April 23, 2008, 09:44:32 PM
What photography books do you own? I think it would be helpful to other members who may be thinking of purchasing a book to see what we are reading and what we think about them.
Here are mine:
"The Portrait Photographer's Posing Guide" and
"Glamour Photographers Pink Pocket Poser" by Nigel Holmes:
Cartoonish posing guide, but good advice for the beginner. The Glamour Poser has some rather risque poses, more "men's magazine" than "vogue."
"Adobe Photoshop CS2: The Art of Photographing Women" Kevin Ames:
Very good explanation of the basics, including 8-bit vs 16-bit, harsh vs soft light, jpg vs RAW. Great for both MAC and PC users. In the first chapter alone, I found myself saying "I didn't know you could do that!"
"Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC" Martin Evening:
I haven't opened this 700+ page monster yet, but I can't wait to get to it.
"Digital Quick Guide: Digital Portrait Photography 101" Bill Hurter:
Very, very basic guide. Most subjects are hardly given enough explanation. Only for the most basic beginner. Great photos, though, so it may be good for inspiration.
"Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories" Glen Johnson:
I thought this 310 page guide would be chock full of tips on how to negotiate the challenge that is wedding photography. However, he spends way too much time on the basics and not enough on the event itself. Mr. Johnson is a destination wedding photographer, and spends an extraordinary amount of time going into what's involved in destination weddings, something most wedding photographers will never encounter. Good basic guide, some good advice about the necessity of travel documents, but not enough "meat" to satisfy.
"The Photoshop CS/CS2 WOW! Book" Linnea Dayton and Cristen Gillespie:
A major portion of this book is devoted to creating computer graphics, rather than working with photographs, but if you are interested in learning more about graphics, this is an amazing book. The accompanying CD is full of great patterns, actions, gradients, custom tools and other goodies.
"Professional Secrets for Photographing Children" Douglas Allen Box:
The majority of the book is in the following format: An image is shown on the left side of the page, and Mr. Box explains how he got the image, including a diagram of his light setup which is helpful for beginners.
"Children's Portrait Photography Handbook" Bill Hurter
"Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing and Lighting" Mark Cleghorn:
I bought these a while ago, and don't remember much about them. I never refer to them, which tells me that the information is either too basic, or just repeats of other books I own. The images in both of these books are good for inspiration and posing ideas.
Marian

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