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I’ve been looking for a photography book regarding photojournalism and from all the offers around, I decided that “Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism” has the best quality/price rating. There are some books allot more expensive that don’t add much more to the basic information found in this 224 pages handbook. It’s a good book for someone who’s just getting start in the business of newspaper photography.
Others share my opinion: “It is a pleasant, informative read, not overtly technical & fairly priced.”

This second edition, written by Brian Horton, is a guide to the art and craft of making excellent news photos, teaching you how to do portraits, sports shots, battlefield scenes, and other specialized shots like war, natural disaster, politics, crime, disease (considered in different chapters and each having an interview with a photographer). Furthermore, the author gives insight into the philosophy behind photojournalism and how to capture timeless moments forever.

Brian Horton not only relies on his experience for writing this book, but also experiences of other award-winning photojournalists. I appreciate this impartiality allot because it allows the reader to see more than one point of view in a single book. With the help of more than 100 photographs from the Associated Press archives, he analyzes what constitutes successful news photos of every type (like I already said: portraits, tableaux, sports shots, battlefield scenes, and more), as well as offering tips on how to develop a style of your own.

The focus of this book is on how to create simple, clean images that tell the immediate story of the day by teaching how to think from a photojournalist perspective and assuming that you know the basics on how to actually take a photo. For example, a story telling photographer requires a skill experience, insight, anticipation, inventiveness, & passion. But technical details next to the image talking are also present: from telephoto lenses as 80-200 zoom to provide close-ups without intrusion to the 24 mm wide-angle to fill the frame by getting into the subject’s face & personal space.
One more thing left to say: the author’s opinion indicating that “the content of a photograph will never be changed or manipulated in any way” will probably force you even more to take better shots from the camera and not in the post-process.

Tags: photojournalism, photography book, associated press, associated press guide to photojournalism, guide to photojournalism, brian horton