Photographers whose work I admire:

Rui Yuan C : Fan Ho : Timothy Allen : Jay Maisel : Steve McCurry : David DuChemin : Nevada Wier : Mitchell Kanashkevich : Gavin Gough : Ami Vitale : Yousuf Karsh : Karl Grobl : Vincent Versace : David Nightingale - chromasia : Joe McNally : David Hobby - Strobist : Todd Owyoung : John Paul Caponigro : Charlie Waite : Joe Cornish : David Noton : Simon Butterworth : Galen Rowell : Joey Lawrence : Michael Kenna : Matt Brandon : Bruce Percy : Philippe Sainte-Laudy : Charles Glatzer : Michael Frye

Recommended photography books:

Within The Frame - The Journey Of Photographic Vision - David DuChemin.  An inspirational and brilliant book on finding and expressing your photographic vision.  I cannot praise this book highly enough.

Photography and the Art of Seeing - Freeman Patterson.  A classic, must-read book for anyone interested in making compelling photographs.

The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman.  If you only buy one book on photographic composition, make it this one.  Comprehensive, and highly recommended.

The Moment it Clicks - Joe McNally.  Wonderful photographs, great photographic insights, and words of wit and wisdom gleaned from a lifetime behind the lens from one of the world's top photographers.  Brilliant.

The Hot Shoe Diaries - Joe McNally.  An inspirational book on creating stunning images with small hot-shoe flashes.

Sketching Light - Joe McNally.   Another fabulous book from Joe McNally exploring the possibilities of flash. This book is - if possible - even better than the preceding two. In it, Joe shows many images, and explains in great detail how they were shot, including sketches of the lighting set up, as well as giving a good primer on gels, lighting modifiers, etc. Highly recommended.

Light, Science and Magic - Fil Hunter, Steven Beaver & Paul Fuqua.   A classic and highly respected reference text on photographic lighting, clearly and logically written. This book teaches you the theory of photographic lighting starting from first principles, on the premise that once you understand the fundamentals, you are better equipped to tackle any lighting situation, including those you haven't seen before.

Photographically Speaking - David DuChemin.  In this book, David discusses the elements of the 'visual language' which go to make up a photograph. By learning to analyse and understand how and why a photograph communicates - or doesn't - we are better equipped to use that same language to more effectively and eloquently express ourselves when making photographs. A wonderful, well-written and thought-provoking book.

The Making of Landscape Photographs - Charlie Waite.  Beautiful photography, practical tips and an insight into the approach of a master landscape photographer.

Learning to See Creatively - Bryan Peterson.  A great introduction to developing your photographic vision.

Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson.  Classic text on understanding the basics of photographic exposure.

Waiting for the Light - David Noton.  A stunning collection of images from English landscape and travel photographer David Noton, together with lots of information on his techniques, approach and equipment. If this book doesn't make you want to pick up your camera and head out the door, nothing will.

Photoshop LAB Color - The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace - Dan Margulis.  This book will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about LAB Colour. Written by the leading expert in the field, Dan Margulis, it is very comprehensive. However, the author tends to head off at tangents on occasion, and this makes the book harder going than it needs to be. Nonetheless, worth persevering with if you really want to get a grip on LAB.

Practical HDR - David Nightingale.  An excellent guide to HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography.  David is a gifted teacher as well as a talented photographer.  Due for an update to reflect the latest incarnations of the HDR software he discusses, but nevertheless a highly recommended book for anyone interested in learning about HDR image-making.

Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening.  The classic, comprehensive reference text for any photographer using Adobe Photoshop to post-process images.

Welcome to Oz 2.0 - Vincent Versace.  Fine-art photographer Vincent Versace shares the secrets of his use of Adobe Photoshop to post-process his images as part of his passionate and uncompromising approach to the photographic process from capture to print.  A revelation.

Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - David DuChemin. David shows how he uses Adobe's popular Lightroom software to express his photographic vision during post-processing of his images.

Real World Camera Raw - Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe.  All you ever wanted to know - and more - about shooting and processing images in digital 'raw' format.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers and the Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers both by Scott Kelby.  Two good introductory reference books for photographers using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to post-process their images.