Which Art Books to Study for Photography??? (Page 5): It strikes me that it is as easy for these guys to say this as it was for Chevy Chase in Caddy Shack to say "See the ball, BE the...

Photocraig

ricardo7 wrote:

Thought this might be interesting:

"Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk."
-Edward Weston

"The so-called rules of photographic composition are, in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant and immaterial"
- Ansel Adams

It strikes me that it is as easy for these guys to say this as it was for Chevy Chase in Caddy Shack to say "See the ball, BE the ball."

When artists are on that plain of mastery they transcend rules. Yogi said it best: "You can't think and hit at the same time."

Then there's the rest of us....................................

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

Photocraig wrote:

It strikes me that it is as easy for these guys to say this as it was for Chevy Chase in Caddy Shack to say "See the ball, BE the ball."

When artists are on that plain of mastery they transcend rules. Yogi said it best: "You can't think and hit at the same time."

Then there's the rest of us....................................

When I see stuff like that I wonder if even Ansel Adams believes this stuff.

Clearly the learning experiences of brilliant musicians, artists, photographers and such is not that same as for those who never reach that level of accomplishment but remarks like this sends the wrong message to people who are less focused, less disciplined and less determined than guys like Ansel Adams.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Photocraig wrote:

It strikes me that it is as easy for these guys to say this as it was for Chevy Chase in Caddy Shack to say "See the ball, BE the ball."

When artists are on that plain of mastery they transcend rules. Yogi said it best: "You can't think and hit at the same time."

Then there's the rest of us....................................

When artists are on that plain of mastery ....

they know the rules inside and out and have "mastered" them. That is why it is called "mastery." At that level they are allowed to break the rules... and make new ones.

Ten there's the rest.....

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

I want to thank everyone here who contributed to my post. I learned a lto and got a lot of ideas of wehre to start my search. I've already started the process of acquiring some of the materials suggested here. It won't be long before I have them all and have worked through them. One of the first things I got was this book. It looks childish on its face but this is a serious book that almost anyone, at any level could, benefit from I think. Check it out.

myhttp://www.amazon.com/stream/ref=nav_upnav_LargeImage_T2_Detail

Thanks again for everyone's help I hope others here benefited from this discussion as much as I did.

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

You might want to double check that link.

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

Sorry folks. Here's the correct link to the book I was talking about.

http://www.amazon.com/Picture-This-How-Pictures-Work/dp/1587170302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452979044&sr=1-1&keywords=picture+this+how+pictures+work

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

bkellyusa wrote:

I want to thank everyone here who contributed to m... (show quote)

I think there are multiple approaches to this. Tutorials are certainly a useful part of the picture (so to speak), art books of the results are also worth perusing to set the goals.

Things in between are interesting. If the question "How did they do that?" arises then something worth thinking about starts to happen. I like the book of Ansel Adams' works "Examples - The Making of Forty Photographs". There are many interesting DVDs or youtube offerings available about notable photographers that talk to the background behind their work, whether it is Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Galen Rowell, Lisa Kristine, Vivian Maier or many others. It is inspiring stuff to learn about their personalities, lives and how they worked.

If you want an impressive book to look at you could always get the Taschen Annie Leibovitz Sumo book. It will give you something new to think about every day. Including your credit card account! :-D http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/02615/facts.annie_leibovitz.htm