Make your shots shout

The only way to improve your skills is to model others and read about how they create the images that we all want to achieve.  Here is my selection of the best reading, not only from a teaching point of view, but also a “good read”.  At the end of the day we did text books when we were studying years ago, nowadays I want some enjoyment too.

I have listed the books in an order of specialisation, as its more logical to follow them this way…and by the way, I have listed both the US and UK version on Amazon to make your life easier!

Digital Photography Masterclass

This was my starter book. It is fully comprehensive and includes all the basics of the art, but doesn’t get techie about cameras (which is great). Tom Ang talks about mastering the complexities of lighting, composition and timing.

There are about 20 tutorials covering basic subjects such as ‘key camera controls’ and ‘exposure control’ to ‘advanced manipulation’ and ‘fine art photography’.  He gives lots of advice, both technical and artistic.  He then covers ‘typical errors’, as well as ‘variations’ achieved by altering view point or camera settings.  What I like is for every theme. he lists nine alternatives as photos.   Every image used in the book is really good, clear and informative.  He also covers a lot with photoshop, but doesn’t talk about menus and options, but more the key components you need to understand: eg Unsharp mask, toning and so on.  So for the value of the book, and for a full view of photography, this is one is a  ”no brainer”.  It still sits on my shelf as the reference.   Click here for UK Version

Digital Photography Handbook

This ones from Scott Kelby, who is famous in the digital world, and the man behind the largest photoshop training courses online.

This isn’t a book of theory — it isn’t full of jargon and detailed concepts:  this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most used photographic “tricks of the trade” to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.  Every page is a different technique and the whole book is broken down into themes..eg Shooting Wedding like a pro and How to shoot macro.

In all it covers Macro photography and flowers,Landscapes, Flash, Light (indoor/outdoor), Portrait, Animals and Weddings.

This is the book where every page has a tip, so you can pick it at anytime, and in two minutes you feel you’ve learnt something.  Great book!  Click here for UK version

The moment it clicks

Now we are talking about one of the best all round photographers out there; Joe McNally.

I love this guy, and have learnt so much from this one book.  He is one of the world’s top pro digital photographers, whose worked for Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic among others and he breaks new ground by doing something no photography book has ever done —blending the rich, stunning images and elegant layout of a coffee-table book with the invaluable training, no-nonsense insights, and photography secrets usually found only in those rare, best-of-breed educational books.  In other words its a great interesting read!  Click here for UK version

Hot shoe diaries

This one was the next Joe McNally book, and focuses more on flash or off camera lighting.

Again, a great read.  He talks about technique and situations, together with the story behind the image, of which some of them are fantastic.  One small word of caution is he is big into Nikon speedlights (no wonder), and devotes a lot text to the CLS system.  So of course this is not useful to everyone, but the techniques can be used with any kind of flash. Click here for UK Version

Lighting and the dramatic Portrait

Michael Grecco is one of the best-known celebrity photographers in the world.   He provides advice for portrait photographers, using  examples for specific techniques.  He goes into equipment and format, lighting techniques, style issues, creativity and conceptualisation.  Really interesting …and some the images are fantastic.  So if you want to get into portraits…this give you a great insight not only into the technicalities..but also the character which is essential!  Click here for UK version

All the above are my favourite photography books, and I hope the reviews give you some insight so you can buy with confidence.  Let me know if there are any other that you like and would recommend.

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