Subzero temperatures do not make for the best shooting weather, even with electronic hand warmers keeping the camera battery nice and toasty and plenty of layers between us and the elements. When it’s this cold out, there are plenty of ways to keep honing your skills. If I feel like cooking or baking, I play around with food styling and photography (next week’s post will focus on food photography, so stay tuned!). This weekend I’d rather curl up with a good book or two. From my first instructional photo book purchase on concert photography to the wacky photograph collections my mom finds for me, I’ve amassed a bit of a collection and would love to share my favorites with you.
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| Books make great props, too! |
My Top 5 Photography Books
1. Street
Photography Now showcases photographers with eyes for the unusual like
Raghu Rai and one of my favorites, Matt Stuart (the cover image is one of
his). The hours they spent
scouting the streets for interesting compositions and moments that just scream
to be photographed result in memorable and often humorous images. Even if you’re not into the genre, you
will appreciate the work that went into this collection.
2. My mother found Believing
is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography) for me and it
immediately landed on my list of favorites! Taking on issues of ethics in photojournalism, the filmmaker discusses
some famous controversial photographs as well as how our beliefs affect what we see in an image. It is a great combination of philosophy
and non-fiction writing that includes informative interviews.
3. I’m a sucker for biographies of people I admire, so it’s
no surprise that Henri
Cartier-Bresson: A Biography is on my list. From his family life to his professional success, the book
provides insight into how he became the father of photojournalism and how his down-to-earth
approach to photography brought us so many iconic images.
4. Learning how our gear works helps us make sure we can
face any problems that may arise on the job. If you’re like me, you may not love learning the science of
it all, but books like Camera:
A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital make it more fun and
put our modern gear into historical context. You may even find that you want to give an old Mamiya or
vintage Kodak Brownie a go for the fun of it!
5. National Geographic’s Photography Field Guide: Secrets
to Making Great Pictures contains everything from compositional techniques
to photographers' anecdotes and explanations of how their images were captured. There are also a variety of other field guides, including topics like travel and portraiture.
Honorable mention: Scott Kelby’s instructional books are so easy to
understand and provide incredible insight into photography and specific
post-production programs. The
Digital Photography Book almost made it onto my top 5, and I swear by my
Lightroom book!
Has a photography-related book inspired you, or is there an instructional book you can't live without? I would love your suggestions in the
comments below. Happy reading!
-Friday Ambassador
Works Cited:
Assouline,
Pierre. Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Biography. New York: Thames &
Hudson, 2005. Print.
Burian, Peter K.,
and Robert Caputo. National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to
Making Great Pictures. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2003.
Print.
Gustavson, Todd. Camera:
A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital. New York: Sterling
Innovation, 2009. Print.
Howarth, Sophie,
and Stephen McLaren. Street Photography Now. London: Thames &
Hudson, 2010. Print.
Kelby Media
Group, Inc., Scott. "Featured Books." KelbyOne, Online Education
for Creative People. KelbyOne, LLC, 2014. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
<http://kelbyone.com/books/>.
Morris, Errol. Believing
Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography. New York: Penguin,
2011. Print.
