Book List for Beginning Photographers
Adobe Stock Image
Whether you are still grasping the basics of the Exposure Triangle, or struggling to improve your compositions, there is a book out to help. Yes, there is an endless supply of free information available online, but I strongly believed that books still hold enough advantages to make them worth the $10-$20. For starters, books cut through the overwhelm. There is literally endless amounts of things you can learn about photography (I have been doing this for more than twenty years and have a BFA in Photography and I still learn something new multiple times a week). But when you are starting out and need to cull through all that information, books get straight to the point. Even more importantly though, books are almost always better quality information. In a field like photography where most people’s learning journeys are a bit…meandering…to say the least, people often don’t know what they don’t know. And too many voices, misapplying the parts they do know can make for really bad information. The books on this list are well vetted, written by respectable photographers, and full of really good information that gets straight to the point.
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
There is a reason this book is a classic. 99 times our of 100 this is the first book someone will recommend to new photographers and there is a reason for that. Easy to follow, great examples and covers all of the basic technical elements of photography.
Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson
If understanding Exposure is the first photography book you should buy, make this number 2. Photography is a mix of the creative as well as the technical, and its essential to master both. For almost every new photographer I recommend reading Understanding Exposure first and this second. If you are really into the artistic end and don’t want to feel bogged down in the technical than read them simultaneously. If you really don’t intend to take pictures with anything except your Smart Phone then start with this book.
Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography by Brenda Tharp
This book feels like an application of the first two books on this list. Yes, its specifically about nature and outdoor photography, but since the great outdoors is a readily and always available subject it’s probably the best place to start anyway (and as you understand the application of the concepts you will be able to start applying them to other things). I still recommend reading the two Bryan Peterson books first, but if you are really into outdoor and nature photography you could read this in place of Learning to See Creatively.
The Digital Photography Book Scott Kelby
If you don’t really care about learning photography and just want to make better pictures then you could skip everything else on this list and buy this book instead. Otherwise pick it up at some point for a resource after reading up on exposure and composition because Scott does a good job of troubleshooting problems with your images. He also delves into topics such as lens selection, tripod use, and flash before delving into specific genres such as travel, sports, and portrait photography.
The Iphone Photography Book by Scott Kelby
If you take photos with an iPhone even some of the time, then this book is a can’t miss. It also makes a great present for teenager (as my own teen and my nephew and nieces can attest to). It is pretty specific to iPhone users, so it might not be worth as much if you are an Android user. But this is literally packed full of tricks and tips for better phone pictures (and tips that apply to photography in genera). I think my only hesitation in recommending this book is that you might get such good images with your iPhone that dragging a camera along might start to seem like a chore and I am of the opinion that “regular” camera’s still have their place!
Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang
If you are a visual artist of any kind then walk, don’t run, to the nearest book store and pickup this book. It is by far the most unusual book on this list and the only one that is only tangentially related to photography. But it is all about how images work, how composition works, how elements in an image relate to each other and how that affects your picture. This is a really cool book and while its not directly related to making better pictures, understanding these principles will affect how you understand photography and art.
While this book is subtitled “A kid’s Guide to Looking at Photographs” don’t let the word kids in there scare you away. Honestly this is one of my favorite books, if only for the amazing selection of images it contains (plus it’s put together by Joel Meyerowitz and anything he does is worth looking at. While the book is focused on how to look at other people’s images, the principles you learn through doing so apply to your own images as well. And just like great writers are almost always avid readers, the value of spending time looking at great photographs can’t be overstated (scrolling social media doesn’t count!). But the book is more than just great photographs, Joel Meyerowitz guides you through how to look at the images, what to notice, etc. This is another one that any visual artist might appreciate, and while I bought it for my kids it’s earned a perminant place in my photography book collection.
Check out my Bookshop.org storefront to purchase any of these books! By buying through Bookshop.org storefront you support local, independent bookstores. I also receive a commission on any sales, and all commissions will be donated to organizations supporting kids and the arts.