In my quest to improve my photography skills, I’ve been reading books on the topic.  I still feel like a beginner, so most of the books I’m reading are inspirational and instructional manuals designed to help you in composing compelling photographs.  This book is really terrific.  I found myself understanding and relating to all of his ideas and opinions.  The book is a trove of important information.  He starts out discussing basic design theory, and then delves more deeply into the specific elements of design – line, shape, space, texture, light, and color.  He discusses various principles, such as the use of patterns, achieving a sense of “rhythm” to your photos, how to achieve the illusion of depth, the relevance of scale and proportion, how to make your photos “flow”, using juxtaposition and incongruity, and how to induce mood and emotion to your photos.  Each chapter ends with a discussion of various photographic genres, and he gives a list of photographers that he recommends that you explore further, and lists websites that might be helpful.  The text is concise; he gets to the point quickly.  The majority of the pages in the book contain a photo that nicely illustrates the points that he makes in the text.  I bought this book at a local bookstore in my neighborhood.  It’s not the easiest to find online.  A great book for aspiring photographers.  

“Design Principles for Photography” by Jeremy Webb

Buy