Photography book

Russinating · 10 Apr 2018 at 09:05

A friend's birthday is coming up and he's recently got into photography so I want to get him a nice, study book on the principles and techniques behind photography. Perhaps a bit of history too but more of a nice coffee table book rather than hardcore written theory

I studied Photography at A-Level but that was a long time ago and I'm professional now so I'm totally out of the loop with what books are good. Something like "Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs" stood out but unsure. It's also paperback so a bit meh.

Any suggestions?

sHo0sH · 10 Apr 2018 at 09:50

Understanding Exposure

/end thread

Russinating · 10 Apr 2018 at 14:02

I went to a local art gallery, they didn't have a huge selection but they did have "The Photography Book, 2nd Edition" reduced down to £19.99 (it's £28.35 on Amazon). Looks like a beast and it's a really nice coffee table keepsake.

He'll just have to YouTube or come to me if he wants any theory

Marzipanogram · 10 Apr 2018 at 16:37

sHo0sH said:
Understanding Exposure

/end thread

Are books like this relative any more?
Use Live view, use Histogram, use bracketing (when your camera can't capture the dynamic range of the scene) and finally use Ps.

a1ex2001 · 11 Apr 2018 at 00:19

Marzipanogram said:
Are books like this relative any more?
Use Live view, use Histogram, use bracketing (when your camera can't capture the dynamic range of the scene) and finally use Ps.

Still perfectly valid a good basic understanding of exposure settings and how they alter a picture is still essential if you want to get the best results. The same basic composition skills whist all the bells and whistles and photoshop can improve a photo no end and make the process more idiot proof it is always best if you are not trying to polish a turd.

Raymond Lin · 11 Apr 2018 at 13:03

I don’t know much about books on learning photography, as I don’t have any, I’ve heard good things about that Understanding Exposure book being popular for a lot of beginners, so I’ll leave that book aside. What I would empathises is also get a book of photos that he might be interested in, perhaps a Magnum book or in an area that he like, as inspiration.

I think people often put the technique above the story and the art too much, you can get the most technically perfect photo but if it has no feeling then I’ll just flip the page to the next one. I am not wow by pixels or perfect exposure as I am by intentions and storytelling. Getting the art right is more important IMO, this creative side is hard to teach but if you don’t start you will never get there.

Learning the science can be done without any books, especially these days with the help of YouTube and the internet, everyone can learn the science of it these days with digital and its instant results, great metering and Live View; learning the art however is something much harder and to really get good at this requires not only practice but also influence with good inspiring photos, so get a book that inspires him to go out and shoot more, a book where a photo says to the inner soul “I want to do that too”.

Keeping that fire lit is equally if not more important on how to take a photograph. He could learn how to take a photo in a day, it’ll take him a life time to learn the arts, might as well start early.

Gungnir · 11 Apr 2018 at 19:57

The Langford's series of photography manuals are excellent.

Light, Science & Magic is another.

Susan Sontag's aging 'On Photography' is still relevant and worth owning.

I agree with Raymond to a degree but knowing how to achieve an image through experience is enhanced by knowing why the technique works. Youtube is replete with experts whose only expertise seems to be making Youtube videos.

Mark_D · 12 Apr 2018 at 10:35

Raymond Lin said:
I don’t know much about books on learning photography, as I don’t have any, I’ve heard good things about that Understanding Exposure book being popular for a lot of beginners, so I’ll leave that book aside. What I would empathises is also get a book of photos that he might be interested in, perhaps a Magnum book or in an area that he like, as inspiration.

I think people often put the technique above the story and the art too much, you can get the most technically perfect photo but if it has no feeling then I’ll just flip the page to the next one. I am not wow by pixels or perfect exposure as I am by intentions and storytelling. Getting the art right is more important IMO, this creative side is hard to teach but if you don’t start you will never get there.

Learning the science can be done without any books, especially these days with the help of YouTube and the internet, everyone can learn the science of it these days with digital and its instant results, great metering and Live View; learning the art however is something much harder and to really get good at this requires not only practice but also influence with good inspiring photos, so get a book that inspires him to go out and shoot more, a book where a photo says to the inner soul “I want to do that too”.

Keeping that fire lit is equally if not more important on how to take a photograph. He could learn how to take a photo in a day, it’ll take him a life time to learn the arts, might as well start early.

What he said!