25 Photography Books I'd Take to a Desert Island

20120318-163912.jpg

As you can probably tell from the photo above, my book collection is getting a little out of control. While I would have a hard time paring it down and parting with any of the books I thought that it would be a fun exercise to select 25 ‘how-to’ books to hang on to. I decided to select a set of ‘how-to’ style of books. Some a very practical nuts and bolts of how to use Lightroom or Photoshop, some point the way ‘how-to’ using examples from the authors, some feature exercises designed to help you find your way of capturing images, some ask more questions than they answer and finally some help with talking about your work and sharing it with the world. These are all books that I still find useful, although not necessarily ones that I would recommend to someone who’s just picked up a camera. I’m sure this would be different to your list and would be happy to hear what you would have included. A ‘top ten’ from my collection of art books, monographs etc. in the coming weeks.

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point Sytem for Photoshop CS3
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – Martin Evening
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – Scott Kelby
Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers- Martin Evening
Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop

Adobe Photoshop Masterclass: John Paul Caponigro
Welcome to Oz
The Photoshop Darkroom
George DeWolfe’s Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop
B&W Printing: Creating the Digital Master Print

The Photographer’s Eye
The Photographer’s Vision
The Photographer’s Mind

Visual Poetry
Photographing Childhood

Within the Frame
Visionmongers

The Moment it Clicks
Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs

Landscape Within
Landscape Beyond
Finding the Picture

Criticizing Photographs
Why Photographs Work
Publish Your Photography Book

On location with David Ward

I was very excited to see that Environment Films have a short documentary that follows one of my favorite photographers, David Ward as he works to create an image in the field. It seems that David has been evolving towards more ‘intimate landscapes’ rather than the grand view over the last few years, something that particularly appeals to me.  Creation of one of these detail shots is the feature of the documentary.

Unfortunately I can’t figure out how to embed the video, so until I do click here to view it.

David has published a couple of books that are well worth a look.  The first was ‘Landscape Within: Insights and Inspirations for Photographers‘ that deals with creativity and the thought processes that photographers use to create inspiring photographs.  In his second book, ‘Landscape Beyond: A Journey into Photography‘, David explores the key components of a successful landscape photograph.