learning tools

[merman]

just an idea here, why dont we all post up some of our favorite photography resources
i know one of the problems i was having was finding a good book to read, here are my learning tools, lit anyway

-- photography.ca podcasts (always a great job marko)
-- Lighting Photo Workshop Chris Bucher (i LOVE this book, alot of info in there, easy to read and has nice little assignments at the end of each chapter)

[tomorrowstreasures]

great idea. Merman!

for Photoshop post processing - Scott Kelby is your go to man. He has a lot of resources available..dvds, blog, www.scottkelby.com and www.kelbytraining.com, books - he has a great personality and training style.

youtube.com has many training vids also. just enter a topic, and you can pretty much bet someone has it covered.

as far as books go.. there are tons and tons on the market from current authors. so far, i have not yet found a really bad book...so have at it.

one of my favorite books is by McNally - it is called The Moment It Clicks - a must read from a master -in the book, he tells how he achieved a given shot that is along side the information. (I can't remember his first name for the life of me.)

Your gear's owner's manual!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michaelaw]

Joe Mcnally....

[tomorrowstreasures]

thanks Michael!!

[Michaelaw]

Oh....Oh...what was I gonna say here umm..geez...

No problem LOL I get those moments all the time. The worst is when you're trying to tell someone about a band or some song you feel they need to hear and what comes out is..."You know them...Those guys..You know, they did that song..Aww, you know the one' then someone starts in on particle physics and it's gone forever....:)

[Lovin]

"The Photographer's Guide to Light" by Nigel Hicks

[mindforge]

I use the following resources:


WEBSITES:

kelbytraining.com
lynda.com

BOOKS:

My Camera Manual - you have to read your manual, a dozen times.

The Photographer's Eye (the newest one) - I think it is poorly written but has some great techniques.

Light: Science and Magic 3rd edition - Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua

Scott Kelby has a two volume book set I have in the bathroom :) It is really new.

Side Note for Books: buy one a month, set it in the bathroom.


MAGAZINES:

I think magazines have helped me a lot. Below is a better listing of the way I get my subscriptions.

GLAMOUR MAGAZINES:

Men's magazines are great for glamor photography. The women are on parade here, not their clothes. Men's magazines are great for male fashion photography though.
Magazines for these: Maxim, GQ and Stuff

Women's magazines are great for female fashion photography and male glamor. Most magazines have great product and editorial photography too.
Magazines: Cosmo, Harper's Bazaar (it used to be a men's mag, I consider it a women's mag now), Allure and Elle

Other Magazines I get subs to: FLAUNT, Popular Photography and Imaging, Outdoor Photographer, Layers, Professional Photographer, National Geographic (I have received this for 20 years). I also get American Photo, Inked Magazine (I have a bunch of tats and I love them) and Smithsonian -- I think that is it.

Ok. I also buy magazines in stores. There are a lot of quarterly, higher quality magazines that can be found on the rack. Every three months or so, I go buy every bridal/wedding magazine on the shelf (I flip through them and see if the pics are good first) and at the same time I usually get the current LIFE book (this month it was the Life's Top 100 Pictures of All-Time). The LIFE books change like every three months and are always cool and full of great photography. There is a western landscape one I have been getting recently too.


Ok. So, all these magazine subs might sound expensive. They are not really. Most magazines are pretty cheap for the subscriptions. I spend around $200-300 on subscriptions a year. I try and look at them all - I try and look how they lighted the scene, the poses and I generally just try and imagine how they took the picture. If there are a lot of images in a mag that I really like, I will keep that one on my shelf, if not, well, they end up in a box.