One of the bits of advice from the book that my daughter bought me for Christmas is “Learn from the Experts”.
I am not particularly fond of instructional books (“Learn how to revolutionise your photography in 5 easy lessons!”), but there are books I keep going back to. I have learnt from books by Martin Parr that his kind of photography isn’t my forte (OK, OK, I am crap at it, satisfied now). Having seen his work in NZ, I like the small book I have by Andris Apse, and the range of photography in Masters of Landscape Photography means that I keep coming back to it over and over again.
Quite simply, the best photography book I have ever read. From the era of color film, that short time between the black-and-white darkroom and photoshop, where pictures really couldn’t be edited. It all came down to the skill of the photographer, which makes a book from this era much more useful than its darkroom-edited predecessors or photoshopped successors.
Besides that, the story of an avid adventurer who took part in several expeditions to climb the most difficult mountains in the world for the first time, and document life in the most remote places on earth before man could ever touch them.
All in all, a fantastic book of outdoorsmanship, adventures, and photography, three things I love dearly.
They’re a bit dated because they’re often film-based, but I have a handful of John Shaw’s books and they’re very good IMO. His experience, knowledge and easy communication style make for easy-to-read content that’s full of good information.
Can’t beat Basic Photography by Langford. Not the current ones updated for digital but the old editions based around film, but still relevant. Another classic from Focal Press aimed at cinematography but relevant to stills is The Visual Story by Bruce Block. Loads of older second-hand editions available.
John Ingledew’s “Photography” is also interesting as it’s aimed at higher education students so is less technical and more about how different kinds of photographers create different types of meaning with their work. AVA also has a series of Photography Basics books covering different aspects of the art form, from the usual composition and so on to doing research (Behind the Image), creating Narrative and Context, and Reading Images. They’re all available used on eBay or Amazon or wherever. Finally, I’m currently reading this below, which is a bit more expensive but takes a broader understanding of what landscape photography can be:
Magnum Contact Sheets was a favorite of mine from a few years ago. Less technical but but more about story telling in an editorial or photojournalism realm.