I cannot count the number of times that people who’ve enthusiastically taken up photography have asked me to recommend ‘a good book’.
With literally thousands of books aimed at beginning photographers, that’s a tougher recommendation to make than you might think. Some books are more philosophical, others are more practical. Focusing too heavily on the why is no good for people who still struggle with the how. As the Romans used to say: ‘Eat first, philosophise later’. Yet, as I’ve noticed on more than one occasion: you can know the answer to all of Photography’s how’s and have a truckload worth of gear – but still be unable to make an emotionally resonating photograph.
When I got to read my advance copy of David duChemin’s The Visual Toolbox. 50 Lessons for Stronger Photographs, I knew I’d found the book I’ll be recommending from now on!
This comprehensive (200 page) eBook strikes a unique balance between the practical and the theoretical, between food and food for thought. As the name implies, the book gives you a visual toolbox with 50 chapters containing lessons or ‘tools’ to enhance your photography. What I especially like is that even the more practical tips also have a ‘why’ component to them: David doesn’t just tell you how you might shoot, but also explains why shooting this or that way will make your image stronger or at least different.
Now, reading alone does not a photograph make. To make it easy for to put theory into practice, David’s finishes each lesson in the eBook with a section called ‘Your Assignment’.
Here’s a tip for you: there’s 50 lessons, that’s almost 1 lesson per week for an entire year. (You can take two weeks off!) If you focus on each one of these tools and assignments for a week during the year to come, I guarantee you your efforts will show in your photographic work. After a while, you’ll start to combine tools and techniques you’ve practiced so far, which will result in even stronger images. On the Rajasthan Photo Workshop, Matt Brandon also gives small, targeted assignments like these and we see the participants’ images improve day by day.
Even if you’re a more advanced photographer you’ll find, on top of the inspiring photography, useful advice – things you might know but have forgotten or haven’t paid attention to in a long time, such as the simple but effective advice to stake out an interesting background and wait for an interesting subject to pass in front of it.
The theory put into practice: for this image, that was later used as a cover for my ‘Lightroom 5 Up to Speed eBook’, I had first selected the background and waited for half an hour until the right person came walking into the foreground. I combined this technique with using a slow shutter speed.
We all need to slow down and (re-)focus, from time to time, and this book helps us to do so. And then of course, there’s the stunning photography that underlines the teaching: there’s images from all across the globe covering all kinds of subject matter.
The Visual Toolbox is Craft & Vision’s second Big Book (I’m honoured to have it sit next to my Lightroom Unmasked book’) in the ‘Big Books’ section of the C&V store and it’s priced at $20, or 40 cents per tip if you’re that kind of person 
It’s worth every penny, but if you order between now and September 17th, you can get a 15% discount using discount code TOOLBOX upon checkout. That’s $3 that you can spend on a latte while flipping through the pages of this beautiful new resource in the ever-growing C&V Library. Speaking of which, if you’re on a shopping spree, code TOOLBOX20 takes 20% off your bill if you order 5 or more books or products. Here’s a couple of suggestions:
- David duChemin’s Lightroom Presets Bundle: there’s a couple of real gems in there, well worth the $10 list price
- The first year of PHOTOGRAPH: 4 ad-free issues totalling some 400 pages of Stunning portfolios, Gear Reviews, Before & After comparisons and more
- Portraits of Earth: David’s introduction to landscape photography
- Making the Print: an entire eBook dedicated to the art of printing your own prints
- Sharp Shooter: an eBook with tips on how to get sharper photographs, both during capture as in postproduction
- Slow: Andrew S. Gibson’s beautiful eBook on slow shutterspeed photography
- Timelapse: an introduction to timelapse photography
- My very own ‘Lightroom 5 Up to Speed’: if you’re already using Lightroom 4 and quickly (but thoroughly) want to be informed about the new features
- My Lightroom Bundle: 400 pages of Lightroom reading goodness
- Corwin Hiebert’s Growing the Visionmonger bundle: a recommended read if you want to know more about managing, growing and marketing your photography business
