These techniques probably had the biggest impact on my photography. I recently realised I have a problem I buy too many books, especially photography books. Not those cheap kindle ones but those beautiful printed and expensive books, which ended decorating my wall, or coffee table and in my case possibly many coffee tables.

Buy books not gear is probably the most common advice you are going to get when searching for how to improve your photography. Great! But, how should you actually do it? And how can you do it effectively so you really get better?

Learning is an active process so you can't expect to improve just by having the books under the pillow. So let's stop wasting the death of those beautiful trees that had to die for our photography books and start using them effectively. After a lot of research I present to you my ultimate guide to Photography books and how to learn from them. Or maybe not ultimate, maybe just a guide, or tips or whatever.

SET A GOAL

Set a goal. Our mind is a goal-seeking. It not only needs a purpose it uses it to its great advantage. With a goal in mind we can absorb consciously but also subconsciously much more information much faster. Do you remember that time when you decided what car, phone or dog breed you would like to buy and suddenly those cars, dogs, or phones were everywhere? You saw them much more often than before right? Now, It's very unlikely that there is suddenly more cars of a brand or color you decided to buy but rather you became more aware of them. You were just not really interested in them before so you mind didn't pay attention.

There are times when you just pick up a photography book, look at the photographs and just go true the pages without a goal, and it's fine but let's say you have a goal in mind. You pick up a photography book and before you open it you stop for a minute and focus on what you would like to learn from that book.

So let's just say I have this Marry Ellen Mark book and I really want to learn environmental portrait. So what I want to focus on is how the subject is positioned in the environment and in the frame. What is included, what is left out, is it posed or candid and so on and so on. Now looking at the photographs I can identify those elements, styles or techniques and it also helps me to better understand what is going on once I start to see patterns in her work.

INSPIRATION

There is nothing easier than buying photography book about Paris before you actually go there. But what if you can't travel or you just don't live in Paris or New York. Even though you might stay in your home town that doesn't mean you can't get inspired and creative. I have been admiring this shot taken by my hero Elliott Erwitt for a while but it was always kinda far to Paris from where I live. Well, I bet that just like I, you can find a similar places to try to replicate the shots you like. The setup is not the only thing you can be inspired by, there is all sorts of things like angles, color combinations or themes. Don't be afraid of copying your heroes because, perhaps, that's how THEY learned photography copying other photographers or painters.

REALISE WHAT YOU LIKE

Having a variety of photography books from variety of different photographers means, there is a high chance you are going to like, as well as dislike, many photographs

Now, this is useful because you can actually find what is it that you like or dislike about particular picture. It happened to me recently when I was reading a book by a great photographer and one of my heroes Joel Meyerowitz. And I found this photograph which seemed like a really fun idea but I did’t quite like it. At first I thought - who am I to not like Joel’s pictures right? I was thinking and thinking about it, comparing other photographs in the book until I have suddenly figured it out. What I didn't like about this shot was a part of the frame.

I have realised when looking at Mayerowitzs’s photographs that very often his frames are so well composed I can look almost anywhere and find something interesting. I have checked my Lightroom catalog and confirmed the obvious. This visual “noise” was something that I didn’t like and the reason I was unable to “keep” a lot of shots. My keepers however, had one thing in common. You guessed it. I have excluded the visual noise or cropped it out in the post process. Now, I am not saying that this is going to make me a master photographer, but actively thinking about what is it you like or dislike about the picture is going to help you with your own photography. All you need to do is ask yourself, do I like this photograph and why? What is it that I don’t like about this picture, is there a similar theme?

EVERY PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT IS DIFFERENT

When you look at photography monographs you own you will notice they are often different. Even when you have two photography books from the same photographer each one expresses different theme, idea or style for each project. You can see what the photographer saw and how he presented it. Which I believe should be your goal. You want to show what you saw and why you took the picture. Unlike the Instagram or other social networks which seems to favour “strong” single images with no other context, photography projects should take you through the topic the artist choose to present. Why did the photographer chose those subjects, angles, location? Was it shot in color or black and white. Large format or 35mm and why? What about sequencing? Those are all questions that I am asking every time I hold a photography monograph.

Retrospectives offer something little different. They show you the evolution of the artist and the progression of his or her work. Both can be useful, but it all depends on what you are looking for.

RULES

Let me start by telling you there are not any official rules in photography. You can take photos in anyway you like of anything you like. It is not like they will let you sign a paper that you are going to use the rule of thirds when you are buying a camera.

BUT! There are some, let’s say, ideas transformed into some sort of advices people like to call rules. Now, you can take thousands of photos and then pick the ones that you like, there is nothing wrong about it. Do you have to follow the rules? No!

They are tools that can be used but don't have to be. Let me give you an example. Take a look at two images of yours, one is blurry and one is sharp. One of the techniques for your photography can therefore be focusing properly on your subject and then you might end up with a result you like. However, this does not mean blurry photos are bad or anything. Your artistic approach can lead you to only take blurry photos. What those techniques aim to teach you is the ability to make the decisions by yourself. If you had not been told about focusing, you would end up with some sharp photos and with some blurry photos without you knowing how you have achieved the result. We all have different definition of what is a good picture. So what you actually take from those techniques is up to you.

So, you are holding a book of your hero photographer, some great photography master like let’s say Henri Cartier-Bresson. Did he use the rule of thirds? Or maybe dynamic symmetry? Did he focus on the eyes of the subject? What effect did it have?

As I said earlier learning is an active process and books are really great tools to help us achieve what we want. So next time, before you open a photography book, set a goal. Once you do, realise what you like or dislike, look for rules and techniques and get inspired.

One book I have recently reviewed on my channel which has beautiful narrative and presentation is Christopher Anderson’s Pia and if you are into photography books, especially the ones that can also inspire you, you should definitely check it out. Also let me know what is your favourite book. Or book that you find interesting

Until then I will leave you with this. Buy books, not gear.