Photography Books

Created April 9, 1999 Last Modified: April 9, 1999

There are hundreds, if not thousands of photography books on the market, catering to all sorts of tastes and styles. I have a couple dozen various books in my own collection, and I have looked at dozens more in book stores and in friend's collections.

In my opinion, the best photography book is 35mm Handbook by Michael Langford, from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. It is the best general photography book that I have ever found. I strongly recommend this as a book for any beginning photographer, but it is also a good reference source for intermediate photographers as well. After over 20 years of photography, I still find things that are useful tidbits in this book.

It is full of sections covering a variety of subjects about photography. There are great explanations, and examples that clearly demonstrate the points in the text. There are little "Hints and Tips" distributed throughout the book that covers extra tidbits.

I have never found any other book that explained the interactions of aperture and depth of field as well as this book, both in words and diagrams.

In spite of this book being more than a decade old, it is still a very good book. The sections about Cameras pre-date the "auto-everything" cameras of today, but the information about lighting and exposure and composition all transcend the mechanics of the cameras.

I have purchased copies of this book for several friends, and I have loaned my own personal copy to several more friends. This book is so good, that I sometimes cannot get my book back, and I have had to buy a replacement copy for my personal use three or four times.

If any editors or publishers want to send me samples of their books for me to review, I would be glad to review them and report my opinions on this page. ~Wink!~

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