Books on Photography
What is wrong with most photography books?
I am an old-fashioned guy who loves to learn by reading books. Over the past couple of months I read a lot of books about photography and in particular about macro photography. But slowly I realized that something was wrong with these books: they are written by professional photographers.
More and more people use the internet to learn about topics. They watch YouTube videos or follow one of the many online courses available. I do that as well, but I still like to read books. A book is a much more efficient way to learn a huge deal about a particular topic in a relatively short period of time.
Over the past months, I wanted to learn everything there was to know about insect photography, so I read many books on close-up and macro photography, and nature photography in general. But there was something in common in all these books, that I did not like. They did not connect to me as an amateur photographer.
Before delving into this, let me make clear that I am not talking about artistic works by professional photographers. I am talking about books that try to teach you about photography. For such a book to work, it should relate to you as a reader. Unfortunately, most of them don’t.
The reason is that these books are written by professional photographers, and those people think and work differently than hobby photographers. They have a lot more (and better) equipment, they have considerably more time, and they will do everything it takes to get this one perfect shot. They will carefully prepare for the shot they want to take, they will wait for the perfect day, they travel a long distance to get to the best spot, they bring tons of equipment, and they will spend a whole day getting this one amazing shot.
Most amateurs work in a completely different way. They decide in the morning that they have two hours to spare to do some photography. They pick up their standard camera and lens, drive to a nearby location, and start walking around to find something nice, which they then try to photograph, before walking on to the next shot opportunity.
Books treat photography in a professional way. For example, they almost always tell you to bring a tripod and work from there. But my experience is that most amateur photographers do not bring a tripod and, if they do, they do not have the patience to use it. Books talk about creating the perfect lighting by bringing reflectors, diffusers, soft boxes, and so on. But most amateurs do not have that stuff, and even if they do, they don’t take it with them.
These photography books also show you the most amazing photos. Of course, authors want to showcase their best work. But they don’t realize that this can be frustrating for the reader, who won’t be able to get close to that level of quality. And it gets worse when they describe how they took the shots, with each one using completely different settings and equipment. It makes photography look really difficult.
For example, I recently read a book on photographing butterflies. Each chapter is about a particular butterfly and describes a particular way you can photograph it. Even though it was an interesting read, I think the book is worthless and frustrating for most amateur photographers. It encourages you to go look for a very specific butterfly that can only be found at particular spots at particular times of the year. It often assumes certain rare weather conditions. And for each butterfly shot you need different equipment. If you want to take all the shots described in the book you probably need 25,000 euros worth of equipment.
I think it would help if book writers would relate more to the way of working of their audience. Are YouTube videos better in this respect? There definitely is more variation. And, while most popular photography channels are created by professional photographers who use the same professional approach, you can find channels that relate more to the amateur. But even those channels fall into the trap of reviewing lots of equipment you won’t get as an amateur, and they like to visit remote places to take awesome shots. I really would like to see a channel of somebody just taking insect shots in his or her garden. Or of a landscape photographer who lives in a boring place and shows you how you can still take interesting shots.
Do I fall into the same trap in my articles and book on insect photography? I try to keep things simple, using a limited set of equipment and standard settings. But it is tempting to show off great close-ups of small insects that most amateur photographers will have a hard time shooting. Please let me know when you think I make the same mistakes.
Mark Overmars is a dedicated insect photographer that loves to share and regularly publishes about his work and about photography in general. You can visit his website at www.insectphotography.org. Download his free insect photography book at www.insectphotography.org/book.
