Can anyone suggest books/resources on the artistic side of photography?

Question

I am a relatively new photographer. I have no problem understanding the technical side of photography (I am an engineer by trade), but I do struggle with the more 'artistic' side of photography (composition, symmetry, choice of color/B&W...)

Can anyone suggest any reading material (either online or books) that could help improve my artistic side?

Asked by n/a

Answer

One of the best books I can recommend is Michael Freeman's famous book:

• The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

This book is a rare gem, in that it does a pretty superb job of covering all the critical artistic topics of photography in a generally agnostic way. Michael Freeman is a talented photographer, and his communication of compositional aspects of photography is second to none. You may not learn everything about the artistic side of a specific kind of photography from this book, but you'll definitely learn the general basics that can be applied to most forms of photography.

Two other books by Michael Freeman should also find their way into your collection:

• Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure: The Professional's Guide to Capturing Perfect Digital Photographs
• The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos

These three books comprise my favorites out of my entire collection, and have been the most useful (and most used) over the two or so years I've been doing photography. They do not get into the specifics of any specific field of photography, so if you are looking for detailed information information about a single field, you will have to look deeper. I generally do landscape photography, and I can offer some superb books for that field that can help you expand your artistic horizons beyond the fundamentals covered in Freeman's books. For other fields, like portraiture, architectural photography, street, etc., others can hopefully help you find what you need.

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I do landscape, nature, and wildlife photography, so most of my books are related to that area of photography. Here are some other great books that I found that have helped me learn the artistic side of things:

• "Developing Vision and Style: A Landscape Photography Masterclass" by Joe Cornish, Charlie Wait, and David Ward — An excellent resource of other photographers' work. One of the best ways to learn the artistic side of photography is observe the artistic photographs of other great photographers.
• Alain Briot's "Mastering Landscape Photography: The Luminous Landscape Essays" — Alain Briot has been a long-time contributor to the Luminous Landscape web site. This book is a more-thorough compilation of his works on that site.
• David Noton's "Waiting for the Light" — Another excellent book for landscape photographers, this one explains how to find and use natural light.

When it comes to other types of photography, I don't have a whole lot to offer. I've perused some books on portrait and wedding photography, however I don't own any and couldn't offer much. Architectural photography seems to be an area that is fairly lacking in books. There do seem to be some great books from individual architectural photographers that showcase their works, and observing other photographers work is a great way to learn, but it is limited. Another field I have started to delve into is astrophotography. There do seem to be a few books and resources in that area:

• Digital SLR Astrophotography
• A Beginner's Guide to DSLR Astrophotography
• Long Exposure Astrophotography
• Catching the Light

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Most of the books I have learned from are for landscape and wildlife/bird photography, so I am not certain how useful they will be for you. I think the compositional concepts are very sound, and apply to more than just nature photography, however.

• The Photographers Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
  • Fantastic book on composition from a general perspective...definitely a must have if you need to learn more about composition
• Waiting for the Light
  • Excellent book for landscape photographers, has some good tips on composition, but mostly about natural lighting, how and when to find it, etc.
• Mastering Landscape Photography: The Luminous Landscape Essays
  • Another excellent book that has some great examples of composition with visual examples
• 100 Ways to Take Better Nature and Wildlife Photographs
  • Mostly wildlife, however the compositional tips are superb
• Developing Vision and Style
  • Not so much a book explicitly about composition, however it has a ton of example nature & landscape photographs from visionary photographers that make excellent material to review and learn from...some truly fantastic stuff. All photographs, their location, and the gear used to capture them is detailed in the back of the book. Each set of photographs from each interviewed photographer includes their sense of vision and style, which can be helpful.
• Working the Light: A Photography Masterclass
  • Good examples of quality composition, again, all landscape

Answered by n/a

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What are the topics need to be covered by a free ebook for beginner/amateur photographers?

Question

Some of my friends and I were thinking of publishing an ebook in our native language to help local beginner and amateur photographers. We will probably end up with a series of books later on but as a starter we'd like to publish a book with technical aspects of photography (and lots of photos to help them understand the camera settings better) that someone who is planning to start or has just started photography will need. Any suggestions?

EDIT: I have started working on the book. Here's a link to the work-in-progress version if anyone is interested. Thanks.

Asked by ShutterBug

Answer

Here would be my topics

• How to Hold a Digital Camera
• How to buy the right equipment for you
• Composure - Some basic rules and how to break them
• Shutter/Aperture settings - How they affect your shot
• Depth of field
• Lighting and Exposure
• How to use flash
• What is ISO?
• How to pre-focus and use auto focus effectively
• An introduction to White Balance
• Lenses and Focal Length
• Printing Your Work
• How to Clean a Digital Camera and Lenses

If that was a book when I had started I would have been very pleased

Answered by Rob

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How can I self-publish a photography book?

Question

I took thousands of photos for a book I want to publish. I am a graphic designer, so creating the layout of the book, pages, covers, etc is not a problem. I know how to process my images for print.

