There are all kinds of ways to find inspirations. One of the best is to add to your library of reference materials. Learning photography tips and photography techniques from professionals in your niche has never been so easy and awesome. As photographers become bloggers and writers you get access to all their trade secrets.
1. Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera
Author and Photographer Bryan Peterson has written one of the best books on Photography. If you had to only buy one book it should be this book. He covers all the technical basics along with some of the creative stuff. If you are a new photographer get this book!
In his trademark easy-to-understand style, author Bryan Peterson explains the relationship between aperture and shutter speed, including how to achieve successful exposures in seemingly difficult situations. You’ll learn:
• Which aperture gives you the greatest contrast and sharpness, and when to use it
• Which apertures guarantee the background remains an out-of-focus tone
• Which one aperture—when combined with the right lens—creates an area of sharpness from three feet to infinity
• How to creatively use shutter speed to either freeze an action or imply motion
• Where to take a meter reading when shooting a sunset, snow, or a city at dusk
2. The Digital Photography Book
Scott Kelby is the Photography Training King. He has educated millions of people over the years. His book The Digital Photography Book covers all the photography tips and photography tricks that the Pros use. If you are looking to get some new Digital Photography or Photoshop tricks this is the book for you. He has written several follow up books and offers photography training in all areas at his website kelbytraining.com
Here’s another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There’s never been a book like it, and if you’re tired of taking shots that look “OK,” and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you.
3. The Photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
If you are looking for inspiration and information on the creative side of photography this book has it all. Creating a picture takes more than just snapping the shutter at everything that looks neat. You must thing about the elements in the shot and how you can position your camera to get the best composition. Michael will give you amazing ideas, the way you think about photography will forever change.
Design is the single most important factor in creating a successful photograph. The ability to see the potential for a strong picture and then organize the graphic elements into an effective, compelling composition has always been one of the key skills in making photographs.
Digital photography has brought a new, exciting aspect to design – first because the instant feedback from a digital camera allows immediate appraisal and improvement; and second because image-editing tools make it possible to alter and enhance the design after the shutter has been pressed. This has had a profound effect on the way digital photographers take pictures.
4. The HDR Book: Unlocking the Secrets of High Dynamic Range Photography
RC Concepcion is one of the best Photography educators in the world. His teaching style is laid back he almost places the knowledge in your brain. RC is an accomplished photographer and educator. He is a curriculum developer for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, and the co-host of theD-Town TV videocast for DSLR shooters. An Adobe Certified Instructor in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom, RC has more than 14 years in the IT and e-commerce industries, and spends his days developing content for all applications in the Adobe Creative Suite at Kelby Media Group. RC also writes columns for Photoshop User magazine and recently became a best-selling author with his debut book, Get Your Photography on the Web.
He can help you take your HDR photography to the next level. The tips and tricks in this book will certainly give your HDR portfolio a boost.
5. Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for the Modern Bride
If you are a Wedding Photographer or you want to be a Wedding Photographer this book is a must have. This book even translates over to general portraiture. If you are looking to add style to your shots this book is bursting with ideas. The book covers everything lighting, composition, engagement sessions, to gear. It is a fantastic resource.
Acclaimed wedding photographer Jose Villa was a pioneer in fine art wedding photography before it became a trendy buzzword. Here, he shares his secrets for bringing a stylized sense of composition, lighting, posing, and most important, design, to your images, while still keeping them organic and narrative. You’ll learn Jose’s trademark technique of capturing the more natural moment after a pose, and tips for getting images right in-camera to avoid the need for heavy postproduction. Final chapters show you how to integrate design through the delivered product, whether an album or slideshow, and continue nurturing clients after the wedding by expanding to baby and family portraiture.
6. Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques
As Ansel Adams put it, “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer, and often the supreme disappointment.” Great landscape photography is, in fact, far harder than it looks.
