Gerard Posted September 17, 2009 Share #1 Posted September 17, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) ...choose one book that would help an amature improve their photography, what would your reccomendation be? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 17, 2009 Posted September 17, 2009 Hi Gerard, Take a look here If you had to.... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Gawain Hewitt Posted September 17, 2009 Share #2 Posted September 17, 2009 The only texts I've used are the Ansel Adams ones: The Negative, The Print, The Camera. I first studied these aged 14 and still find them relevant today, despite having gone digital. Also he did a basic techniques of photography but I haven't read that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Watson Posted September 17, 2009 Share #3 Posted September 17, 2009 "On Photography" by Susan Sontag "Point and line to plane" Wassily Kandinsky Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertekijker Posted September 17, 2009 Share #4 Posted September 17, 2009 'The photographer's eye - Szarkowski. ------------------------ Frans Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoleica Posted September 17, 2009 Share #5 Posted September 17, 2009 The manual for whatever camera they are using. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootinglulu Posted September 17, 2009 Share #6 Posted September 17, 2009 I love reading photographers bio's and looking at photogrphy. My most recent read was Annie Leibovitz's 'at work'. A wondefully inspiring book, she writes very well and the photographs in the book are all amazing to my mind (apart from the ones of the queen!). At the moment i'm working my way through 'Magnum magnum'. Magnum photographers choose some work of other Magnum photographers and write a short piece on them, it's just wonderful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikolas Posted September 17, 2009 Share #7 Posted September 17, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) All the books above are brilliant, but for an amateur...? I mean for who ask me what to read and how to start get involved with photography i replay to start with poetry... -Simultaneously with the camera's manual is a great combination Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyves Posted September 17, 2009 Share #8 Posted September 17, 2009 Minor White -Zakia--Lorenz The New Zone System Manual, Morgan & Morgan Inc 1977 Have a look to Gustave Caillebotte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Something like Contact Sheet, Lustrum Press published in the Seventies, from memory. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oronet commander Posted September 17, 2009 Share #9 Posted September 17, 2009 'On being a photographer' David Hurn & Bill Jay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstotler Posted September 17, 2009 Share #10 Posted September 17, 2009 To build deep, practical understanding of exposure without having to dig into the Zone system: The Hand Exposure Meter Book by Hisrchfeld, Shell, Silverman, and Zuckerman To build understanding of photographic theory: The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
footnoteblog Posted September 17, 2009 Share #11 Posted September 17, 2009 Ways of Seeing. Life > Art > Photography Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_tanaka Posted September 17, 2009 Share #12 Posted September 17, 2009 ...choose one book that would help an amature improve their photography, what would your reccomendation be? I like Nicole's suggestion: "The manual for whatever camera you're using." This is not a facetious remark, particularly for digital cameras. People simply do not master them. My own suggestion would not be a photography how-to book at all. My own suggestion would be to spend time looking at art works, particularly paintings. Edward Hopper's paintings are my personal favorites and the works that most frequently inspire me. But your tastes and objectives may be different. Landscapes by Dutch masters might be what helps to guide you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dretti78 Posted September 17, 2009 Share #13 Posted September 17, 2009 I totally agree with ken tanaka. I look at paintings more than photographs to be inspired Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoleica Posted September 17, 2009 Share #14 Posted September 17, 2009 I like Nicole's suggestion: "The manual for whatever camera you're using." This is not a facetious remark, particularly for digital cameras. People simply do not master them. Thanks Ken. I would like to add that I had indeed intended my comment as being a serious answer, and was not intending to be facetious at all. There are very many excellent books which will help guide a photographer towards improvement in many subject areas. But unless you fully understand and master the tool (camera) that you are using, you are unlikely to get the best from it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted September 17, 2009 Share #15 Posted September 17, 2009 The manual for whatever camera they are using. I was thinking exactly the same, and then experiment a lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerard Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share #16 Posted September 17, 2009 Thanks to everyone who has offered advice on this. I guess a trip to a library is in order. Wow; I've not done that in a while. Do they still have libraries out there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger1914 Posted September 17, 2009 Share #17 Posted September 17, 2009 I recently finished reading Within the Frame by David duChemin. He had lots of interesting thoughts on photography in general. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Watson Posted September 18, 2009 Share #18 Posted September 18, 2009 Enjoy this... can be very inspiring Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
underground Posted September 19, 2009 Share #19 Posted September 19, 2009 ...choose one book that would help an amature improve their photography, what would your reccomendation be? "The Photographers Eye." Forgot the author. Simple to the point. do a search its a new book. It will change the way you see for sure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotomiguel Posted September 19, 2009 Share #20 Posted September 19, 2009 which kind of photography? If you shoot landscapes, people, macro, etc. If you have already photographic skills, you have to improve technique in the kind of photography you practice. Otherwise some books are so boring. Normally if you read from the masters of photography, you will learnt from each one some good tips and tricks. My favourite is the "Scrap Book" of Henri Cartier Bresson. Specially if you like to shoot M camera with a 50mm. Like good things in life (Leica) is a bit expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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