New photography books

[tank121]

I'm currently doing my course at college and learnt about exposure so far, had some dark room experience and a session on still life. I already had a quite a good understanding of exposure. One area where I feel I struggle is generating the ideas for the photos, I know the basic rules of composition but often don't see the simple shapes etc within the frame. I hope you'll understand what I'm getting at.

Would these books help? I already own Learning to see Creatively by Bryan Peterson and Understanding Exposure by the same author.


Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos [Paperback]

Thanks


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[Derrel]

If you cannot see simple shapes within a frame, then yes, a book on compositional theory would probably be helpful. I've read Light, Science, Magic, but have not read The Photographer's Eye, but have heard from people whose knowledge I respect that it is a good book. Many of the so-called "basic rules of composition" are actually just modern-day nonsense, parroted over and over by people writing very short, web-based blurbs, blog posts, and on-line tutorials. The elements and principles of design is a topic you ought to research if you have difficulty seeing shapes, lines, mass, tone, etc..

I think some of the better authors who write photography books have some good ways of teaching people about the art,science, and the craft aspects of the field. A few good books, written by skilled authors, and edited by a good editor, can be VERY worth their cost. One of the biggest problems I see with internet-based tutorials is that many times, the quality of the theory, or the instruction, is not up to standards. Books tend to have more "at stake" than uploading a low-cost, shot-in-one-evening, video to a free hosting service like YouTube.

 

[timor]

I already had a quite a good understanding of exposure.

Hi tank121, what do you have on mind; exposure for digital photography or for film photography ? There are differences.
BTW, problems with generating ideas for photos has everyone. It's called "creativity jam".

 

[tank121]

Digital


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[AceCo55]

Not books but two photography contest sites.
Just looking through the entries shows one that there are MANY ways to interpret the same topic. There are some exceptional photographers there

DPChallenge - A Digital Photography Contest
FujiMugs Challenges: Past and Present Challenge Entries