What’s wrong with most photography books?

 Gavin   Journey, Musings
photography-books

 

I’m researching photogaphy books for a future article and want your feedback. Can you leave a comment below and let me know what you do and more importantly don’t like about most books on the subject?

Most importantly, don’t name and shame! I’ll remove any entries that mention specific books. Just leave a comment below and tell me the good stuff and the bad stuff. No names or titles though.

Why am I asking this?

Quite simply, I’ve read a lot of books on photography. Some good, some not so good. Many follow the same, tired, pattern. I don’t know if this is because it’s a magic formula that just “works” or if it’s because that’s the way photography books are written.

To help me with my research, I’d like your opinion. Take the last photography book you read and leave a comment to let me know what you did/didn’t like about it. NO NAMES OR TITLES THOUGH!!!

Thanks for your help,
Gavin

PS: Don’t forget, leave a comment below but don’t mention any names or titles. Or links for that matter.



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2 thoughts on “What’s wrong with most photography books?”

  1. Kyle Seeber

    The LAST ‘photography’ book that I read seemed to have an awful lot that was not actually about photography. Learning about processing with Lightroom, fundamentals of Photoshop, layers and masks, fonts frames and foxing, actions, digital beamers and preparing files for printing are all nice to know but aren’t exactly what people are intending to spend their money on when purchasing a ‘photography’ book.

    As for the actual photography, I think the most important part to take from these books is to TAKE MORE PICTURES! Some say to limit yourself, act as if your using a roll of film (24 exposures) so that you put more work into every single click of the shutter. I’d say throw that out the window, we’re trying to learn how to become better photographers! If you watch the film ‘War Photographer’ or ‘Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens’, these photographers are completely addicted, they can’t stop taking pictures.

  2. Gavin Thorn

    Hi Kyle,

    Great point. I think most authors confuse ‘photography’ with ‘workflow’ and so end up trying to solve world hunger.

    Thanks for the feedback,
    Gavin

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