In my article, The Path of an Artist, I listed several things you can do to continue learn without having to draw. I said, “Pour through drawing books, web sites, magazines, etc.” One of what I think would really help you is to go through photography books.
Photography books are good in that they mainly just show you photos with very little text. Or even if they did have text, the book is just chock full of wonderful images that you can skip the text completely. One such book that I picked up recently courtesy of the local library is called Photo Idea Index: Places by Jim Krause. In it, he sections off his photos based on a certain topic like “The Grand View”, “Everyday Scenes”, “Roads and Pathways”, and “Desolate Places, Empty Spaces” to name a few. Within each section, he put together photos that fit that theme. At the end of each chapter which is one of the aforementioned themes, he goes through each image and gives information about the equipment used, any adjustments he made, where he took them and so on.
“First of all, don’t let the look of this book fool you. It’s not a book of pictures. This is a book of ideas.”
-Jim Krause
If you would like to check out some other great books for their photos, you can’t go wrong with any of the National Geographic books. Here’s a few to check out if you can get a hold of them:
Drives of a Lifetime : 500 of the World’s Most Spectacular Trips
Food Journeys of a Lifetime : 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat
Sacred Places of a Lifetime : 500 of the World’s Most Peaceful and Powerful Destinations
Journeys of a Lifetime : 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips
Krause also has a few other books called Photo Idea Index, Photo Idea Index: People, and Photo Idea Index: Things.
