The photography Book Club

I love books. I can download just about everything these days in pdf format. But there's something relaxing about sitting in a comfortable chair reading. I just picked up my order for two photography books.

Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure: The Professional's Guide to Capturing Perfect Digital Photographs

and

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

The first one was the more interesting one for me. The second I ordered to qualify for Amazon's shipping discount.
Anyways, Michael Freeman is a Canadian travel / editorial photographer and fairly prolific writer with a number of books published. The first book is his exploration of the subject of exposure. A subject that, he plainly admits in the preface, doesn't lend itself to books and "systems", but has more to do with personal style. His justification for writing the book is that a professional photographer needs to employ some sort of technique to produce consistent work according to the customer's needs and these techniques may be of benefit to all photographers. I've only read the first 2 pages, so can't give a full description yet.

What photography books are you reading / have read ?

I have just read the photographer's eye as well and I think it is a very well written book. Lots of short individual sections on each topic with examples. For a beginner I think it brings up some interesting ideas. It shows what makes a beautiful photo.

One of the first books I read Scott Kelby's digital photography. Which is also a very good book for beginners as it gives an overview of how to use the camera in a technical way. This book shows how to take photos.

Another of Scott Kelby's book is his "7-point system for Photoshop CS3". Goes through 21 step by step examples on getting the best out of your photographs. I would recommend this book as a practical guide onw how to give your holiday photos that extra umph.