Which Books Should I Read?–2013 Edition

UDPATED: June 3, 2013

So you've got a new digital SLR camera, great lenses, and awesome software so you are ready to go right?

Now you are all excited, but you've discovered one little problem - your camera doesn't seem to work as good as others. Well my friend, let me assure you that it ISN'T a back focus problem, and your camera works just fine (99.9% of the time)! The problem is more likely that you haven't acquired the skills to get those amazing shots you see other photographers taking.  Let's start by getting real and learning how those other photographers do - it's called experience my friend!

How do I get that experience - NOW?

In this age of instant gratification, everybody wants results now. You just spent a couple grand or more on a camera so you think you should be shooting stuff that my Top Photographers would be in awe of, but the reality is that you aren't going to be a great photographer over night. However, the good news is that you can improve your photography skills drastically by reading the right books right now!

So Ron, what books do you recommend?

Without a doubt, the best (and most popular) book on the market right now is The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby (a fantastic no-nonsense author). This book will teach you what some people take years to learn, and the best part is that the book is a quick read. Most people will finish it in around an hour. In fact, this book is so great that I suggest you keep it in your backpack and read it again when you find the time! In fact, I recommend whole series of books because the additional editions pick up where the previous volumes left off. Collectively they will teach you more in a short time than you’d learn on your own over the course of several years.

After you know the basics on how to use your camera and gear, you'll probably discover that your pictures are more technically sound but still considered pretty boring by others. The best way to remedy that is to start Learning to See Creatively - a phenomenal book by Bryan Peterson (another outstanding author and amazing photographer). Some will argue that Understanding Exposure should be read first, and in many ways I agree with that recommendation. Understanding Exposure will teach you how to use your camera to create interesting compositions, but you have to be willing to read your manual and switch out of P mode (fully automatic) to take full advantage of it. However, if I had to pick one for the beginner I'd stick with Learning to See Creatively because you might might not be ready to read that camera manual just yet.

However, this is only half the problem because you'll have good gear, but still struggle with how to use it. Scott Kelby’s books will teach you how to use it, and Bryan Peterson’s books will teach you how to become a better photographer. However, there’s still the subject of inspiration on how to shoot differently than you have been up to this point in your life. This of course is the challenge for you, and for those who master it like Joe McNally you'll see what wonderful things you can do. In Joe's latest book, Sketching Light (and his others The Moment it Clicks & Hot Shoe Diaries) you'll see some great shots from a truly gifted photographer, hear some great stories. You’ll have a few tips on how to get those great shots, but for most of us it won't be enough info to turn us into explorers of light – at least not yet!

To begin your journey to master lighting there is one book that I deem to be the bible on subject of light that I am convinced will amaze you (if you have the patience to read it from cover to cover and understand the content). This wonderful book is called Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. If there is one book I wish I could read over and over again until every concept was permanently etched into my brain it would be this book. I'll admit that it is a text book style that isn't nearly as fun as Scott Kelby or Bryan Peterson books, but if you take the time to read it then you'll learn more about light than most photographers you know. It WILL help you become a great photographer, but knowledge and application are two separate things, so this is one area (like creative composition) where only experience will help you. However, without the knowledge this book offers, it would take a lifetime to gain the experience needed to be a master. This book saves you 20 years, so I can't recommend it highly enough.

With that said, I know that some people just won’t be able to handle reading Light because it can be pretty intense. If you want a more practical approach to “how do I get better shots with that $500+ flash I bought”, then look no further than On-Camera Flash: Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography by Neil van Niekerk. It is a short, easy-to-read book that teaches you everything you want to know and little that you could care less about. In short, it’s a practical book that will make your photography much better.

f you take pictures, you owe it to yourself to own Lightroom. It is quite simply the best photo management product on the planet right now and it will help you get the results you wished you could get from you DSLR when you purchased it – without the need to own Photoshop.  You should definitely pick up Scott Kelby’s Lightroom for Digital Photographers. It will show you how to use this great product to process your pictures to get the kind of results you hoped you get when you put your hard earned money down to buy a DSLR.

