Best Photography Books - The Ultimate List

Top Photography Books to Own

As a long-time collector of photography books these are the best of the best. A number of these selections are the classics while others are from contemporary authors.

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Photography How-To Books

These books are very useful for learning various aspects of photography and filmmaking from techniques to artistic vision and philosophy.

• Ansel Adams: The Camera
• Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs by Ansel Adams
• Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape by Galen Rowell
• The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes by Joe McNally
• Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision by David DuChemin
• Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach by Kenneth Kobre
• The Digital Filmmaking Handbook, 6th Edition by Sonja Schenk & Ben Long
• More Than a Rock: Essays on Art, Creativity, Photography, Nature, and Life by Guy Tal
• The Landscape Photographer's Guide to Photoshop: A Visualization-Driven Workflow by Guy Tal
• John Shaw's Guide to Digital Nature Photography
• Real World Image Sharpening by Bruce Fraser & Jeff Schewe
• Night Sky Photography by Adam Woodworth

Photography Business Books

The photography industry is always changing and business models are constantly evolving over time but these books are timeless and have lots of practical business and marketing advice for professional photographers.

• Best Business Practices for Photographers: Third Edition by John Harrington
• Business and Legal Forms for Photographers by Tad Crawford
• Marketing Fine Art Photography by Alain Briot
• Selling Fine Art Photography by Nigel Merrick
• How to Sell Your Art Online: Live a Successful Creative Life on Your Own Terms by Cory Huff
• How to Sell Art: A Systematic Approach to Creating Relationships with Collectors and Closing the Sale by J. Jason Horejs
• The Professional Photographer's Legal Handbook by Nancy E. Wolff
• How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery by Edward Winkleman & Patton Hindle

Landscape Photography \ Nature Photography Books

Big coffee-table sized books, these are some of the classics that all nature lovers should have as part of their book collection.

• Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs
• Ansel Adams in the National Parks: Photographs From America's Wild Places
• Ansel Adams at 100
• Galen Rowell: A Retrospective
• Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography
• Galen Rowell's Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography
• Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area by Galen Rowell & Michael Sewell
• William Neill: Photographer - A Retrospective
• Yosemite: The Promise of Wilderness by William Neill
• Eliot Porter
• In Wildness is the Preservation of the World by Henry David Thoreau & Eliot Porter
• Drylands - The Deserts of North America by Philip Hyde
• Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky by Art Wolfe
• Earth is My Witness by Art Wolfe
• The Living Wild by Art Wolfe
• Plateau Light by David Muench
• Our National Parks by David Muench
• Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America's National Parks - QT Luong
• Frans Lanting: Jungles
• Life - A Journey Through Time by Frans Lanting
• Eye to Eye: Intimate Encounters with the Animal World by Frans Lanting
• A Photographer's Life: A Journey from Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist to Celebrated Nature Photographer by Jack Dykinga
• Genesis by Sebastião Salgado (recommended by Luka Essenko & Joseph Smith)
• The Creation by Ernst Haas
• A Wild Life: A Visual Biography of Photographer Michael Nichols by Melissa Harris
• Chased by the Light by Jim Brandenberg (recommended by Joe Decker)
• Within The Stone by Bill Atkinson (recommended by Joe Decker)

Street Photography Books

I don't consider myself to be a street photographer but these books by National Geographic legends are among my favorite photography books. The spontaneity and unpredictable nature of street photography cannot be replicated unlike some other genres of photography that are more commoditized.

• Portraits of America by William Albert Allard
• William Albert Allard: Five Decades
• William Albert Allard: The Photographic Essay
• The Life of a Photograph by Sam Abell
• Sam Abell: The Photographic Life
• Seeing Gardens by Sam Abell
• Steve McCurry: The Iconic Photographs
• Hong Kong Yesterday by Fan Ho (recommended by Luka Essenko & Joseph Smith)
• Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century
• The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson
• The Americans by Robert Frank (recommended by David M. Cobb)
• Light, Gesture, and Color by Jay Maisel (recommended by Ed Fritz)
• Workers by Sebastião Salgado (recommended by Suzanne Mathia)
• The Day May Break by Nick Brandt (recommended by Milan Hutera)