Landscape photography inspires millions of photographers. If you’re one of them, you’ll find new insight into landscape photography in this book by professional photographer Harold Davis, as well as tips, tricks, and technical advice to help you improve the quality of your photos. You’ll learn to use lighting and composition creatively, choose and use appropriate equipment, look at your subject matter in a new way, and even when to break the rules in order to capture the best image of all. Illustrated with the author’s own spectacular landscape photos.
- Landscape photography intrigues and inspires photographers, but there is more to getting great landscape photos than many photographers expect
- Professional photographer Harold Davis teaches tricks and techniques that will enhance your skills
- Explains how to approach the subject creatively, choose and use appropriate equipment, and refine photographic technique to create spectacular landscape shots
- Looks at how lighting, texture, and composition affect landscape imagery
- Lavishly illustrated with the author’s own photos
Landscapes have long been a popular photographic subject; this book helps you advance your skills as a landscape photographer.
7. Galen Rowell’s Inner Game of Outdoor Photography
Galen Rowell is one of the all time best Nature and Adventure Photographers. This book is a tell all he reveals the art, craft, and philosophy behind his world-famous images. If landscape photography is your thing then you will love this book. It is finally available in paperback making it less expensive.
8. DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video
Video has become front page news in the Photography Industry. Now that Pro level DSLR’s are able to capture video, photographers have quickly adapted. Filmmaking was an easy thing for most photographers to pick up because it was not much different than Photography. Once we were able to use the same camera that made things even easier. Now learning how to shoot a video and make it look good is a little more difficult. Crafting a video is as difficult as crafting a great photograph.
Learn to think more like a cinematographer than a videographer, whether shooting for a feature, short fiction, documentary, video journalism, or even a wedding. DSLR Cinema offers insight into different shooting styles, real-world tips and techniques, and advice on postproduction workflow as it guides you in crafting a film-like look.
9. Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know
As photographers we all know that often we are trying to tell a story. As we dive into video and filmaking maybe….just maybe we would all like to brush up on some Cinematic Storytelling?
Actually storytelling is a powerful tool and as photographers we are lucky to have it in our bag of tricks. Telling a story in a single frame comes second nature to most of us. Telling a story in a moving picture might take a little practice. That is where this book comes in. Learn to create beautiful videos and you will see your client list explode.
10. Strobist Photo Trade Secrets Volume 1: Expert Lighting Techniques (One-Off)
One of the best ideas to ever hit photography are the Photo Trade Secrets by Zeke Kamm. Bound like a book each page is a different micro lesson on how a photo was made. You can tear the perforated paged our and stick them in your bag so you can take them with you on location. Perfect for learning off camera lighting techniques. This book is full of awesome ideas.
11. Strobist Photo Trade Secrets, Volume 2: Portrait Lighting Techniques (One-Off)
Volume 2 is just as awesome as volume one. If you like the idea get both and save on shipping.
12. The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
Joe McNally is a Photography legend. The information in this book is Pro. Cover to cover this book is packed with stuff that Joe uses to create some of the best images ever. This one belongs in every Photographers library regardless of where you are in your practice.
13. The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes
As a magazine photographer Joe McNally does not always have the space to pack full studio lighting. For new photographers its not as much about space as it is about money. Studio lighting is thousands of dollars. Hot shoe flashes are less expensive. This book is all about off camera lighting with inexpensive hot shoe flashes. Want to take amazing pictures? One of the main secrets is off camera lighting.
14. Speedliter’s Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites
Getting your Canon Speedlite to produce the light you need can be a real challenge. For those new to flash photography—or for anyone who has previously given up out of frustration—Speedliter’s Handbook is a revelation. Photographer Syl Arena takes you on a journey that begins with an exploration of light and color, moves through a comprehensive discussion of the Canon Speedlite family and all of the accessories and equipment available to the Speedliter, then settles down to crafting great light in one photo shoot after another. Whether you want to create a classical portrait, shoot an event, or simply add a little fill light to a product shot, Speedliter’s Handbook shows you how.
