Reddit reviews Ansel Adams: The Camera (The Ansel Adams Photography Series 1)

The Camera, The Nevative and The Print by Ansel Adams. The Camera in particular is still relevant today; and these three books are essential reads for anyone who still shoots film.

Ansel Adam's books are amazing. The Camera and The Negative are really good. The Print is also good but not really relevant to a hybrid work flow. Still neat reading though.

If you really want to know about HDR, go pick up copies of Ansel Adams' The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. I'm not even a big Ansel Adams fan, but the dude understood HDR before it was 'cool.'

And I agree with goose_of_trees: The HDR technique here is mostly used to take boring shots and make them look terrible. Good HDR should be invisible to the viewer - they should be captivated by the content first, and if extending the dynamic range of the image will enhance that, then it is appropriate to do so.

There's a lot to learn, most of it trial and error, but I'll give a few stepping stones, and one piece of advice.

Start here as far as lighting goes: Strobist

For more lighting, look up people like Joe McNally, Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, and Dan Winters.

As far as posing goes, skim through various fashion magazines—there are lots of books out there about it as well. Any magazine that has quality portraits will help with posing, and lighting. But I wouldn't really spend any money on them.

If video training is more your thing (it is with me), then check out Kelby Training, and CreativeLive. Kelby Training is a subscription based model with some pretty big name photographers, and subjects that range from portraits, weddings, landscape, Photoshop, and copyright law. CreativeLive however, is a free live viewing, with a paid viewing later. Pretty similar to KT, but the one-time price can be a bit steep.

There are obviously A LOT of photographers out there so the few I mentioned just happen to be some of my favorites. And even though you mention portraits specifically, I highly recommend all three of [Ansel Adams' books.](
http://amzn.com/0821221841)

As far as models go you can check out Model Mayhem, but quality can vary... I don't know of any more professional services. I'd imagine people that cosplay would also be available regular modeling as well. This is one area I'm not too familiar with, except for MM.

Now for my advice: 1) Don't get caught up in the gear and 2) copyright your photos!

Buy what you need, one piece at a time. You might think that you need three lights; four different light modifiers; the latest Pocketwizards; a carbon fiber tripod; etc., but you really don't. One light, one shoot-through umbrella (you'll learn why shoot-through), and you'll be fine.

Copyright is a huge deal. If someone uses your photo without permission, and you didn't copyright, tough. The licenses can get pretty complicated, but as you begin going down the path of learning the legal side, you'll definitely learn more and more. Sadly, the legal issues are rarely talked about when people first start taking photos, but they end up being the most important.

Anyway, with any creative endeavor: have fun!

Everybody knows it but it still needs to be said: shoot, shoot, shoot.

Willief is spot-on in my opinion. An exercise I think you might find helpful is to give yourself assignments. Just like practice, or buying books about photography, it only works if you stick to it. You have landscapes, and your still-life work is coming along well too. I would say that in addition to portraiture (both studio and candid), you should consider other genres that 'put you out there' more, that are less under your control than your current work. Street photography instantly springs to mind - you don't have to live in NYC or LA to have amazing opportunities at street photography. If you're in a more rural locale, consider work like Frank's "The Americans," or Bruce Davidson, or even combine what you can do with what you want to learn, something like R.E. Meatyard.

When you want to push your landscapes farther, I would send you in two directions: Ansel Adams for technical mastery (if you haven't, read the holy trilogy, Camera, Negative, Print), and Minor White for artistry/composition.

You're already doing great work, keep on keeping on, never settle.

Here to second The Camera.

The Ansel Adams series

Camera

Negative

Print

Learn how to use the camera at your own pace then learn about processing at your own pace. And finally printing if you want to do that at your own pace.

The classic textbook series is by Ansel Adams. I'd recommend The Camera, although there will be more information in there about large format cameras than you will probably need. It's still useful to understand the concepts, so i'd skim those sections.

