Audiobooks aren't a new way to share information and entertain, but given that photography is an inherently visual medium, it's not common for photographers to share their tips and tricks via spoken word.
Professionals Daniel Lezano and Ross Hoddinott are bucking this trend and have released a new audiobook guide titled Landscape Photography: For mirrorless and digital SLR users, which is narrated by Rhys David.
While we have got a guide to the best audiobooks for photographers, these are generally memoirs and biographies from famous photographers. It's great to see practicing photographers using the medium to share their practical advice.
• These are the best cameras for landscape photography
At just over 3 and a half hours long, there's guidance to help landscape photographers of all abilities – whether they're using a mirrorless camera or the best DSLR – to take better photos.
Ross tells Digital Camera World why the pair decided to create an audiobook. "With so many people now enjoying audiobooks and listening and learning while on the go, we thought ‘why shouldn't budding photographers benefit too’?
Despite photography being a very visual subject, there is so much to learn about kit, technique, camera set-up, filtration, and composition, and not everyone has the time or opportunity to sit down and read an entire book.
Meanwhile, some people struggle to digest the information they read – listening to an audiobook is a much easier and more convenient way to obtain the information they need. We wanted to create an exhaustive audiobook that landscape enthusiasts – particularly beginners – could listen to again and again to glean all the information they need to take better photographs."
Audiobook vs a traditional how-to book
Unlike heavy, cumbersome books on photography that you might read from an armchair at home, but don't want to carry around with you, the audiobook can be enjoyed whether you are, while traveling and commuting, driving to a shoot, or even when on location.
There are chapters on a range of subjects, including how to choose the best camera, and of course how to master the fundamentals of photography: good exposure, composition, and sharpness.
"We love the creative side of photography, so the chapters on landscape types and composition are the sections we most enjoyed writing and recording," adds Ross. "In these chapters, we talk about how to get the most from a wide variety of landscape types, including woodland, mountains, and coastal scenery.
We go on to highlight ways to capture better compositions and the importance of visual balance, depth, and how photographers can use space to imply scale or solitude. The parts of the audiobook that focus on aesthetics and creativity are definitely worth listening to a couple of times!"
We really hope it will help all aspects of their landscape photography, from choosing the right kit and setting up their camera correctly (for the subject), to mastering exposure, filtration, and composition. We hope the ability to be able to listen to our expert advice while on the move (maybe while driving to a shoot, for example) will be both helpful and motivational and accelerate the listener's learning curve."
Daniel Lezano and Ross Hoddinott have over 20 years of writing for photo magazines and have already authored several books on photography. Ross hopes it will improve all aspects of budding landscape photographers to improve all aspects of their imagery. We hope the ability to be able to listen to our expert advice while on the move (maybe while driving to a shoot, for example) will be both helpful and motivational and accelerate the listener's learning curve.
You might also like the best lenses for landscapes, as well as our own top landscape photography tips.
