Masters of Landscape Photography | My Photo Bookshelf

This has got to be one of my favourite landscape photography books I own. Masters of Landscape Photography features 16 of the biggest names in landscape photography, each sharing 6 photos and the stories behind them.

Author’s synopsis

Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres for amateur photographers, with countless competitions and awards heavily subscribed by enthusiasts and professionals who are keen to pitch their work against their peers. Beyond the competitions is an even larger community of landscape photographers, who can be found tramping through the wilderness in search of their next great shot, ready to sit for hours until the light is just right. However, mastering the genre takes time: time to perfect exposure, colour, composition, and perhaps above all else the ability to see and record the landscape in a way that will make your photographs stand above the rest.

To set you on the path to success, Masters of Landscape Photography delves into the world of 16 leading lights, each with their own unique take on how, where, and why the landscape should be recorded. Through probing Q&A style interviews and beautifully reproduced images, the reader is given an insight into the artist s working practices, from the equipment they use to the techniques they employ to create their breathtaking and visionary works. In this lavishly illustrated title, glorious colour photographs sit beside atmospheric monochrome, the latest digital techniques rub shoulders with traditional film-based imaging, and conventional landscape mores are countered by experimental artworks, guaranteeing something to inspire the reader, no matter what their landscape persuasion.

My thoughts about the book

When I first came across this book, probably via a recommendation and saw whose work was included, I wasted no time clicking the “Buy Now” button on Amazon. Granted, a couple of the names were new to me back then, but when I saw the book featured the likes of Colin Prior, Art Wolfe, Joe Cornish and Hans Strand, I had to get my hands on it. All of the 16 photographers share 6 photos each, meaning the book houses close to 100 world-class landscape photos, each with a unique story alongside.

Putting the content to one side for a moment, I want to mention how the book is formatted. For each photographer, there is a small bio, 6 images with an accompanying story, a Q&A page with differing questions throughout, and lastly, a photo information page with details such as location, camera settings, etc for each image.

I like this format a lot as you get to know a little bit about the photographer (as I didn’t know them all), their thought process and approach to taking the photos and if interested, the technical settings for each. It sounds a bit wordy but it really isn’t as the editor has done a great job to prevent the type from overshadowing the beautiful imagery.

On that note, the way the book has been laid out is superb. Although it’s not a large book, the photos are nice and big and take centre stage throughout and the print quality for a mass-produced book like this is really good in my opinion.

This is a book I’m sure I will come back to again and again and with such varied sub-genres of landscape photography included it has a little something for everyone.

Book Details

• Hardcover

• Size: 285mm x 230mm

• Pages: 176

• Availability at the time of writing: Unavailable from the usual UK booksellers. Consider buying a used copy.

Landscape Photography. On Location with Thomas Heaton. Vol 1 | My Photo Bookshelf

This photo bookshelf series is going to start with one of the modern-day heavy hitters in the landscape photography community; Landscape Photography. On Location with Thomas Heaton. Vol 1.

Author’s synopsis

This book tells the stories behind my favourite images from my adventures all over the world. We start from high in the mountains and journey down to the valley floors, through the woodlands, over open desert plains to the coast and finish at the very ground beneath our feet. I share adventures and insights from my time as a landscape photographer.

Adventure is relative only to the person having the experience. Whether you are climbing Everest or exploring your local woodland, I hope this book encourages you to pack your camera bag and see what’s out there.

My thoughts about the book

I do love a good behind the photo story and this book is chock-full of them. Along with some of his best landscape photography work to date, Thomas shares an open and honest account of his experience when taking the accompanying photo which gives a fantastic insight into what it takes to succeed as a modern-day landscape photographer.

As you would expect, the photos are exceptional and you can tell a lot of attention was given to the sequence meaning there is a nice flow throughout the book with mountains and vistas through to smaller, more intimate scenes. The layout ticks all of my neat and tidy boxes with a straightforward story on the left and picture on the right format. Simple but effective without a single photo taking up more than one page (just the way I like it).

Nearly all of the photos in this book were taken while Thomas was filming a YouTube video so he’s done something quite clever in this book and created an index of videos alongside each photo at the back of the book. This means that for any photo or story that captures your attention, you can jump straight into the accompanying video and follow him along on his various adventures.

This is a well presented, hardcover photography book and in terms of build quality alone, punches well above its £39.99 price tag. With large, page filling photos and interesting stories alongside, this book is a great addition to any landscape lover’s collection. I highly recommend this photography book.

Book Details

• Hardcover

• Size: 260mm x 260mm

• Pages: 118 – Fedrigoni 170gsm satin paper

• Availability at the time of writing: Still in print. Available from author’s website: https://thomasheaton.co.uk/product/my-book.