The Best of the Best: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs and More

The best of the best cameras, accessories, photo books and more.

The best of the best cameras, accessories, photo books and more.

UPDATE: The most recent update and re-posting of this article is here.

I get lots of photo questions and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone shopping for a photographer.

Here is my list of “best of the best” of articles recommending the best photo gear, software, books, DVDs, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more.

Last posted Dec. 21, 2015. Updated May 12, 2016

PHOTO LABS

How To Get The Best Results From The Best Online Photo Labs

How Long Will Your Photo Lab Prints Last?

BUYING ADVICE

Great Deal? Don’t Get Burned!

Should You Buy “Gray Market” Photo Equipment?

Camera Choices: Using Full Size Test Images from DPReview.com

PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

Best Digital Cameras – 2015 (Including 2010 – 2014)

GoPro Hero4: Amazing, Small, Inexpensive, HD Video (& Still) Camera

Basic Off-Camera Flash Equipment

Radio Controlled Speedlites: Yongnuo YN600EX-RT vs Canon 600EX-RT

Recommended Closeup Equipment

Inexpensive ($7 – $130) Gifts for Photographers

Tripod Recommendations: The Best of the Best

Tripod Head Recommendations: Some of the Best of the Best

The Best Camera Quick Release System

Best Panorama Gear: Living In Panorama Heaven

Light Modifiers (Softeners) for Speedlites

AlienBees: High Quality, Economical Studio Lights

Portable Studio in a Backpack. Everything you need to take a small, portable portrait studio on the road. And you may have some of the items already.

The Best Incident Light Meters

Keeping Your World Straight With A Double Bubble Level

Best Memory Cards for Digital Cameras

The Best Digital Photo Storage

SATELLITE COMMUNICATORS

The Messaging Devices That Can Save Your Life

PHOTO SOFTWARE

The Best Image Editing Software

2016 CALENDARS

Beautiful 2016 Calendars for Photographers (And Anyone Else)

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS AND DVDs

All Purpose Photography Books

Some of the Best All Purpose Photography Books

Lighting Book

The Best Book On Photographic Lighting

Exposure Books

Tim Grey Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies. This is my own photography book. It is one of the highest rated photography books at Amazon.com. It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive “exposure” books on the market, and a great introduction to all things photographic with chapters on people, landscape, wildlife, flower, and sports photography.

Jennifer Blakeley Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies

Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies Receives Apogee Photo Magazine’s Highest Rating

Best Book on Professional Exposure Techniques

History of Photography

The Best Illustrated History of Photography

Composition Books

Photographic Composition: The Essential Book

Advanced Photographic Composition: The Best Books

People Photography Books

Excellent “How To Photograph People” Books

Nature Photography Books

Nature Photography Books: The Three Essentials. If you only read three nature photography books, put these on your “must read” list.

My Favorite Introduction to Landscape Photography. If you only read one book on landscape photography, this should be it. This is my favorite to recommend to new landscape photographers.

The Best “How To” Nature Photography Books

Two Excellent Nature Photography Books by Tony Sweet

Great “How To” Flower Photography Book by Tony Sweet

Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light. A book and video to inspire your nature photography.

Wildlife Photography

How To Find Wildlife, The Best Books

How To Photograph Wildlife, The Best Books

Astrophotography Books

Best Astrophotography Books

Ansel Adams

Books and Calendars from the Master: Ansel Adams

Digital Photography and/or Photoshop Books

The Best Digital Photography Books

Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements Books

The Best Introductions to Elements, Photoshop, and Lightroom

Lightroom & Photoshop: The Essential Books

The Best Books: The “Mastering Photoshop” Series

Mastering Photoshop & Lightroom: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)

Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part One

Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part Two

Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part One

Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part Two

Photography Magazines

The Best of the Best Photography Magazines

Photography DVDs

My Favorite Photography DVDs

Great Set of DVDs: Joel Sartore’s Fundamentals of Photography

Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light – the story, the book, and the DVD

PURCHASE LINKS

My Photography Store. A hand picked selection of the best photography equipment, accessories, books, DVDs, and software. My store is powered by Amazon’s great prices, fast delivery, excellent service, and first class guarantee. My photography store is located here and here.