What I don't know is how to get a book printed and bound with a dust cover for a reasonable price. Is it possible to self-publish a photography book? I define possible as:

• get a print run of 1,000 to 5,000 books at first (maybe more later if demand is there)
• keep the cost of printing a book to less than $25 (half of the retail price of $49.99)

Answer

There are several methods for publishing such a book, which I'll mention below. Note that there is an excellent Wikipedia article that explains more. I should add, be very cautious with these services. You can make a real profit, but they can also just be a drain on resources, and keep you out of traditional publishing. You might try contacting some of them, with a print out of your proposed book that comes from a local print shop.

Print on Demand services

The general idea of these companies is that you submit the book to them, with their layout, and they will print a copy of the book to anyone who orders it. You can set your selling point, and they will split the profits with you (I forget the ratio, but...) Some of the services that fall under this category are:

• http://www.lulu.com
• http://www.blurb.com/

"Vanity Press"

This seems like what you directly wanted from your question. These companies operate more like a traditional publisher, but they will require you to pay for their services and for an upfront number of copies to be printed. I haven't looked extensively at this category, but here's a few sites that seem to fit this mold. Take a look at the Wikipedia article for some more help.

• http://www.chooseyourpublisher.com/
• http://www.selfpublishing.com/

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Is there non-online software for creating professional photo books?

Question

I'm interested in Windows and Mac software or a plugin (for Lightroom, Aperture, InDesign, whatever) for creating professional photo books that I can then export as JPEGs (or any other format that is open to me and not only to that software maker), so that I can do with it what I want (e.g. send it to a local printing service, create an online flash book, etc.).

What I'm looking for is something to help me make pages interesting, like having multiple images on one page, using frames, shadows, photo positioning, etc. to create a compelling book (a series of pages).

Lots of presets

Having lots of presets is a must. Presets being page templates, borders, captions, effects, etc.

No online solutions

Online solutions and software that is closed (only usable with the online service) are out of the question.

Professional-looking

It is not important to me for it to have thousands of frames and effects, I just want them to look professional and not amateur.

Customizable

If I can customize the effects, frames, placing of photos, etc., that's a big bonus.

Answer

What it sounds like you are looking for is album design software. This is really where someone with a background in wedding photography can lend a hand. It has been a tradition you could say to order a wedding album for yourselves as the bride and groom, and also to order "parent albums" that they can display proudly of the event.

There are many different options available, and I don't think you will find a general consensus on what the best is. I can give you a few options that I have had recommended to me though.

• Fundy Album Builder(Fundy SOS)
• Album DS
• Yervant Page Gallery
• FotoFusion by Lumapix

In my personal opinion, Yervant and Fundy are the best solutions if you are looking to do this yourself. FotoFusion might be the most in reach for enthusiast photographers though.

Fundy is probably the most popular one from the group of photographers that I know. It is very well done, and lets you pump out great wedding albums in no time. From the output you can send your files through most album companies ROES systems.

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Where could I find a detailed reference on all composition rules?

Question

I am looking for a good advanced reference about photographic/cinematographic composition rules. I have already checked this post:

Good books to learn photographic composition from?

but it doesn't look to be useful for me. What I am looking for is a book that describes in details the following rules: Rule of Thirds, Diagonal Dominance, Visual Balance, Depth of Field, and the like.

I already have a book about composition, Picture Composition for Film and Television, by Peter Ward, but it isn't very useful. For example, he defines the rules this way:

"The rule of thirds proposes that a useful starting point for any compositional grouping is to place the main subject of interest on any one of the four intersections made by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines."

Obviously, this definition is a simplified one, because the rule of thirds also propose, for example, that prominent lines in the image should be parallel to the horizontal/vertical lines.

Briefly, I want a book that contains every composition rule I can think of :-)

Any suggestions?

Answer

Have a look at "The Photographer's Eye". I found it superb and contains all the rules you can think of.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/1905814046/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292253318&sr=1-1

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What can a photographer learn from art history?

Question

I normally wouldn't consider this a question of photography, except for the fact that several answers on this question made note that art history was something important to the education they received in art school.

What are important principles for a photographer taught through art history and what are resources (they need not be free or online) that I can learn them from (apart from art school - which will never happen for this working father)?

Answer

Having an art school background means that I've had to sit through any number (dozens, probably) of Art History classes... Some of the big 'principles' that come out of art history include:

• A strong sense of that which has come before. So many photographers approach photography in a vacuum... Having no idea (and often not caring) that art is built on the shoulders of who came before. Knowing something about Art History makes it possible to speak to whether a work is derivative (a capital insult in the art world), or homage (often a complement to both the person giving and getting the homage).
• Beginning photographers (especially ones who've only been photographers in the 'digital era') often rely on luck, volume (quantity of shots taken), and post-production corrections in order to get good photographs. An Art History education really trains the mind to be deliberate in all aspects of photography (lighting, subject, background, DoF, etc.) This is because spending a lot of time looking at the different ways others handle those same problems heightens awareness of them in the work you're doing, and having a library of techniques to draw on to emulate will often strengthen the work.
• Reoccurring patterns and motifs are illuminated. To watch how (for example) art's portrayal of the devil over the course of 500 years has evolved can inform my own work. Maybe a less extreme example... It is possible to see something like 'short lighting' being invented by observing painters draw inspiration from one another over the course of centuries.
• All of the above which leads to the 'big' principles of art history... A strong history of R&D in the art world- Rip off and Duplicate. Art evolves as the result of artists building liberally on other artists work over time, and there's no reason that Photography shouldn't draw from that well too.

