Jim's Photo Page - Nature Photography Books 1

If you want to improve your nature and outdoor photography, or just like to look at good nature photography, begin here. Of the dozens of photography books I own, the ones I recommend here are the ones I have found to be the most inspirational and/or useful.

As an added convenience, you can now order many of these books at a discount from Amazon.com. Just click on the link for the book you want. You can also read reviews for most of these books.

When the light is great, go out and make beautiful pictures. When it isn't, sit down with a good photography book!

The best place to start is John Shaw's THE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS COMPLETE GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL FIELD TECHNIQUES (yes, the title is too long). Buy this book! Read this book! Put it under your pillow and dream about this book! Try out what you are reading about with camera and film. Think this book, devour it's contents, absorb it's lessons. LEARN THIS BOOK!! It will make a difference in your photography. No, I am not paid by John Shaw to say all of this. GET THIS BOOK! After this book, you have several more fine books below with which to follow up.

If you like to do closeup photography, my favorite book is JOHN SHAW’S CLOSEUPS IN NATURE (at last, a short title). This is the best book I have read on closeup photography in the field.

MOUNTAIN LIGHT by Galen Rowell is an excellent book. I recommend it as a follow up to John Shaw's book. Rowell does essays on several different themes in outdoor photography. He also describes in detail a lot of what went into the making of a number of his photographs, and the photography is splendid. If you don't buy this book, at least check it out of the library to read it. If your library doesn't have it, have them order it on interlibrary loan. Read this book!

After you have gone through the above books, read a couple of the books below:

THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING NATURE by Art Wolfe and Martha Hill does an excellent job of doing "before and after" options pictures. More than any other book, Wolfe shows you two (or more) compositions of the same scene so you see why he does what he does. Lots of great pictures. This book is highly recommended!! His short book, PHOTOGRAPHY OUTDOORS, written with Mark Gardner, is also worth reading, especially if you are new to outdoor photography.

Tim Fitzharris has written some excellent books including The Sierra Club Guide to 35mm LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY and NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: National Audubon Society Guide . His two newest books are The Sierra Club Guide to CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY IN NATURE (a good follow up to John Shaw's closeup book above) and NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY HOTSPOTS: Where to Find Them, When They're at Their Best, How to Approach Them .

Here are two more fine photography books, both by Freeman Patterson: PHOTOGRAPHY OF NATURAL THINGS and PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE JOY OF IT.

Why am I recommending some books that are recently out of print? Because they are good books!! Check them out at your local library, get them on interlibrary loan, or look for them on the used book market.

Taking lots of pictures might improve your photography. Reading books might improve your photography, but THE SECRET TO IMPROVING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS TO GO OUT AND TRY WHAT YOU READ IN THESE BOOKS.

To find anything else at Amazon.com, use the Amazon link at the bottom of this page.

Come back again!