Show me the money

The funny thing about Digital Photography is that it is really easy to ramp up quickly and begin to take amazing shots. In fact, odds are that in your first year of photography you'll take a shot that everyone thinks is simply amazing. In fact, it will be so good that you'll find yourself being asked by friends to shoot a wedding so you'll need to learn really quickly how to do a decent job, so again Scott Kelby comes to the rescue again with The Digital Photography Book - Volume 2. While there are more exhaustive books on the subject that are quite good, this is enough to get you going to shoot that friend or family member's wedding that you just got signed up to shoot because your fee is in their budget (yeah, free :-)).

Of course, after you pull off that first wedding or group shot you now think you are ready to quit your day job and become a big name photographer. For a great book that will give you a reality check, check out Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington. 

But Ron, I hate books what else can I do?

Sign yourself up for Kelby Training as it’s the best bang for the buck resource on the web for photographers. NAPP is a close second for Photoshop users (or Photoshop Elements User Magazine if you use PSE instead of Photoshop). PPSOP is also great if you like interactive training.

The MUST HAVE Photography Books

1. The Digital Photography Book (or the collection if you can afford it) – Trust me, it’s like having a pro friend with you to answer your every question!
2. Learning to See Creatively (2b. Understanding Exposure for those with extra funds to spend and who are willing to take their camera out of auto mode)
3. On-Camera Flash – Techniques for Digital Wedding & Portrait Photography (for the “show me how” types)
4. Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (for the “show me why” types)
5. Scott Kelby’s Lightroom for Digital Photographers  (if you take my advice and purchase Lightroom)

If you can't afford to purchase them then go to your local library and borrow them (as I did initially) and you'll discover why these are must own books. However, if you do purchase them, I’d appreciate it if you use my links here to help support this blog.

But what about Photoshop books?

I'm so convinced that the Earth could be be completely covered in all of the Photoshop books out there, so I've chosen to leave this topic out of this article. When you are ready you can read article on recommended Photoshop books.

But what about other books to inspire my creativity?

I've gone through a stack of about 10 books that fall into this category, and I have come to the following generalizations:

• Any Bryan Peterson book is going to be outstanding. In addition to those previously mentioned, I have reviews of Understanding Shutter Speed, and Beyond Portraiture.  Joe McNally’s books mentioned previously are also great to get the creative juices going.
• I also find that most Peachpit Press photography books are quite good.
• The Web is a phenomenal resource for inspiration. Visit sites like 500px, Flickr, your favorite photographers home page, and others and you are certain to find plenty of inspiration.
• Most inspirational books are good to browse once, less useful to own. Your best bet is to look at them at the library or your favorite bookstore and save yourself the money for other things.

What about Michael Freeman or <insert name>’s books?

Michael Freeman writes some very popular photography books that many (engineers usually) swear by, but personally I swear at them. I found them more boring than reading an insurance policy or legal document. If you thought the book Light that I recommend above was an easy read and the level of detail you like, then you’ll love Michael Freeman’s books. If you cleaned your room and/or fell asleep reading Light, then you probably won’t care for Michael’s books.

Everyone also has their favorite books, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve read hundreds of books on Photography – mostly for the blog – and these are what I boiled my list down to the most useful for normal people with lives.

Conclusion

Simply by asking this question and reading this blog post you are a step ahead of many by taking the initiative to making your photos much better. Get out there and start reading and I assure you your camera will start working better and you'll start getting the kind of shots that will amaze your friends and family, but more importantly they'll impress and excite you!

To stay up on my latest recommendations, be sure to check out my recommendations store on amazon.com. I also post book reviews which you can find in the index on the right column of this blog.

Happy Shooting!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• Which Printer Should I Buy? Epson or Canon?
• On-Camera Flash Techniques
• Bryan Peterson Workshops Review
• The Perfect Picture School of Photography (PPSOP) by Bryan Peterson
• Kelby Training - best video training on the web
• Photoshop Elements User - (Discount) Tutorials and more
• Zenfolio – The best place to store your photos online

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Off-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Photographers by Neil van Niekerk

As promised in my teaser article, I have had a chance to read Neil’s latest book and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint. Now it should be noted that this book is about techniques. This means it isn’t a substitute for your camera flash manual, so you may still need that handy when trying to figure how to get your flash system to perform some of the tasks in the book.

