"Example" Books

Discussion

8 replies

Posted by Kent Staubus on October 28, 2006 at 10:31 AM

I am looking for some books that are different from being simply the usual collection of great photos. What I'm after are the titles of photography books that show a great shot and then go into some detail about how the shot was made and what was used to make it with. That's sort of a cross between a "regular" photo book and a "how to" book. I have one book that's pretty close, Jack Dykinga's "Large Format Nature Photography." I'm not looking for an organized textbook approach, but rather a "here's a great photo and how I composed it and did it" type of thing. Can be any nature subject, or even a non-nature example.

Kent in SD

Posted by Hank Pennington on October 28, 2006 at 11:06 AM

My favorite is The Art of Photographing Nature by Martha Hill and Art Wolfe. In it they individually discuss a bunch of Wolfe's photos- she from the viewpoint of a leading photo editor and he from the photographer's viewpoint. Nice photos, but the discussions are incredibly illuminating. Most students I have referred to it have come away feeling it was one of the best photo books they have read.

Posted by Christoforos Giatz on October 28, 2006 at 11:14 AM

Look at Examples by Ansel Adams (old and classic), Light and the art of landscape photography by Joe Cornish (more recent with awesome photography and details on how and/or why each picture was taken), and The art of photographing nature by Martha Hill and Art Wolfe (old but amazing if you ask me). Also a new book is out by Joe Cornish David Ward and Charlie Waite, it's called Working the light: a photography masterclass (I don't know if it has what you're after since I haven't got it yet but I am pretty sure it is going to be very good).
Best,
chris

Posted by Guy Tal on October 28, 2006 at 11:52 AM

Great suggestions above. I will also mention:

* Mountain Light / Galen Rowell
* Photographing the Landscape / John Fielder
* The Art of Outdoor Photography / Boyd Norton

Guy

Posted by Kent Staubus on October 28, 2006 at 12:43 PM

I looked up a few of these on Amazon and found the Wolfe book for $4.94. So, I bought it! The others look interesting too and I might yet buy the Boyd Norton book as well.

Kent in SD

Posted by Prashant Khapane on October 28, 2006 at 2:11 PM

Charlie Waite:The Making of Landscape Photographs
Most of the Tony Sweet books are of that kind too.

Posted by Jim Salge on October 28, 2006 at 9:40 PM

I have a Tony Sweet book that often inspires me to be creative with my lens...

Posted by Richard Ennis on October 28, 2006 at 11:05 PM

I have the Wolfe book and it is excellent. Another good book is Examples - The Making of 40 Photographs, by Ansel Adams.

Posted by John W. Wall on October 30, 2006 at 7:22 PM

Thanks for the question and the suggestions. What I didn't buy right off I put on my wish list for Christmas.