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Everybody has to
start someplace.
It took me
several years and thousands of failed images to become a
competent photographer. And I still have more to learn.
I got into
photography by buying a camera then, after realizing I had
no idea how to use it, by making a trip to a major bookstore
to purchase several titles. Everything I learned about
composition and exposure came from books. I've yet to take a
class.
This page
includes several categories of books, ranging from
instruction for absolute beginners to advanced techniques
and concepts valuable to even working professionals. This is
by no means a comprehensive list of photography books. This
is just a selection of books that I'm personally familiar
with and am comfortable recommending.
All of these
books assume that you have a SLR camera (where you can
change lenses) and many deal almost exclusively with film,
though their lessons apply even to higher-end digital
point-and-shoot cameras.
Let's start at
the beginning. The links will take you to the page for the
respective book at Amazon.com.
Basic
instruction
There are two
basic things every photographer needs to know: how to
compose striking scenes and how to set the exposure
correctly so that the image turns out. Assuming that you
will want to leave your camera in its program mode for a
while (but hopefully not long!) let's start out with
composition.
"The New Manual of Photography" by John Hedgecoe.
I think there are much better books on exposure, which we'll
get to in a minute, but Hedgecoe manages to do a good job
explaining basic composition. I'm much more familiar with
his out-of-print title "Photographing Landscapes" (buy it
instead, if you can find it), but this book seems to offer
similar advice. You'll learn about the rule of thirds,
leading lines and how you don't need to - and shouldn't -
take every photo at your normal standing eye level. This
book doesn't teach you everything you need to know about
composition, but it does give you a solid foundation. If you
know much about composition, feel free to skip past this
title.
Now for
exposure.
"Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. This
is the best book on exposure that I've ever seen and was the
book that gave me much of my basic knowledge. Not only does
it provide clear explanations for what it takes to determine
the proper exposure, but it also goes into great detail
about the artistic elements of exposure, for example, why
you might want to pick a particular aperture setting. This
book also talks about using natural light, capturing
striking silhouettes, panning and more. The book has been
recently updated to cover digital cameras, though even the
older 1990 edition that dealt exclusively with film will
teach you the basics.
"Techniques of Natural Light Photography" by Jim
Zuckerman. This is not the exposure book you should
start with, but it builds on lessons from Peterson's book.
Zuckerman's book is divided into several sections
representing each particular time of the day, including
sunrise, midday, sunset and twilight. In each section, he
talks about the type and quality of light you can expect and
what you can do with it. Think you should stay indoors on a
cloudy day? He also talks about what you can do with
overcast conditions. In each section, you get to see images
taken from that time of day, as well as long captions that
explain why he took that shot and anything special he had to
do to get an accurate exposure.
Once you've
mastered the basics, you may want to consider one of John
Shaw's books:
John Shaw's Landscape Photography: This book gives a
good overview of exposure, though not in anywhere near the
depth that you'll get from Peterson's book. This book is
best for its brief passages on the different types of light,
the sections on the different types of lenses (wide vs.
normal vs. telephoto) and the way you should compose images
with them, as well as tips for working in the field. His
Nature Photography Field Guide covers similar
material, but has a brief introduction to close-up
photography at the expense of some of the discussion of
composition.
Advanced
techniques
 Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography:
I became a huge fan of Rowell's after reading that he ran a
couple miles in thin mountain air to get into a position where a rainbow would
fall directly onto the roof of the Dali Lama's palace. I had
done a similar thing to line up a rainbow with the Space
Needle in Seattle (though I ran only a quarter-mile at sea
level). This
book is a collection of some of his columns for Outdoor
Photographer magazine and the topics are wide ranging.
There's a deep, highly philosophical section on composition
that every serious photographer should read. Another section
provides a wide range of photo equipment tips, such as how
to use your camera's flash to "naturally" balance
flowers in the shade with bright mountains lit by a dramatic sunset. It also includes some travel stories as well as a
discussion of environmental issues. For a photography book
it is short on photos, but Rowell was also an incredible
writer. This book will make you think, something not enough
photographers do. If you want to see some of Rowell's
classic images and
learn how they were made, the book
Mountain Light, is an excellent choice.
"Close Ups in Nature" by John Shaw: If you're
interested in macro photography (you want to take close-up
pictures of things), this is a very good introduction. It
covers close-up filters, extension tubes as well as macro
lenses, talking about the advantages and disadvantages of
each. It also talks about composition, lighting, and why you
need to keep your camera parallel to your subject. While
most of the books on the list will give you some help, even
if you're just using a point-and-shoot with some manual
options, this book is probably only worthwhile if you have a
more serious camera.
"Photography and the Art of Seeing" by Freeman
Patterson: I may not like all his images, but he has
some interesting ideas. He talks about using a long exposure
and jumping up and down during that exposure to exaggerate
the height of trees. It's not a technique that I've ever
used, but the important part of this book is that it helps
you see things in terms of lines, color and form, which is
key to coming up with striking compositions. He has a
similar workshop book for photographing nature, called
Photography of Natural Things.
"Color and Light in Nature" by David K. Lynch and
William Livingston. What's a science book doing on this
list? This book provides thorough explanations for all types
of natural lighting phenomena, including rainbows, solar
halos and rays. It's written by scientists for people with
some basic knowledge of geometry and science, so it can be a
little dense at times. Even if you don't understand every
word, it will have you looking up in the sky all the time
looking for colorful arcs and other spectacular displays.
Many of the images involving spectacular light in my gallery
came only through my knowledge of the physics of light. Once
you know what creates those displays, you're able to
anticipate them and be ready, waiting in the right spot at
the right time.
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