I’m reviewing two books by Henry Carroll I had the luck to read: Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs and Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs of Places. Read on, you may love ‘em too!
What are these books about?
Let’s start with what’s common between the two: the layout. On one page you’ll have a relatively short, easy-to-digest but informative text. On the other page, you’ll be presented with a beautiful shot from one of the many photographers featured. This shot will help you understand visually, the different subjects explained in the book. They’re not very long, you’ll go through them pretty quickly.
The first book is pretty general and covers a lot of topics. You’ll get simple but useful explanations about compositional technics, exposure, the different modes of a camera, and more.
The second is focused on the photography of places. So you’ll get more insights on this topic, from landscape to picture taken in the streets.
There is also a third book in the series which is about photographing people. I haven’t read it yet. But based on the two books above, I think it’ll be as good and interesting as these.
Who should read it?
These books are really awesome if you’re just starting with photography. They are easy to understand even if you never had a camera. They cover nearly all the topics you need to study. They also present you with a good variety of beautiful and inspiring photographs. One of these photos made me fall in love with monochrome and street photography (read my story here)!
If you are a photographer but haven’t read a book for a long time, they may help to refresh your memory about the fundamentals of photography.
good for learning about street photography?
Even if these books are not talking specifically about street photography, I recommend their lecture. Both of them. Some topics are covered in the two books but they complement each other well. By reading these two, you’ll learn the fundamentals you gonna use as a street photographer. Compositional techniques, which camera mode to use and when, exposure, how to photograph places, etc. You’ll also get exposed to a wide variety of high-quality shots.
Recommended!
Henry Carroll wrote two excellent books that make photography easy to approach, easy to understand, and easy to love! They’ve been very helpful to me when I couldn’t afford a course. These books are sold for $18 each, they’re quite affordable and the print quality is good. Get them, read them, and make their knowledge yours!