Chapter-by-Chapter Walkthrough

Here’s my observations of the various chapters of this book:

1. Why Use Off-Camera Flash

This is a good teaser that gets you excited about what is to come. While I didn’t think the first series of images really sold the point Neil van Niekerk was trying to make, the rest of the images starting on page 10 and beyond sure did. There’s really compelling shots that don’t feel like a flash was used and look like the kind of shot that many of us want to get.

2. Flash Equipment for Off-Camera Flash Photography

Here Neil talks about all the good stuff you’ll need to get going like the Westcott Magic Slipper Plate Adapter (kit), the 1051 (or 1004) stands, Pocket Wizards, Umbrellas, etc…It’s a fun place to get your geek on and spend more money before you get started, but the good stuff that will help you the most comes in the following chapters.

3. Concepts for Flash Photography

This is an excellent chapter that is similar to the one found in the On-Camera Flash Techniques book that teaches you the importance of understanding key concepts like flash sync speed. Good stuff for the new flash enthusiast!

4. Manual Flash vs. TTL Flash

The word manual and anything in photography sends most newbies into a panic, so Neil does a good job of showing the strengths of TTL. More importantly he does what some books miss - he explains how you can use flash exposure compensation to control the results you can get by default from a 580EX II or SB-900. 

5. Metering for Flash and Ambient Light

I start my Photography 101 classes off with metering because it is such an important concept that is frequently misunderstood. In flash photography things change so people find that what they know to be true without a flash fails when they turn the flash on. Neil does a good job helping you to meter properly and use your histogram to ensure you are getting the best results.

6. Balancing the Flash with Ambient Light

All good books have those few special chapters that are the ones that make them stand apart from other books. Chapter 6 is one of those for this book, and the concepts explain really drive home what is required to get a shot that is well balanced with the environment – under a variety of scenarios.

If you are lazy and only read one chapter – this is the one.

7. Positioning the Flash

This chapter is useful because it includes more than just words and great final results - it includes photos that show the light setup which can be helpful for those who don’t yet think they need an assistant for these kind of shoots.

8. Overpowering the Sun with Flash

Many photography experts like to mention the idea of overpowering the sun with the flash, but nobody explains the why and how better than Neil.

9. Off-Camera Flash on Location

This is a super important chapter as well as Neil shows how he builds up any given shot in stages to get his desired result. This is something that people don’t realize – Neil doesn’t just shoot one frame and have the perfect result, so why should you?

10. Sample Sessions

Neil finishes this book with a bang so to speak as there’s lots of real world challenges and solutions that help you to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes. It’s a bit like being a virtual assistant where you can learn from what Neil does in the field and translates that into your own work.  

Conclusion

Now oddly enough I think the subject of off-camera flash is covered in books much more than on-camera flash. While this book is good, I don’t think it is a important to new photographers as Neil’s first book – On-Camera Flash Techniques (which made my Which Books Should I Read list).

I’m going to list this book as a strong recommendation for non-Canon shooters (especially Nikon) who want something a little more in-depth to complement The Moment It Clicks or Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally. If I had to pick one of those three, I’d pick this one simply because there’s more “how to” in this book than in Joe’s books (which are great as well).

For Canon shooters, I still think there is great value in reading this book but you will find Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites is the Canon Speedlite owners (i.e., 580EX II) dream come true – it’s EVERYTHING you wanted to know about the Canon flash system,accessories and more! It’s a much thicker book and if you’ve got the basics down, then you may find Neil’s book to be just enough to get you in the right direction (with 10% of the required reading time).

Flash Bus Tour attendees will find this book to be a great complement to reinforce to what you learned in Joe McNally & David Hobby’s class. Strobist fans will enjoy it as well.

