Photography Books?

Noah_

Noah_

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I hope this thread is okay in here?
I'm both an enthusiast photographer & reader.

I've been looking for books on either traditional photography or experimental techniques. I find it all dead interesting! First of all, I was just wondering if anyone on here has read Ansel Adams' book collection of The Camera, The Negative & The Print? Are they an interesting read? Can anything be learnt from them? I came across the titles when reading a little about Ilford Photo & the 'Ilford Manual of Photography' which was first published in 1890. Alternatively, I'm interested in the History of Photography & was wondering of anyone could recommend any books on the development of early photography & the experiments? Not to mention I'm after Keith Carter's 'Holding Venus' book & can only find limited edition or signed originals anywhere which is most frustrating as I can't afford them. Just needed to vent that last comment!

o.O
I'm such a geek I know hahaha.
Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
I can recommend the first 2 Ansel Adams books, very good read :) Gene Nocons book "Photographic printing" is an interesting read about darkroom techniques, the guy was a master in there.
 
I find Colin Prior's Highland Wilderness inspiring. Not so much for the photography, which IMO has since been surpassed, but more as a demonstration of what lengths you sometimes need to go to to get great shots. There's a lot of lazy photography going 'round at the moment with people collecting locations and not walking more than 50 metres from the car. Some of Colin's shots meant being on snowy summits at dawn. Non-trivial. A great demonstration of how much good photography is simply 80% being there.
 
I haven't read tha Adams books (yet) but they are on the list. There's a few books on my shelf about the history (or historical) photography, alternative techniques, and a few writings on photography (including a couple of very geeky ones) - link in sig to my bookshelf (already out of date).

You can always learn something from older books on photography. There are a lot of film and medium format guides from the 1950-1980 period that are undervalued (99p-£2 in charity shops, Ebay and Amazon Marketplace) and yet still contain a wealth of information that is still relevant today (even for digital photography). Some of these are by extremely well-known and respected photographers (Charlie Waite, The making of landscape photographss picked up for £2).

If you find one, I'm on the look out for any manuals on Victorian photography as I have a small collection of Victorian carte de visite portraits and I know there is symbolism in the poses and props used but I haven't been able to find a definitive guide.

I can't recommend The Genius of Photography (dvd and book) highly enough if you're interested in the history of photography.
 
Oops, double post on La iPhone o.O
 
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robhooley167 said:
I can recommend the first 2 Ansel Adams books, very good read :) Gene Nocons book "Photographic printing" is an interesting read about darkroom techniques, the guy was a master in there.
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Thank you for the suggestion, it looks like just the kind of book I'm after! I'll see if I can get my paws on "Photographic Printing" :}
 
Alastair said:
I haven't read tha Adams books (yet) but they are on the list. There's a few books on my shelf about the history (or historical) photography, alternative techniques, and a few writings on photography (including a couple of very geeky ones) - link in sig to my bookshelf (already out of date).

You can always learn something from older books on photography. There are a lot of film and medium format guides from the 1950-1980 period that are undervalued (99p-£2 in charity shops, Ebay and Amazon Marketplace) and yet still contain a wealth of information that is still relevant today (even for digital photography). Some of these are by extremely well-known and respected photographers (Charlie Waite, The making of landscape photographss picked up for £2).

If you find one, I'm on the look out for any manuals on Victorian photography as I have a small collection of Victorian carte de visite portraits and I know there is symbolism in the poses and props used but I haven't been able to find a definitive guide.

I can't recommend The Genius of Photography (dvd and book) highly enough if you're interested in the history of photography.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll take a look at that when I'm on the Macbook tonight as I can't see signatures on La iPhone. I'll definitely take a look at The Genius of Photography tho! I got a distinction in Art History for my paper on the History of Photography but it was a rather brief encounter & I've been interested in learning more since.

If I spot any manuals on Victorian Photography out & about I'll ensure I note down the title or even buy it if it's not too expensive & pass it on to you.

At college we had a beautiful library full of amazing books, access to such a library is another incentive to go to university I think.

The Photographer's Gallery just off of Oxford Circus in London have a wonderful photographic book store as I remember from my last visit in early 2010. Might be worth a trip up there soon!
 
