Top Books To Read

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Photography
  • Image: Designing Effective Pictures – Michael Freeman
    THE book to possess, even before you take a single picture. THE book to possess, even after you have a portfolio which is bigger than your ego. This book talks about the basic philosophy of graphic design in photography. Ignore that, and your images will suffer terribly.
  • Nature Photography Field Guide – John Shaw
    If you are primarily interested in Nature photography, then this book is highly recommended over Hedgecoe’s book. It has all you wanted to know about equipment (cameras, lenses, filters, film, tripods), plus lots of good tips and techniques.
  • Principles of Composition in Photography – Andreas Feininger
    Excellent book on composition. My photographs would be much better if I could practice what I read in this book. No fancy photographs, no tips on technical aspects – just plain composition guidelines. Unfortunately, this book seems to be out of print also.
  • Understanding Exposure – Bryan Peterson
    A great book on exposure, film speed, and aperture. Good concepts on getting the exposure you want translated into your photographs. Even if you have a simple point and shoot, this book will teach you a lot. Thankfully, this book was just brought into production, after being out of print for a couple of years.
  • The Photographer’s Handbook – John Hedgecoe
    A starter book of photography that anyone could possess. If you have the resources, you can buy the Kodak Taking Better Pictures series instead, but this book is a much more concise version. If you know the basic principles, skip it. Its for complete novices.