The series continues with The Negative and The Print, i believe. I took 3 semesters of photo in school, so i was comfortable enough with that to skip it since i mostly shoot digital and have my wet process done in a lab anyway. For someone who doesn't have a firm grasp of photographic processes, i'd recommend these books.

My favorite educational book on photography is probably "The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression" by Bruce Barnbaum.

My favorite book on portraiture is "50 Portraits" by Gregory Heisler and for landscapes it's "Treasured Lands" by Q.T. Luong.

All of these have a big focus on film photography.

Another good set is Ansel Adams trilogy, The Camera, The Negative and The Print, which you can get used on Amazon for about $20 for all three books. However, they focus primarily on large format cameras, black and white negatives, and darkroom printing, so unless you're doing specifically that, I'd go with The Art of Photography above.

A good start! I'd say that you're pushing the blacks up too much, and not exposing for your target's face.
Switch from full-frame metering to spot (or center-weighted if you're worried that you're going to blow out the background). After you're in spot metering mode, zero out your light meter on the shadow side of their face. In most lighting situations, that's kind of what you want-- 18% gray in facial shadows.
Pick up The Camera and The Negative . The combination of his discussion on the finer aspects of photography, his philosophy, and the practical aspects of the Zone System help more than any other resource out there.

Well, I'd suggest not limiting your search to books strictly about DSLRs, since photographic lenses and the theory behind them were around for a century or more before digital SLRs came along. Your points of information are applicable to all lenses, not just those designed for DSLRs, so books about lenses and theory for film cameras (SLR, rangefinder, etc) will have the required info as well. Expand your search. There really is nothing that new, here.

Ansel Adams' The Camera has an excellent section on lenses that covers most if not all of the info you're looking for. There are also sections on different camera formats, different shutter types, etc. Adams was the original camera nerd, and the book is pretty detailed on all the subjects you mention.

Past that, ask your specific questions here. There are lots of us who know the answers or can direct you to a reputable source.

What is it you want to know? Hell, I've got a copy of The Camera on the table in front of me right now. Can transcribe if you want. Just let me know what you're looking for.

Edit: If you want to get really technical, look for a copy of Applied Photographic Optics by Sidney Ray

Ansel Adams "The Camera" is pretty neat.

Side note: one of my favorite books I read in college when taking film courses was Ansel Adams the Camera. I learned heaps about what's really happening in a camera and how to control it.

I have read the Ansel Adams books, I liked them a lot. I currently shoot in digital, but the knowledge from those books will always be applicable no matter what you shoot. The first one in the series is: http://www.amazon.com/Ansel-Adams-Camera-Photography/dp/0821221841/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374611977&sr=1-3&keywords=ansel+adams

I have also taught a few people how to shoot, my suggestion, whatever book you choose, is to learn each topic separate from each other, take some time to practice it, and understand the concept completely before moving on to the next. Don't be afraid to shoot, you will take some crappy photos (I still do my self), learn from them, delete them, and try again. That is the nice thing about digital cameras. More importantly have fun with it. Cheers

Like this one: 'The Camera' by the one and only Ansel Adams. It's a fantastic intro to the theory and basics

https://www.amazon.com/Ansel-Adams-Camera-Photography/dp/0821221841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502140237&sr=8-1&keywords=ansel+adams+the+camera

DO NOT buy the 50 mm. not yet at least. its too long for dx.

first thing you need to do is to get this.
http://www.amazon.com/Ansel-Adams-Camera-Photography-Series/dp/0821221841

study this book. don't even bother with lenses unless you want something for low light. in that case you might want to get this

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/606792-USA/Nikon_2183_AF_S_Nikkor_35mm_f_1_8G.html

but get the book first.

some info about zoom vs prime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHDEA7jEkoY

Ansel Adams: The Camera
Ansel Adams' Autobiography

One of the canonical books on large format photography is The Camera by Ansel Adams.

The Print, The Negative, and The Camera by Ansel Adams.