[Jeff]

What is the best book you've read that has helped you understand and improve your photography?

What should I be reading (besides the sage advice on the PF!) to give me some deeper insight into improving my photography? I have a K5iis and want to be able to get the best from myself - it being far more capable than I am - and probably will ever be!

Thanks everybody.

[mattb123]

[jabbershort]

+1. Fantastic book

[jatrax]

What is the best book you've read that has helped you understand and improve your photography?

See post #2.

Best starter book out there, written by a guy who has been there and done it on both film and digital.

[loco]

Thread over.

I agree, by the way. Understanding Exposure was a huge help to me when just learning how to use a DSLR.

[Jeff]

Thanks. I knew you'd know! I saw Brian Petersen on the yew-toob the other night for the first time.

Any others out there to add to my book list?

[pete-tarmigan]

Bryan Peterson has also written a book called "Understanding Composition". I've only just begun reading it, so can only say that so far it seems to be better than other photography books I have read.

[alamo5000]

What is the best book you've read that has helped you understand and improve your photography?

What should I be reading (besides the sage advice on the PF!) to give me some deeper insight into improving my photography? I have a K5iis and want to be able to get the best from myself - it being far more capable than I am - and probably will ever be!

Thanks everybody.

I read several books about photography for more than 2 years before I ever bought a camera. I have found that the series of books by Michael Freeman are the best for me. He has a style that is more along the lines of picture books that 'show' rather than just tell what is going on... and he doesn't say what is right and what is wrong... he says 'this plus that equals....' so you can be free to get to whatever result you want.

You will find that just one book won't do it. There are technical things to understand yes... understanding exposure is one... but looking at and reading the light is another... how to look and and compose is another... what KIND of light are you dealing with...

Knowing how the electronics on your camera work is one thing...and knowing how your camera behaves is another...but once you get those things kind of in mind... then the rest... that's the stuff you need to learn... everything from composition to light to exposure...I've even read some plain old art books that had nothing to do with photography that helped...

But personally I am extremely glad that I invested in Michael Freeman's books. I have 4 or 5 of them...I still refer to them quite often when I can.

Also if you haven't done so watch the B&H videos on youtube... there is some real golden nuggets in there.

[Jeff]

I read several books about photography for more than 2 years before I ever bought a camera. I have found that the series of books by Michael Freeman are the best for me. He has a style that is more along the lines of picture books that 'show' rather than just tell what is going on... and he doesn't say what is right and what is wrong... he says 'this plus that equals....' so you can be free to get to whatever result you want.

You will find that just one book won't do it. There are technical things to understand yes... understanding exposure is one... but looking at and reading the light is another... how to look and and compose is another... what KIND of light are you dealing with...

Knowing how the electronics on your camera work is one thing...and knowing how your camera behaves is another...but once you get those things kind of in mind... then the rest... that's the stuff you need to learn... everything from composition to light to exposure...I've even read some plain old art books that had nothing to do with photography that helped...

But personally I am extremely glad that I invested in Michael Freeman's books. I have 4 or 5 of them...I still refer to them quite often when I can.

Also if you haven't done so watch the B&H videos on youtube... there is some real golden nuggets in there.

Thanks. I'll have a look at Michael Freeman's books too.

[Roadrunnerdeluxe]

This is an excellent book! It will teach you composition in regards to color, contrast, textures and shadows in a way that no other book on the market will. Harald Mante bases his photographic compositions on teachings from Bauhaus artists like Paul Klee and Vassily Kandinsky as he started out as a painter himself.

https://www.amazon.com/Photograph-Composition-Color-Design/dp/1937538060/ref...s=harald+mante

[alamo5000]

as he started out as a painter himself.

To the OP... when you hear these things like that... take special note. There is TONS of cross over between painting (artwork) and photography. It is not to be ignored if you want to become a really good photographer.

There are a ton of books out there that can tell you how the sensor works in your camera or what terms and definitions of things mean... but at the end of the day you might need to know that stuff... but mostly it won't help you be a better photographer...

"Drawing on the right side of the brain" was one that was recommended to me by an artist friend of mine...

There are a lot of resources out there... you won't be able to read everything... so when you do read books follow it up with some practice trying to put what you read into a photo or several photos.

It's not just reading... it's practicing what you read.

For example I read something about lighting and this and that once and it really struck me... so in my back yard I have this bird house... I went out at all different times and hours and weather and took pictures of the same bird house... it wasn't that I wanted pictures of the same birdhouse... it's that I was studying how the different types of light fell across and presented things...

I probably took 500 pictures of that same birdhouse....

[Jeff]

To the OP... when you hear these things like that... take special note. There is TONS of cross over between painting (artwork) and photography. It is not to be ignored if you want to become a really good photographer.

There are a ton of books out there that can tell you how the sensor works in your camera or what terms and definitions of things mean... but at the end of the day you might need to know that stuff... but mostly it won't help you be a better photographer...

"Drawing on the right side of the brain" was one that was recommended to me by an artist friend of mine...

There are a lot of resources out there... you won't be able to read everything... so when you do read books follow it up with some practice trying to put what you read into a photo or several photos.

It's not just reading... it's practicing what you read.

For example I read something about lighting and this and that once and it really struck me... so in my back yard I have this bird house... I went out at all different times and hours and weather and took pictures of the same bird house... it wasn't that I wanted pictures of the same birdhouse... it's that I was studying how the different types of light fell across and presented things...

I probably took 500 pictures of that same birdhouse....

Thanks Alamo5000. I see what you are driving at and I will take your advice. I need to find my own 'birdhouse' and practise!

[rrstuff]

It's not a texbook per se, but it is useful.

Magnum stories:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnum-Stories-Chris-Boot/dp/0714865036/ref=sr_1_14?i...=magnum+photos

[silvershoes]

I'm a big fan of Peterson too. I'm not sure if he's updated it, but he has/had another book called Learning to See Creatively. As others have said above, sometimes we photographers focus too much on the mechanics and camera specs and not enough on the artistic. Both are good, and for that matter, good fun.

[BigDave]

View Camera Technique, Leslie Stroebel. Although geared toward using a view camera, everything in it relates to photography in general, including understanding light.