What books would you reccomend?

[Dweller]

Often I see topics asking for various things about our hobby and see references made to different books on the subject.

Of all the books you own or have read on the subject what are the one or two that have been the most valuable/helpful for you?

 

[Mr.ReDEyE]

the two books that really inspired me and got the creative juices flowing are The A-Z of Creative Photography: Over 70 Techniques Explained In Full by Lee Frost and The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing by Ph.D. Philippe L. Gross, Ph.D. S.I. Shapiro .....look into these books they are very helpful......peace

 

[drlynn]

Two by Bryan Peterson:

Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively

He is the best I've read at bringing all the elements together and linking them into an understandable continuity.

 

[markc]

I have the Peterson books and completely agree. I saw a real change in my photography after reading them. I think these are must-reads.

I recently read Tao and found it very insightful. It's more about the "why" of photography than the "how", so it depends on where you are with things as to how much you will get out of it, but I found it a very worthwhile read. There is another Tao of Photography book out there by different authors. From browsing through it, that one looked like fluff to me.

You might find Photographic Composition by Tom Grill and Mark Scanlon a worthwhile read, also.

 

[Dweller]

Where I am personally is wanting to move beyond fundamentals and mechanics and start to learn more about the creative side.. as much as that CAN be taught.. hehe.

I appreciate everyones input so far and have quite a list of books waiting at the library.

One I can add to the list (although it has an extremely limited audience) is Photographing Oregon with professional results What I like about this book is that it provides a large number of places where you might find some good subjects to photograph. I found it helpful to get the creative juices flowing.

 

[ksmattfish]

Where I am personally is wanting to move beyond fundamentals and mechanics and start to learn more about the creative side.. as much as that CAN be taught.. hehe.

I would look at the work of other photographers and artists: books, galleries, etc... Don't limit yourself to just studying photography. I always encourage new photographers to take a basic drawing and design class. The fundamentals of creating a good image go across all the visual arts.

 

[MyOwnPath]

The most inspiring and helpful books I've read I actually picked up at good will for a few dollars.

Time-Life did a photography series that is incredible. I have 16 books, and I'm not sure if there's more. Each one focuses on a subject: The Great Photographers; Color; Light and Film; Photojounalism; Nature Photography; The Camera; The Studio; Photographing Children; The Print; Caring for Photographs; The Art of Photography; The Great Themes; etc.

Besides that, The Joy of Photography I and II are good basic books.

---Trav---

 

[Digital Matt]

John Hedgecoe has lots of nice books out. Look him up on Amazon.com.

 

[cfoto]

The National Geographic Photography Field Guide is a great source of learning and inspiration. It small and not real in-depth, but simple to read and understand. Plus, it has bios on some of NGS' photographers. They tell you what they shoot with and some of the equipment they use. Quite amazing actually as most of their award winning photographers do not have a vast amount of equipment.

Inspires you to get out and shoot!

 

[Solarize]

'The Master Printer's Workbook' - Steve MacLeod, published by Rotovision
An excelent book listing, describing and giving examples of Darkroom printing techniques. Includes lots of good examples. I would thoroughly recomend it.