You can't go wrong giving a book as a gift. Here's a round-up of our favourite publications this year (and two from last year), which would fit the bill for any photographer.
Books by Team Photocritic
As much as we'd love to tell you to go out and buy all of our books because they're amazing and beautiful, that might be verging of self-promotion over-dose. Instead we've each picked out one of our books that we believe makes a great present.
Haje has selected his The Rules of Photography and When to Break Them. We're both fervent believers in the notion of knowing the rules so that you can break them properly, and this book teaches you precisely that, from why horizons need to be level and how to tilt them successfully, to embracing the grain from high ISOs.
The Rules of Photography and When to Break Them is available for £17.99 as a dual print copy and e-book bundle.
I've chosen Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible, a whimsical trail through in-camera and post-processing manipulation to produce images that combine reality with the farthest recesses of your imagination.
Right now, Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible is on sale at the bargain price of £9.99 for a print and e-book bundle.
Artisans by Tim Allen
If you'd like to give a gift that will raise some much-needed money for a deserving cause as well as bringing pleasure to its recipient, do take a look at Tim Allen's photo book, Artisans. It explores the work of the violin-restoration, boat-building, stonemasonry, stained glass, and smithing professions in gorgeous black and white photos, while the proceeds go to the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society.
Recommended donations are £10. Details of how to order a copy (and more on the book itself) from Tim Allen's website.
30 Second Photography by Brian Dilg
Take the 50 most important aspects of photography, explain them using 300 words and one picture each and you have the wonderful 30 Second Photography, by Brian Dilg. It's a perfect book for any photographer: novice or highly-experienced.
30 Second Photography is available for £14.99 in the UK and $19 in the US.
Moodscapes by Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir
Moodscapes is landscape photography ramped upto 11 with beauty and wonder. You could just flip through it awestruck by the images, but Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir also shows you how to accomplish these gorgeous photos yourself.
Buy Moodscapes as a print and e-book bundle for £19.99.
NY Through the Lens by Vivienne Gucwa
If New York is a street photographer's dream, then Vivienne Gucwa's collection of images taken in, around, and about the city is a dream of that dream. Explore Gucwa's city with her, through her words and through her pictures.
NY Through the Lens costs £20 for a print and e-book bundle.
The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour by Jeff Wignall
We teach ourselves about exposure, about composition, about post-processing. How much do we know about colour? Enlighten yourself, and elevate the impact of your images, with Jeff Wignall's impressive The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour.
The Photographer's Master Guide to Colour is available as a print and e-book bundle for £17.99.
Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair
In autumn last year, we featured Eleanor Macnair's marvellous project, Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh: her Tumblr project recording the recreations of famous photos she fashions from Play-Doh, a pint glass, and a plastic spoon in her living room. Now it comes in a book.
Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh costs £20.
The Street Photographer's Manual by David Gibson
Street photography books are ten-a-penny. Enter ‘street photography’ into Amazon and the search will return 30 pages of results. When you find a compelling and practical but inspirational book on the topic, you take notice. The Street Photographer's Manual deserves a look.
The Street Photographer's Manual is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US for £15 and $22 respectively.
Gifts for photographers, big and small < < Holiday Shopping with Photocritic > > Gifts for beginners