Light Reading: Reaching Your Goals Creatively

Achieving Your Potential as a Photographer: A Photographer’s Creative Companion and Workbook
By Harold Davis
Focal Press, 224 pp. | $39.95
“Frankly, I am getting a bit sick of the Rule of Thirds…” What kind of blasphemy is this? Not blasphemy at all, actually; it’s simply another unconventional morsel of insight, courtesy of the indomitable Harold Davis—fine-art photographer, educator, author, all-around photographic oracle—who’s now added to his extraordinary canon an interesting fusion of photographic wisdom and down-home advice.

Achieving Your Potential as a Photographer: A Photographer’s Creative Companion and Workbook incorporates Davis’ signature beautiful imagery and graphic vitality to help every photographer find his or her personal goals. The book is vintage Harold Davis: graphically lively, amply thought out and informed by Davis’ unique sense of organization and creative vision. It’s well worth checking this title out when it launches next month.

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The DSLR Filmmaker’s Handbook, 2nd Edition
By Barry Andersson
Wiley & Sons, 480 pp. | $49.99
Barry Andersson is a sharp, experienced filmmaker who knows where the bodies are buried in the new HD medium of DSLR live action. He walks you through the benefits of what was once just a gleam in the eye of the movie business—a camera system that loves low-light, takes up hardly any room compared to its film and video forerunners, and can be purchased and easily accessorized for a fraction of the costs we associate with full-on film and HD production. In short, an ideal live-action-imaging approach both for starters and the red carpet set skimping on budget to pay for an extra shoot day with Jack Nicholson. If you’ve already added HD motion pictures to your business model, you’re up on a lot of this book’s raves and rants. If not, this is a good place to start.

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The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition
By Gustavo Mercado
Focal Press, 192 pp. | $27.95
Gustavo Mercado’s approach to teaching film production covers the gamut from 35mm film to HD. The award-winning indie director, writer and producer concentrates on the real backbone of the motion picture—the story. He also explains how every frame of your picture contains the visual vocabulary that serves your story. A must-have.