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IamAshlyRose said:
The Photographer's Gallery just off of Oxford Circus in London have a wonderful photographic book store as I remember from my last visit in early 2010. Might be worth a trip up there soon!
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You know, I go past there every day and have done so for over five years, and yet I've never gone in :/

I think I'll have to go there this week.

[edit]
Oooh, it seems they've actually been tarting the place up a bit and are only due to reopen in May.
 
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You could look at the "masters of photography" series the BBC made a few years ago, they should all be on youtube, they contain interviews with some of the most influential and pioneering photographers. The list includes Ansel Adams, Alfred Stiglitz and Alfred Eisenstaedt
Here's a starter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSzYdRUGzTE

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMex5mndME

Finding the Gene Nocon book might be quite hard as he passed away last year and it was quite an old book
 
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viewfromthenorth said:
The Adams books are good, although you'd get more out of them if you were a film photographer with access to a darkroom.
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It's not a bad thing that I shoot with film & wet print my own photographs in that case ;} Thank you for the recommendation.
 
onona said:
Oooh, it seems they've actually been tarting the place up a bit and are only due to reopen in May.
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Handy to know, thank you for your post!
Will have to make a trip up there in the Summer, it's a worthwhile browse {well, it was in 2010?} ~ hopefully they'll maintain the bookstore after refurbishment.
 
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@robhooley167 Awh okay, might be worth a browse for it none-the-less? & Thanks for the "Masters of Photography" suggestion.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions so far, keep them coming :}!
 
IamAshlyRose said:
Thank you for the suggestion, it looks like just the kind of book I'm after! I'll see if I can get my paws on "Photographic Printing" :}
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I've still got 2 copies even after sending one to Rob, if you want to PM a delivery address and name (doesn't have to be your's) I'll bung a copy in the post to you.
 
EdBray said:
I've still got 2 copies even after sending one to Rob, if you want to PM a delivery address and name (doesn't have to be your's) I'll bung a copy in the post to you.
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I'm pretty sure you sent it to Danny :D
 
EdBray said:
I've still got 2 copies even after sending one to Rob, if you want to PM a delivery address and name (doesn't have to be your's) I'll bung a copy in the post to you.
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Thats really generous of you. How much would you want for it? Thank you.
 
Hi Ashly Rose

For me, of all the photographic book I have read, those written by Andreas Feininger are unsurpassed.

Not only a great photographer, he also had the extraordinary ability of being a great teacher. His books don’t just cover the usual technical matters, but venture into essentially important areas that are virtually untouched by other writers. Areas like the photographer’s expressive aims and motives, along with other often ignored subjects like photographic seeing and developing an individual style.

Try and get a copy of ‘The Complete Photographer’ and/or ‘The Complete Colour Photographer’. Published in the 1966 and 1969 respectively by Thames and Hudson. You may be able to get copies through your local library.

If you fancy buying them, then Amazon currently has both available.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thames-Hudson-Complete-Photographer/dp/B00505WOQI

http://www.amazon.co.uk/complete-colour-photographer-Andreas-Feininger/dp/B0000EG515


Good luck – And enjoy.

Sam-D
 
Just to ask a favour, If anyone happens to spot an affordable copy of Keith Carter's 'Holding Venus' book I'd be MOST greatful if you could let me kno! He's one of my favourite photographers :}

Any more books to recommend on the history of photography, as early as camera obscurra's & the early experiments with the chemistry of photography? Nicephore Niepce & all that. I just find it all really interesting thank you.
 
IamAshlyRose said:
Any more books to recommend on the history of photography, as early as camera obscurra's & the early experiments with the chemistry of photography? Nicephore Niepce & all that. I just find it all really interesting thank you.
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Michael Langford - The Darkroom Handbook, has lots of stuff about early photography and darkroom work, shows experimental techniques and how to do them.

This is the cheapest ive found "Holding Venus" for
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/B...earchurl=bt.x=0&bt.y=0&sts=t&tn=holding+venus
EDIT - there may well be cheaper but this is the cheapest site for books in general
 
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robhooley167 said:
Michael Langford - The Darkroom Handbook, has lots of stuff about early photography and darkroom work, shows experimental techniques and how to do them.

