on composition. It's and excellent resource. I'll have to check out some of the rest of these!
	Posted by Afagundes on June 24, 2012 Thanks Racheld32, I am a bit of an addict, I have read a lot of books, many are just not worth it, feel free to ask me about anyone you like, maybe I can add you some extra information.
	Posted by Racheld32 on June 24, 2012 thanks for posting! I have been looking for some books, but wasnt sure which ones would be more beneficial for me! Great to hear some reviews.
	Posted by Afagundes on June 24, 2012 Thanks Bradcalkins, I´ve read some books on the subject, but none of them I liked, so they didnt make my list, I checked your suggestion and it seems like a very good option, maybe now I found the book on lighting I was looking for.
	Posted by Bradcalkins on June 24, 2012 Thanks for the list ! If you want a book on light itself, I highly recommend the book "Light: Science and Magic"... Very useful for product photography.

Comments (21)

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