A fantastic in-depth resource illustrated with over 500 images, Speedliter’s Handbook covers:
- how to see the various characteristics and properties of light itself, as well as the differences between how your camera sees versus how you see
- all the buttons and dials of the entire Canon Speedlite family
- the basics of on-camera flash…and the necessity of getting your flash off the camera
- how to beautifully balance flash with the existing ambient light
- all the equipment necessary for great Speedlite shots
- how to get amazing shots with just one Speedlite
- how and when to use E-TTL versus manual flash
- the use of color gels to balance color, as well as create dramatic effects
- how to tame the sun—or any really bright light—with hi-speed sync
- and much, much more
15. The Photographer’s Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos
The source of any photograph is not the camera or even the scene viewed through the viewfinder–it is the mind of the photographer: this is where an image is created before it is committed to a memory card or film. In The Photographer’s Mind, the follow-up to the international bestseller, The Photographer’s Eye, photographer and author Michael Freeman unravels the mystery behind the creation of a photograph.
16. Creative Black and White: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques
Black-and-white photography poses unique challenges; without color to guide the eye, contrast, lighting, and composition take on even more importance. Renowned photographer Harold Davis explains these elements and demonstrates the basic rules of black and white photography as well as when and how to break them. He breaks through the complexity of this photographic medium, explores opportunities for black-and-white imagery, and shows how to capitalize on every one.
17. Photojournalism The Professionals’ Approach
Photojournalism: A Professionals’ Approach, blends insightful interviews with professionals, practical experience, current equipment and camera technology, and high-impact photographs to create the definitive book on photojournalism. The DVD features footage of working professionals handling on-the-job challenges.
18. The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression
This is an updated and newly revised edition of the classic book The Art of Photography (originally published in 1994), which has often been described as the most readable, understandable, and complete textbook on photography. With well over 100 beautiful photographic illustrations in both black-and-white and color, as well as numerous charts, graphs, and tables, this book presents the world of photography to beginner, intermediate, and advanced photographers seeking to make a personal statement through the medium of photography. Without talking down to anyone, or talking over anyone’s head, Barnbaum presents “how to” techniques for both traditional and digital approaches. Yet he goes well beyond the technical, as he delves deeply into the philosophical, expressive, and creative aspects of photography so often avoided in other books.
19. Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parents’ Guide to Photographing Your Baby’s First Year
Time passes in a blink of an eye. You do not get a second chance to capture those beautiful moments of your children. Learning a little about how to capture children is a great idea for parents.
Food photography is on the rise, with the millions of food bloggers around the word as well as foodies who document their meals or small business owners who are interested in cutting costs by styling and photographing their own menu items, and this book should serve as your first course in food photography. Discover how the food stylist exercises unique techniques to make the food look attractive in the finished product. You’ll get a taste of the visual know-how that is required to translate the perceptions of taste, aroma, and appeal into a stunning, lavish finished photograph.
- Takes you through the art and techniques of appetizing food photography for everyone from foodies to food bloggers to small business owners looking to photograph their food themselves
- Whets your appetite with delicious advice on food styling, lighting, arrangement, and more
- Author is a successful food blogger who has become a well-known resource for fellow bloggers who are struggling with capturing appetizing images of their creations
21. Marketing Fine Art Photography
In recent years as the field of photography has exploded, many photographers consider selling their work to make a profit and to help defray the high costs of equipment. But, many photographers don’t have the business and marketing knowledge required to successfully sell fine art photographs; and many of those who have tried have been met with disappointment. Until now, little information of value has been available.
In Marketing Fine Art Photography, Alain Briot offers practical, up-to-date and field-tested marketing techniques from the viewpoint of a fine art landscape photographer who earns a living from the sale of his fine art prints.
22. Digital Masters: Adventure Photography: Capturing the World of Outdoor Sports
Digital Masters goes extreme! This beautifully produced guide by Michael Clark is the newest entry in the series, as well as the first book on a fast-growing photographic genre: shooting today’s popular extreme outdoor sports, from mountain biking and ice climbing to surfing, BASE jumping, and more.
