I read my way into most of my trips before I ever board a plane. These are the books that actually changed how I shoot, how I travel, and how I see places like Iceland, Alaska, and the American Southwest — the same landscapes you'll find all over this blog. Every pick here is one I own, dog-eared and field-tested.
Before you chase golden hour at Skógafoss or hang out an open plane window over black sands, get the fundamentals into your hands. These three did more for my images than any lens upgrade ever has.
The classic that finally makes aperture, shutter speed, and ISO click as one creative triangle instead of three confusing dials. If you're joining a workshop still shooting on auto, read this first.
The best plain-English breakdown of composition I've found — frames, lines, balance, and why some images pull you in while others just sit there. It turns "that looks nice" into decisions you can repeat.
A deeper, more philosophical read on seeing, light, and personal expression from a master landscape photographer. This is the one to grow into once the technical stuff becomes second nature.
Iceland rewards travelers who arrive knowing a little of its strange, saga-soaked soul. These pair perfectly with a camper van lap of the Ring Road or a window seat on an airplane tour.
The Nobel Prize–winning epic of a stubborn Icelandic sheep farmer and the unforgiving land he refuses to leave. It's the closest a book gets to explaining why this island feels the way it does.
A sharp, funny memoir of a British writer's year living in Reykjavík — the weather, the elves, the economics, the quiet strangeness of everyday Icelandic life that tourists rarely see.
Alaska is where I go to feel small under a green sky. These reads capture the pull of the far north better than any trail description — and pair well with my Aurora in Alaska story.
The unforgettable true story of Chris McCandless and his one-way walk into the Alaskan bush. Equal parts inspiring and sobering — a meditation on wildness, risk, and what we go looking for out there.
McPhee's masterpiece of Alaska writing — bush pilots, river journeys, frontier towns, and the people who choose the edge of the map. Nearly fifty years old and still the definitive portrait.
The slot canyons and hoodoo amphitheaters of Arizona and Utah deserve a voice as fierce as the landscape. Read this one before you stand inside Antelope Canyon or hike Bryce's Navajo Loop.
Abbey's cranky, gorgeous account of seasons spent as a ranger in the canyon country of Utah. Nobody has ever written red rock, heat, and silence better — or argued harder for leaving wild places wild.
The white-knuckle true story of the fastest boat ride ever through the Grand Canyon, wrapped inside a sweeping history of the canyon itself. Adventure writing at its absolute best.
Sometimes what you need isn't a technique or a destination — it's a shove out the door. These two are pure jet fuel for the travel bucket list.
The modern classic on long-term travel — how to afford it, plan it, and actually go. Less a how-to than a philosophy: time is the real currency, and travel is how you spend it well.
An explorer's guide to the world's hidden wonders — hundreds of strange, beautiful, overlooked places you've never heard of. The coffee-table book that quietly plans your next five trips for you.
Reading builds the itch — my small-group photography workshops in Iceland, Alaska, and the American Southwest are how you scratch it. Hands-on instruction, world-class locations, and an optional aerial photo flight over Iceland.
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