Book ~ "Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters' Guide to Shooting from the Heart" (2010) Karen Walrond, Jen Lemen, Sarah-Ji, Kate Inglis, Andrea Scher, Tracey Clark, Paige Balcer, Stephanie Roberts, Irene Nam and Maile Wilson

From Goodreads ~ For most photographers, the perfect shot is not the one which has the sharpest focus, the cleanest composition or the most balanced exposure. The perfect shot is the one that captures the personality of the subject, the character of a scene or the dynamic of the moment and this is the first book that explores different approaches to shooting with that aim in mind. 

The Shutter Sisters, an innovative partnership of ten photographers, have been sharing their expertise for years on a successful blog; this is their first book. 

Valuing the evocative and emotional, they show how to balance the technical craft of photography with the demands of the moment and the avoidance of cliché. With thematic chapters including Childhood, Togetherness and Solitude, Expressive Photography offers a wealth of ideas for the shooter who wants to move beyond dry technique. 

I have three cameras ... a Canon point-and-shoot that is usually in my purse, a Nikon D5100 DSLR along with some lenses, and a Nikon CoolPix (that's in between the two) that I use often. Needless to say, I take a lot of pictures.

I'm still an amateur and like reading photography books to see what professionals take pictures of and how they do it.

Shutter Sisters began in January 2008 as a collaborative photo blog - written for women, by women - which quickly grew into a trusted source of photographic inspiration. Shutter Sisters has, over the years, been cultivated by a handful of extraordinary women; storytellers who through images and words have helped build a warm, welcoming, and inclusive global community. Through this collaborative spirit, Shutter Sisters has gathered and connected women with a passion for photography, creating an authentic and true sisterhood that transcends even the expansive borders of the web.

This book had ten chapters with different focuses:

• Horizons
• Portraiture
• Nature
• Spaces
• Childhood
• Stillness
• Documentary
• Creatures
• Table
• Togetherness

In each chapter, there is an introduction, blog posts by a couple of the authors, approach, perspective, composition, lighting, details and processing.

The pictures for the most part were inspiring and helped me look at different ways to take photographs (angles, content, etc). Some of the pictures, though, looked like ones I've taken and trashed (not my style, I guess). I'm a fan of playing around with aperture and there were a lot of pictures with a shallow depth of field which I like. Though some photos had the details (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc.), it would have been nice if more did. So it's not a book if you are looking to learn how to technically take photos ... more to give you some creative ideas.