In terms of resources:

• Crash on the floor in the Art section at a local 'big box' book store and leaf through all the big glossy books (and maybe you thought computer related books were expensive... I only manage to find $100+ books in the art section! I never buy, just look).
• The library can also great for looking at art. They also are less likely to frown at you if you spend hours looking but don't buy anything. :-)
• Paradoxically I often find the internet to be a hindrance to actually studying pieces of art... But that just may be me. I tend to find that most of time the pictures on the internet are too small to really get much out of... On the other hand, its never been easier to read the written histories of great (and more obscure) artists, which can really add depth to the works as you view them.
• Finally, there's absolutely nothing like actually viewing paintings (or photographs, for that matter) 'in person.' Visit a museum. Visit a gallery. Visit lots of 'em. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere that gets traveling exhibits that come to town, go see them, or go on vacation somewhere that has a reputation for great art.

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What is a good book for a Lightroom newbie?

Question

I've been trying out Lightroom 3 for awhile, and like what I see. I will be buying it in the near future, thanks to a student discount. I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface so far, and being a visual learner, I could use suggestions for learning material.

I'm interested not just in the editing process, but also in the overall workflow - organization, tagging, metadata, and so on.

Answer

I'd highly recommend Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers

Scott really knows his stuff and is a great author.

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Recommended books on food photography?

Question

There are a few good novice food photography questions in this community, but my question is a bit more specific: do you guys have some recommended literature (either printed or digital) regarding this genre?

Answer

The book I would recommend: Plate to Pixel.

Everything you need right there and it was written by a friend of mine. It is by far the most complete and most comprehensive "how-to" book out there. Better than any blog (my own included).

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What are good advanced books on the physics and science of photography?

Question

I am looking for books about the physics of DSLR, including modern photography optics and sensor electronics. If I already have some books on optics and electronics, I have found fairly hard to find good resource for these fields taking photography as a basis, with examples taken from photography and chapters dedicated to lenses optics for instance.

So far what I have found is either too generic, or, if dealing with photography, lacks the physical expertise I would like to get (I mean books with equations. Everybody loves them.)

Good books for physics of photography exist, but they are quite old, the last good I have found were written by Kingslake in the 70s and definitely miss the non-optical part, and the optical stuff is a bit old-fashioned now (but very nice books BTW).

To sum up, I would like:

• Very technical references
• Dealing with physical issues specific to DSLRs and modern photography, such as diffraction limits, image stabilization, properties of coatings, noise correction - whatever you can think of actually...

Answer

Books by Henry Horenstein are very technical, but are unfortunately more to do with film photography.

Thom Hogan (bythom.com) writes a lot of technical information about sensors. Well technical to most people, not a lot of equations. He references the book Manual of Photography by Ralph Jacobson - "the highly technical and math-filled volume that defines much of the state-of-the-art". Sounds like it might be what you're looking for.

Check more discussion of this question.

What are good advanced book on the physics and science of photography?

Question

I am looking for books about the physics of DSLR, including modern photography optics and sensor electronics. If I already have some books on optics and electronics, I have found fairly hard to find good resource for these fields taking photography as a basis, with examples taken from photography and chapters dedicated to lenses optics for instance.

So far what I have found is either too generic, or, if dealing with photography, lacks the physical expertise I would like to get (I mean books with equations. Everybody loves them.)

Good books for physics of photography exist, but they are quite old, the last good I have found were written by Kingslake in the 70s and definitely miss the non-optical part, and the optical stuff is a bit old-fashioned now (but very nice books BTW).

To sum up, I would like:

• Very technical references
• Dealing with physical issues specific to DSLRs and modern photography, such as diffraction limits, image stabilization, properties of coatings, noise correction - whatever you can think of actually...

Answer

Books by Henry Horenstein are very technical, but are unfortunately more to do with film photography.

Thom Hogan (bythom.com) writes a lot of technical information about sensors. Well technical to most people, not a lot of equations. He references the book Manual of Photography by Ralph Jacobson - "the highly technical and math-filled volume that defines much of the state-of-the-art". Sounds like it might be what you're looking for.

Check more discussion of this question.

Suggest a book for a Lightroom newbie

Question

I've been trialling Lightroom 3 for a awhile, and like what I see. I will be buying it in the near future, thanks to a student discount. I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface so far, and being a visual learner, I could use suggestions for learning material.

I'm interested not just in the editing process, but also in the overall workflow - organization, tagging, metadata, and so on.

Answer

I'd highly recommend Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers

Scott really knows his stuff and is a great author.

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