2014 Challenge, Week 18: STILL LIFE - BOOKS - The 2022 Trevor Carpenter Photo Challenge

The invention of the printing press is one of the greatest achievements in human history. Books transformed the way people share information, stories, history, and religion. These days the internet and TV are probably more widely used for sharing information, but none of that would have been possible without books.

With the advent of e-books and digital publishing, the concept of a “book” is changing, but for me there is still something magical and comforting about a printed book. This week’s challenge honors traditional, printed books.

“Books HD” by Abhi Sharma

I’ve been doing still life challenges, and I still encourage you to do that, but you may have a library or bookstore that would be a great location. If that’s the case, go for it. Even if you do go to a location, you can still set up the shot and move the books around to create a scene.

“348/365 A good book has no ending” by Iryna Yeroshko

You can choose to use one book, or multiple books. As always, pay close attention to the technical aspects of photography, like depth of field and lighting. The shot above looks like it uses natural lighting, but a good strobist makes it hard to know if a flash was used. The shot below uses high contrast lighting and shallow depth of field to focus attention on just the chapter number.

“book” by Steve Mishos

Or maybe you have a favorite book, or a book that you come back to over and over. Books of faith are often the most treasured books.

“Good books” by David Wright

As I said earlier, if you have a great location, use it. The shot below is a great example of location, setting a scene, and last week’s theme – leading lines. If you can make a great shot that incorporates a mix of challenges, then you’ve got the point of Photo Challenge. Our goal isn’t to box you into one thing a week. It’s to expand your photographic toolbox and integrate the challenges into your photography.

“So many books, so little time” by amanda tipton

We all want to see your best shot! So, share your single submission with us all on at least one of our social media groups at Google+, Facebook, or Flickr.