Clark is one of the world’s most respected adventure photographers, and he offers sage advice—gained from years of hard-earned experience—on equipment, techniques, and the specific skills required to get in on the action. Learn to capture fast-moving subjects and deal with harsh conditions and horrible weather—even when you’re hanging from ropes and riggings in a squall. Of special interest is the Portraiture and Lifestyle chapter, which covers increasingly in-demand techniques.
Budding professionals will particularly enjoy Clark’s “Stories from the Field,” chronicling his wildest adventures in the pursuit of the perfect action shot.
23. Understanding Shutter Speed
Remember Bryan Peterson from the book at the top? Well he has written a series of “Understanding” books.
The first book in the Understanding Photography series, Understanding Exposure, was a runaway best-seller, with more than 250,000 copies sold. Now author Bryan Peterson brings his signature style to another important photography topic: shutter speed. With clear, jargon-free explanations of terms and techniques, plus compelling “before-and-after” photos that pair a mediocre image (created using the wrong shutter speed) with a great image (created using the right shutter speed), this is the definitive practical guide to mastering an often-confusing subject. Topics include freezing and implying motion, panning, zooming, exposure, Bogen Super Clamps, and rendering motion effects with Photoshop, all with helpful guidance for both digital and film formats. Great for beginners and serious amateurs, Understanding Shutter Speed is the definitive handy guide to mastering shutter speed for superb results.
24. Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images
Dissecting and emulating a century of iconic portraits is an opportunity of a lifetime. Vanity Fair magazine has a reputation as one of the preeminent showcases for portraits in the world, and this book gathers together a good chunk of them in all their glossy, artificial splendor. There’s almost as much celebrity behind the lens as in front of it: Edward Steichen, Herb Ritts, Mario Testino, David LaChapelle and, of course, Annie Leibovitz are all included, and the portraits themselves amount to a who’s who of culture and politics, with the quality of the images justifying the inclusion of the occasional lesser-known figures. The photographs have been arranged to supply the reader with subtle (and not so subtle) visual and cultural frisson: what are we meant to think when Joseph Goebbels is juxtaposed with Richard Perle? In a face-off between Rob Lowe and Louise Brooks, who has the most glamorous jaw line? For posing questions such as this, and for the production values and sheer scale, not to mention introductory essays by Graydon Carter, Christopher Hitchens, Terence Pepper and David Friend, this is a book that will no doubt be adorning the coffee tables of the world’s culture brokers for many years to come.
25. Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots
If you can master three things Exposure, Shutter speed and Composition you will be a Pro. This book leads you through Composition and how to make it work for you.
With Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots, author and photographer Laurie Excell starts with the basics of composition and explores how the elements of color, shape, angles, and contrast work to create compelling images. Contributing photographers, John Batdorff, David Brommer, Rick Rickman, and Steve Simon, provide unique perspectives on black and white, sports, art history, and other subjects related to composition. Beautifully illustrated with large, vibrant photos, this book teaches you how to take control of your photography to get the image you want every time you pick up the camera.
Follow along with your friendly and knowledgeable guides, and you will learn about:
- Key camera features that affect composition, including the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed)
- Shadow and light and how to direct the viewer’s eye to your subject
- Lines and shapes that create visual paths to points of interest in your image
- The role of color—using complementary or contrasting colors—to add your own unique artistic expression
- Spatial relationship and placing your subject within the frame for portraits, action shots, or landscapes
If you find your images lacking the WOW factor get a few of these books and read. The authors listed here are the Best of the Best. You could not get any better information anywhere. Becoming a great photographer is about learning how to make great images. If you were to read all 25 of these books and employ even one of the tips from each you would start making awesome photography.
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Hi,
Some nice collection of books here, i’m starting out in photography and and its really nice to know about this books.