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The best books on photography offer the perfect way to get a burst of visual inspiration, learn about the great photographers, and improve your camera skills.
From the timeless classics that have stood the test of time to modern masterpieces that push boundaries, the best photography books offer a rich tapestry of images, each one a testament to the power of light, composition, and the human experience.
Whether you're a seasoned photographer seeking inspiration, new to shooting, or just an appreciator of the art of photography, these books unlock a world of possibilities, inviting you to delve into the depths of creativity, technique and our shared cultural heritage.
Best for beginners
This book is perfect for anyone new to DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. It dials down the technical jargon in favour of iconic images, playful dialogue, and expert tips.
Friendly beginner read
This friendly guide walks you through taking 20 common categories of photos, including family portraits, flowers, sunsets, candids, pets and close-ups.
Beginner guide + video training
As well as this 233-page book, you get over three hours of supplementary online training videos, and free help from the author and other readers via an online readers group.
Best insider tips
This book uses conversational language to share more than 200 tricks of the trade, to help you get looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photographs.
Best ideas book
This book offer easy-to-follow examples to get as many different looks as possible with the same model. It also covers the basics of photographing all kindpeople.
Best for portraits
Henry Carroll’s series of books on photography are an example of exceptional publishing – and this one dedicated to portraiture is no exception. It's beautifully bound, too.
Getting to grips with the basics of photography has never been easier – or more fun – than with Read This if You Want to Take Good Photographs. An easy-to-follow, accessible guide, this book is perfect for anyone new to using DSLRs, compact systems, and bridge cameras. The author – teacher, writer, and photographer Henry Carroll – has dialed down the technical jargon and instead opted for the handbook that champions the art of photography via iconic images, playful dialogue, and expert tips.
Inspired by the greats, Carroll draws on acclaimed photographers such as Sebastião Salgado, Nadav Kander, and Daido Moriyama to help illustrate the technique and encourage readers to get involved.
If you're a photography novice looking for a relatively light and friendly read, this guide from Jim Miotke, the brains behind online photography school BetterPhoto.com, should be just up your street.
Explaining everything an absolute beginner needs to get started taking great photos, it's packed with tips and advice, and explanations are friendly sounding and written in plain English.
Once you've got to grips with the basics, Miotke walks you through taking 20 common categories of photos, including family and pet portraits, flowers, sunsets, candids, close-ups, and monochrome shots.
Suitable for children and adults, this is one of the best photography books to make learning photography fun and rewarding, and ultimately whether it succeeds will be down to you.
When it comes to learning photography, reading from books and watching videos are two approaches that each have strengths and weaknesses. So why not combine the two for the best of both worlds?
That's exactly what this package from Tony Northrup, the founder of photo.net, offers. As well as this 233-page book, you get over three hours of supplementary online training videos, and free help from the author and other readers via an online readers group.
This is very much a practical, hands-on course that requires you to grab your camera and get shooting right away. There are exercises at the end of every chapter to give you the real-world experience you need, and the emphasis is very much on learning by doing.
This book takes an approach to improve your photography that makes perfect sense to us. Here's how author Scott Kelby, co-host of Photoshop User TV, explains it.
“If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, with the background out of focus?,' I wouldn't stand there and give you a photography lecture," he says. "In real life, I’d just say, 'Put on your zoom lens, set your f-stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.'"
In exactly that spirit, this book offers more than 200 photographic tricks of the trade, to help you get looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos, explained in the same way you would in a normal conversation. So you learn how using a different setting, tool or trick in a particular situation can truly transform the quality of your work, and make it look more like the work of a pro than an amateur.
Kelby really does write like you're standing next to you, and while that might sometimes be off-putting (depending on whether you 'get' his sense of humor), there's no denying that these tricks really work, whether you're a beginner or an experienced photographer.