This is the cheapest ive found "Holding Venus" for LINK
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You're my HERO. Cheapest copies of "Holding Venus" I could find were upwards of about £128! Just looked into the "Darkroom Handbook" & it looks really good, thank you for the suggestion :}
 
You can pick up the Ansel Adams books for £5 each posted from that site :)
I buy all my uni textbooks from there, 7 books for £20 posted last time i was on
 
IamAshlyRose said:
You're my HERO. Cheapest copies of "Holding Venus" I could find were upwards of about £128! Just looked into the "Darkroom Handbook" & it looks really good, thank you for the suggestion :}
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Where were you looking? It's about the same price (actually, slighty cheaper) on Amazon - link
 
Abebooks is a subsidiary of Amazon, so i assume it will be the same sellers
 
robhooley167 said:
Abebooks is a subsidiary of Amazon, so i assume it will be the same sellers
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You'd have thought so.. but Abe doesn't list the cheapest one on Amazon (£25 +£2.80), and p&p is 20p cheaper on Amazon.
 
Alastair said:
Where were you looking?
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Erm, quite clearly in the wrong place! On eBay it only lists Limited First Editions or Signed versions under my search. Thank you for the links to that book everyone, was lost before o.O I'll be ordering myself one after payday!
 
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Rather than create a new thread, I might aswell post in here.

Has anyone read the book "Iridescent Light The Art of Stand Development" By Michael Axel? Obviously it's a book thats advises on the Stand Development techniques. I'm thinking of purchasing the Apple iBook version, is it a recommendable read?

It can be seen here. Thanks for any advice.
 
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Sorry to hijack your thread, How much is it actually possible to learn, technique wise, from books or is it a matter of reading for inspiration? I had considered getting a Guide to Photoshop cs5.5 for photography or something to improve my PP skills has anyone read it or know if its worth getting?
 
Nespresco said:
Sorry to hijack your thread, How much is it actually possible to learn, technique wise, from books or is it a matter of reading for inspiration?
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It's seems strange to the young 'uns, but for us old farts books did pretty well before the web came along.. :thinking:

I guess you either have the attention span for reading or.. what're we doing next? huh? huh? Can I have a go? :lol:
 
I do enjoy reading and if i get something I enjoy I won't put it down. I see you have a decent collection, I might have to look into getting a few!
 
The best book I've found for photoshop is Michael Evenings Adobe photoshop for photographers,

How much can you learn? Depends on you really. I've learnt from books, youtube/streamed tutorials etc. Check Adobe TV fro lots of good stuff
http://tv.adobe.com/
 
Byker28i said:
The best book I've found for photoshop is Michael Evenings Adobe photoshop for photographers,
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That was the one I was thinking of is it worth getting cs5 now? Or wait until the cs6 version is released since I shall be abusing my student perks once again for a cheap(ish) upgrade.

Could anyone recommend anything on wildlife shooting particularly on an African safari since I shall be off there again in the summer.
 
IamAshlyRose said:
I hope this thread is okay in here?
I'm both an enthusiast photographer & reader.

I've been looking for books on either traditional photography or experimental techniques. I find it all dead interesting! First of all, I was just wondering if anyone on here has read Ansel Adams' book collection of The Camera, The Negative & The Print? Are they an interesting read? Can anything be learnt from them?
Click to expand...

Of course it can.. in digital land more so from book 1 (and book 2 if you consider the RAW file to be a negative)...

IamAshlyRose said:
I came across the titles when reading a little about Ilford Photo & the 'Ilford Manual of Photography' which was first published in 1890.
Click to expand...

My 1958 edition is well thumbed - the theory is all perfectly applicable even if the idea of a "wide" lens is 40mm and long is 100mm :)

IamAshlyRose said:
Not to mention I'm after Keith Carter's 'Holding Venus' book & can only find limited edition or signed originals anywhere which is most frustrating as I can't afford them. Just needed to vent that last comment!
Click to expand...

Budget?
 
I have CS5.1 and recently bought a book called

"The Adobe Photodhop CS5 Book, for digital photographers" by Scott Kelby

an amazing mine of information ref CS5 PP-ing- I wouldnt be without it to be honest

well worth buying

Les :thumbs:
 
Yeah, have found a decently priced copy of the Keith Carter book since the original post :} I was pleased to spend £25 to £40 on a hardback.
 
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