"Bob Walkden" writes:
> Seems like a suitable subject for discussion on this list, so what are
> your all-time favourite photo books, and why?
"Photographic Composition", by Ben Clements (not the one by Tom Grill,
although that might be good too)
I found a copy of this book at my local (Beaverton, OR, for those that are
close by) library and liked it so much I paid $$$ to get a copy for myself
so I could reread it whenever I started to get into a compositional rut. It
covers photographic composition, but not from the normal
critique/deconstrucitonist point of view (i.e. look at the picture and tell
what's right/wrong with it), but rather from the kind of constructionist
point of view more like a painter would use. It covers the topic from a
point of view of where _should_ an element go in the picture, how does it's
placement affect the overall result, and how does that affect the negative
space in the image, and how does that negative space affect the overall
image, etc.
Probably obvious to all except me, but once I started to look at
composition in that way, it became obvious how I should manipulate the
subject, surroundings, my position, the aperture, etc. to create a desired
effect.
"Interaction of Color", by Josef Albers
If you shoot color pictures, I highly recommend this book. It has nothing
to do with photography, but everything to do with how colors interact at the
most important site -- inside the viewer's brain. However, unless you get
the super spendy version with all the color plates, this should be
considered a workbook that describes certain experiments you'll need to
undertake to truely understand the properties of color as most of the color
plates were removed for cost in the second (more common and more affordable)
version.
"Light :science & magic : an introduction to photographic lighting", by Fil
Hunter
This book is about the properties of light. It isn't the typical case
study book where the author shows their setup for a photo and then explaines
it. Rather, this book describes how light behaves, how certain aspects of
the subject interact with those properties and how that will show on film.
They (almost pedantically) walk the reader through all the different
properties and all the general subject compositions, all the while
explaining how to create the desired image. There are some toughies in
there, like how to photograph the glossy textured book cover against the
light-toned background such that both are visible in the resultant picture.
I doubt anyone who has already mastered lighting has much to learn from this
book, but for the rest of us...
"Closeups in Nature" by John Shaw
A good, _practical_ book on how to do macro photography. Not perfect, but
if you're interested in macro and only get one book on it, this is the one
to get.
"Successful Color Photography" (?), by Andreas Feininger
I like this book mainly for his viewpoint on photography. He is less
concerned with the standard composition rules and very encouraging toward
trying everything and deciding what works for yourself.
hope that helps,
patbob ([EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED])
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