My Top-10 Photography & Photoshop Book Holiday Gift Guide
Although I included some of “The Photoshop Guys” latest books in my Holiday Gear Guide (which ran here on the blog last Friday), there are some other great books out there that I think would make fantastic Holiday gifts, so I wanted to do a separate gift guide just for those. Here are my top 10 holiday gift book picks (in no particular order):
By Joe McNally
Joe’s lighting is the stuff legends are made of (I call him “the magical unicorn of lighting), and Joe wrote 420 pages about exactly how he lights. If this isn’t 2012’s lighting book of the year I’ll eat my hat (well, it’s really more of a ball cap, but I can’t imagine it would taste good).
From New Riders Press. ISBN# 0321700902. List Price: $49.95 (Online it sells for around $32). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
by Skip Cohen and Scott Bourne
I’ve been recommending this book to students at my seminars for a while now because I think it really gives some great insights, real life instruction, and it’s filled with great images too boot, which make this a no-brainer for anyone whose thinking of taking their passion and turning it into profits. Very well done.
From Amphoto Books. ISBN# 0817435794. List Price: $29.95 (Online it sells for around $19). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
By Ed Greenberg and Jack Reznicki
I don’t think there’s ever been a more practical, down-to-earth, cut the BS and just tell it like it is book about copyright and protecting photographers and their images than this. Jack and Ed cover this topic in a way that is not only informative, it’s fascinating and fun, and the advice they share is worth many, many times the cover price.
From Lark Books. ISBN# 1600594204. List Price: $24.95 (It sells online for around $15). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
By Corey Barker
This book didn’t’ make it in time for my regular Holiday Gear Guide, but I wish it had because Corey did an absolutely amazing job on this book. He is a freakin’ Photoshop Genius and the stuff he comes up with, and the ways he uses Photoshop are just flat out amazing, and incredibly informative. It’ll help you unlock features and power you never knew were in Photoshop. Incredibly cool book (Note: Kelby Training produced this book for Peachpit Press, so know that I am totally biased, but also know that I went to Corey to help me with my Down & Dirty Tricks book in 2009 because when it comes to stuff like this, he is the best!).
From New Riders Press. ISBN# 0321820495. List Price: $49.99 (It sells online for around $29). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
By Kevin Kubota
I’m really picky when it comes to books on Lighting, but I really like this one, and I think one of its strengths is the wealth of inspiration you’ll get from the book because the type of shots are so varied. His lighting set-ups are straight forward (and you get a diagram for each), but seeing them applied on location really starts making the gears in your head start turning, and that alone makes it worth it to me.
From Wiley Publishing. ISBN# 1118035100. List Price: $34.95 (it sells online for around $24). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
by Moose Peterson
Moose wrote a book that literally just captivates wildlife photographers, both with its amazing photography and insights and advice that you won’t find anywhere else. Really a brilliantly written and presented book from cover to cover, and it’s been widely acclaimed as one of the best books ever written on wildlife photography (Note: we produced this book for Peachpit Press, but as much as I’d love to make more credit, it’s Moose’s words and pictures that make it what it is).
From New Riders Press. ISBN# 0321720598. List Price: $54.95 (Online price around $40). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
by Guy Kawasaki
OK, this isn’t technically a book about photography, but it’s a book that every photographer in business needs to read, because in the wildly competitive market photographers are in today, they need to do more than take pretty pictures, they need to enchant your customers and this book will set you on that path, as well as inspire and motivate you. You will love it, and you’ll share it with others.
From Portfolio. ISBN# 1591843790. List Price: $26.95 [Hardcover]. (Online price around $15). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
by Lindsay Adler
I’m not the only one that thinks that this is a kick-butt book; Amazon’s own Editors chose it as one of their “Best of 2011” top 10 books, and rightfully so. The wedding market, and what customers expect, is changing rapidly and Lindsay brings a breath of fresh air with her fresh take and a woman’s sensibility to what today’s brides want.
From Course Technology PTR. ISBN# 1435458842. List Price: $34.99 (Online around $23). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
By Jeff Revell
I’ve been looking at books on how to use your camera for years, and if you read the online reviews for most of these books, you’ll see the same comments again and again that these books are just a longer version of the camera’s users guide. That’s what makes this book (and this series) stand apart. It’s not just “how to use your camera.” It’s “How to use your camera to make better photos, and at the end of the day, I think that’s really why we want to learn what all those menus and dials do. If you know someone getting a Nikon or Canon camera this Holiday Season, there’s most likely a version of this book to match their camera. Congrats to my buddy Jeff for redefining the genre of “menus and dial” books.
From Peachpit Press. ISBN#032177664X. List Price: $24.95 (Online Price around $15). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.
by Syl Arena
In a book market dominated by books on Nikon Speedlights, Syl has made himself a hero to Canon shooters everywhere by doing a hot shoe flash book just for them, and its been one of the big hits of the year, and with good reason. He covers everything from soup to nuts, and if you’ve got a Canon flash shooter on your gift list, this is the book they’ve been waiting for.
From Peachpit Press. ISBN# 032171105X. List Price: $49.95 (Online price around $34). You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com, or your local bookstore.