Ordering

You can pick up Off-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Photographers at Amazon.com, and while you are at it you can/should pick up On-Camera Flash Techniques.

Disclaimer

I was provided a copy of this book to review by the publisher, and if you make a purchase using the link provided I may get a commission. Thank you for supporting this blog by purchasing online using my link.

REVIEW: On-Camera Flash – Techniques for Digital Wedding & Portrait Photography

Let me just cut to this chase – this book by Neil van Niekerk is simply fantastic! This is the book you’ve been waiting for, and it should be considered an instant classic! Why? Because everyone knows how hard it is to get good results out of their on-camera flash, so we spend hundreds of dollars on light modifiers to try to get Joe McNally caliber results, yet no matter how hard we try our flash shots still end up sucking! Well my friends, the solution to your problems are here and no rocket science degree or expensive gear is required to get top caliber results. Read on to understand why I like this book so much!

Chapter by Chapter Walkthrough

When writing books the publisher frequently works with the author on an outline first, and they have ideas on what content you should have in your book. However, authors generally have the stuff that they are excited about and then the other stuff they must write about. In this book, it is clear to me that Neil enjoyed writing Sections 2 & 3, and the information in them is FANTASTIC! However, Sections 1 & 4 are “buns” of someone’s “must haves”, but Neil kinda glosses them over with no real depth. It’s a knock on this book, but you can safely ignore it (as well as those sections) because the “meat” of the book (Sections 2 & 3) make it worth every penny!

SECTION 1 – WHERE DO WE START

This is a really short 4 page section that just goes over some basic material. The chapter titles give you some insight as to what this section is about, but there’s not much depth here to worry about.

• Chapter 1 – What We Want To Achieve
• Chapter 2 – Looking At The Available Light
• Chapter 3 - A Few Essential Concepts
• Chapter 4 – Choosing Equipment

SECTION 2 – THE TECHNICAL STUFF

This is the good section that provides just enough of the “how’s” and “why’s” behind what comes later. It will give you some basic understanding on what you need to know so that Section 3 becomes more meaningful.

Chapter 5 – Exposure Metering

This is a great chapter for those who want something more technical than what Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson offered in his book. It provides a very brief mention of the Zone System and does a more in-depth discussion of the histogram for both Nikon and Canon systems. It also includes a good discussion of the different in-camera metering modes as well as exposure compensation. Overall it’s a great chapter for the beginner, and useful to the more advanced for a more in-depth understand of the “why'” behind the results that we get from our in-camera exposure meters.

Chapter 6 – Flash Modes and Exposure

This is a quick discussion of flash exposure compensation, which is something most people seem to fail to understand when they get a flash. There’s also some interesting points about how the Canon and Nikon systems behave differently and their own little quirks.

Chapter 7 – Flash-Sync Speed

When I first took the picture above in May 2007 (shortly after getting my first Digital SLR), it puzzled me as to why the bottom of the frame was black. I had this problem on several frames, and couldn’t understand what was going on. However, the answer was very simple – my shutter speed (1/320 sec) was too fast for my rented studio strobes so the shutter blocked some of the light from the sensor.

In this Chapter Neil does a great job of explaining this issue as well as the pros and cons of Second Curtain Sync (which many in the Scott Kelby circle of friends are advising). He also has the best visual description of high speed sync that I’ve ever seen. Overall I loved this chapter and it was the first chapter that made really appreciate Neil’s style of educating his reader.

Chapter 8 – Adding Flash to Ambient Light

This is a short chapter, but he uses a bunch of images to get the point across quickly. A picture is worth a thousand words, and Neil uses plenty to get his points across quickly and concisely!

SECTION 3 – THE TECHNIQUES

This is where the rubber meets the road and Neil starts teaching you about the tricks he’s learned in his many years as a wedding photographer. I loved this section along with Section 2. If you only read two sections, these are the ones!

