When I decided that I wanted to start shooting film professionally, I was eager to learn more about it! I’m always reading and trying to educate myself, so naturally I started looking for books about film (my photography library is continually growing)! I’ve invested quite a bit of money purchasing photography books, some worthwhile, and some not so much. So I figured I would try and save you the headache (and the money) if you are looking to buy a book about film!

This post is totally subjective and I have called on my photography friend for her opinions too. She is also a film shooter and has read these books. We are pretty much on the same page about these books, and this post is only intended as a suggestion!

So without further adieu…

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Jose Villa’s Fine Art Wedding Photography

The first book I purchased when I wanted to start learning about film was Jose Villa’s Fine Art Wedding Photography. The main reason I purchased this book is because I am very inspired by Jose’s work! So I figured his book ought to be fantastic! This book can be purchased by clicking here.

I must say that fell in love with this book! And I still love it. It is filled with Jose’s beautiful work and it also includes some great information about shooting film and what gear and film stocks Jose uses. I would not recommend this book to someone that doesn’t know the basics about shooting film. I would say this book is great for a beginner film shooter once you have educated yourself about the basics of film (and of course photography in general).

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Elizabeth Messina’s The Luminous Portrait

This book is written by Elizabeth Messina and is about capturing the beauty of natural light to create beautiful pictures.

I must be honest and tell you that I have not (yet) read this book cover to cover (like I have the rest of the books on this list). This book is not specifically about film photography, BUT Elizabeth is a film photographer (an amazing one at that) and in this book she discusses how she gets the type of image she is after. This book talks about utilizing natural light, the components of a portrait, posing, props, creativity in general, and more! This is a fantastic book for someone who knows the fundamentals of photography and is looking to step up their composition game! You can see all of Elizabeth’s books and purchase them by clicking here.

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Jen Huang’s Guide to Fine Art Photography – Weddings & Portraits

Have you ever seen a book where the back cover is just as beautiful as the front cover? No? Then buy this book! Haha.

This book is definitely an investment ($175)! Say what?! Again, I do not think that this book is for a beginning photographer. You need to know the basics about photography in order to really appreciate what Jen has to say! One great thing about this book is that it is filled with her absolutely stunning work! One of the downsides is that there isn’t as much “meat and potatoes” for those that might be hungry to learn the ins & outs of film photography. Jen discusses the overall workflow for a film photographer but doesn’t get into the specifics about film stocks and what happens when you overexpose each film stock by 1, 2, or 3 stops, etc. BUT one of the great things is that each of her amazing images is paired with the settings that she used to capture that image. I think this feature is invaluable! This book does have some great information for intermediate photographers looking to switch to film. Furthermore, the book is a work of art itself! You can purchase Jen’s book by clicking here.

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Jonathan Canlas’ Film Is Not Dead – A Digital Photographer’s Guide to Shooting Film

I really need to say, shout, holler from the rooftops, “Never (ever, ever, ever, EVER) Judge a Book by its Cover!”

For the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t buy this book a year ago! Maybe it’s because I’m drawn to “pretty things” and, let’s be honest, the cover of this book isn’t one of Jonathan’s amazing photos. The gray cover caused me to skim right over it! (shame on me and it was MY LOSS!) When I started to learn more about film I wanted to learn to shoot film, yes, but I also wanted to learn how to take beautiful photographs and get that beautiful over exposed image! But I think I may have put the cart before the horse on this one! Buying expensive books filled with stunning images isn’t necessarily going to make me a great film photographer. I WANTED to take beautiful pictures like Jose, Elizabeth, and Jen… what I NEEDED what a book that would break it down “Barney Style.”

Jonathan does exactly this in his book. Like this book title indicates, you DO need to know the basics about photography in order to really “get” the info here. But if you are a digital photographer and you want to make the jump to film? BUY THIS BOOK FIRST! It is chalk full of great information about film cameras, film stocks (what stock does best at what exposures), film labs, workflow, etc.

This is what I like to call, “The Meat and Potatoes” book

And what’s even better is that Jonathan is an amazing writer and had me laughing throughout the entire book! I should also mention it is one of the least expensive books on this list! You can (and should) buy his book by clicking here.

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Sum it Up!

If you are a digital photographer looking to shoot film I highly recommend buying Jonathan Canlas’ book Film Is Not Dead. If you are looking for a book that will revamp your composition, I recommend Elizabeth Messina’s book The Luminous Portrait. Both Jose Villa’s Fine Art Wedding Photography and Jen Huang’s Guide to Fine Art Photography are both very inspirational and informative books about fine art film photography.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I’m always looking for more books to read, so if you have a suggestion please leave a comment!!! Also, I guess I should mention that I do not get any commissions from these links, books, authors, etc. I went out on my own, purchased all of these books with my money, and decided to write a review!