Chapter 9 – Using Simple Flash Modifiers

Most of us suck at using the flash so like golfers purchasing putters to improve their short game, we spend a fortune on flash modifiers to try to make our images not suck. The problem is that most of us are missing so many fundamentals that no flash modifier in the world can save us – until now. The best part here is that Neil show’s off his fancy flash modifier that allows him to get some fantastic shots, and it’s no more than a thick sheet of black paper with a rubber-band for what amounts to a half-snoot system. He also discusses a few of his gels and the way he (occasionally) uses a Sto-Fen Omnibounce. This is low-tech tips to create high-tech results – woohoo!

Chapter 10 – Bounce Flash

Before reading this chapter, do your best to take the best shot you can with your bounce flash given what you know today. I did, and the result was the image above on the left. Now, read the chapter and apply what you know. The result, the image on the right. Notice a difference? All I did was turn my flash head from the tried and true “bounce off the ceiling” method we all use (shown left above and below) to turning my flash head to get a sideways indirect bounce (shown right above and below). Using this very simple technique, I was able to create dramatically better results without having to spend a penny on yet another light modifier. How cool is that?!!!! This chapter is filled with that kind of goodness, which is why I love it so much.

Chapter 11 – Flash With Tungsten Ambient Lights

I like to call this chapter, “How to not get those ugly yellow flash pictures” as that’s pretty much what he’s teaching you. Most of us struggle with this one, but Neil breaks this problem down into simple concepts along with pictures to demonstrate the words to come up with a great chapter that demystifies this common problem.

Chapter 12 – Using Flash to Control Contrast

This is a good chapter to help you deal with backlighting problems (i.e., bright background and dark subject) you may be facing with your photography today. It’s short, but useful.

Chapter 13 – Controlling Light Falloff

See that crappy shot above? That’s light falloff – the subject is bright, but the background goes to dark (in this case pretty rapidly). These are the kind of flash shots that a lot of us get when we first get our cameras and it is both maddening and embarrassing (as in this case where an important moment wasn’t captured properly). If this is something you’ve dealt with, then this is the chapter you’ll want to read.

Chapter 14 – Flash Techniques Outdoors

In photography there’s a lot of “rules” that people insist are true, but seasoned photographers will tell you that the rules are a guide – not an absolute. Outdoors is one of those cases where you forget the indoor rule of never pointing your flash directly at your subject. Here he explains how you can get away with a lot more outside because TTL does a much better job with fewer surfaces for the light to bounce off. In fact the shot above was a case where I had nothing to bounce off of, but was using a 200mm lens so I just pointed the flash directly at the model and the lighting was bang on. Hover over to see what the same results were without a fill flash. Big difference, right? Well Neil uses this chapter to show you some good examples of how to be very subtle and make great improvements to your outdoors shots using a fill flash.

SECTION 4 – TAKING IT BEYOND ON CAMERA FLASH

I think this section was one where Neil either ran out of steam or he just didn’t have the time / page count left to go in-depth. These are very shallow chapters on a topic that Strobist covers very well. You can basically skip this section as there’s little value in its two chapters below:

• Chapter 15 – Off-Camera Wireless TTL Flash
• Chapter 16 – Off-Camera Manual Flash

Conclusion

This is my #1 pick so far for Photography Book of the Year in 2009 and it earns a spot on my must own photography books in my Which books should I read? article. Thank you Neil van Niekerk for sharing your pearls of wisdom in a way that is easy to understand, without using 47 speedlights or $1000+ in light modifiers! Thank you for not going into geeky theory in an attempt to make yourself look smart. Thank you for showing us the HOW but also providing the WHY for those who need that. I look forward to seeing more books from you in the future.

Skill Level: All
Value: Priceless (especially for people with expensive flashes they don’t know how to operate properly)
Recommendation: Buy it, read it, apply it, and then read it again. Fantastic stuff that is sure to help your photography more than a new lens or camera body!

Neil ( & Amherst Media), if you are reading this I’d LOVE to see you write books on How to Master the Canon Flash System and How to Master the Nikon Flash System (although McNally already did that). If you do, I’m sure the demand would be huge as I’ve found no books to date that adequately cover the subject

After reading this book, you can continue to learn more by following Neil on his blog at Planet Neil where he has more tutorials and other great information from recent photo shoots.