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I'd agree with Peterson (e.g. Understanding Exposure). One I've found very useful is Michael Freeman's The Photographer's Eye - some excellent stuff about the composition of photos, with plenty of good examples, and very helpful diagrams.

I'm currently in a similar kind of a position (because of or despite the fact there is beautiful winter outside). And I think, as mattdm said, project is the way to go. But the hardest part in having a project is starting one. What helps me to get started is: Have a clean memory card, full battery and any lens attached to your camera. Leave your camera in ...

Sounds like you need a project. The first thing you give to show your prior interest is a list of gear. And photography can be a fine hobby for someone who wants to focus on accumulating gadgets -- but sounds like that doesn't really hold your interest for very long. (Isn't that always the case with tech toys? Gotta keep buying the new thing!) Instead, ...

I have to say that the Scott Kelby book "The Digital Photography Book: The Step-by-step Secrets for How to Make Your Photos Look Like the Pros" was a digestible and easy page turner which is small enough for a beginner to lug around whilst still referring to situation specific shot suggestions. A little tongue in cheek in tone in places, but I found it ...

I found Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting really good book for photographers. After all photography is nothing but managing light. The chapters mostly use artificial lighting, but it is the concept building of why a particular setting was used makes the book informative.

Instead of suggesting you different ways to wake your muse, I'd say let her sleep! :o) 3 months is hardly a big period to assume your interest in something has gone. Photography (as probably all forms of expression) is highly subject to personal questions that certainly can make you go up and down for periods like that. I know a bunch of people (me ...

If you have trouble to get excited, I can understand that you took the option to get some new gear to get kicked into a new creative mood. Unfortunately, this question needs a very personal answer, so allow me to try to throw a few options out here. I am a on-and-off shooter and take breaks sometimes for a month or more and then find something that kicks ...

Scott Kelby's "Digital Photography" A great book to really improve your photography is Scott Kelby's Digital Photography. It's a hints and tips book, not a thorough working through of the principals, but I came away from it with a lot of really good solid practical things which I now include in my photography, so I'm sure it would be helpful.

I would suggest creating a multi-day schedule of events that can be repeated for different subjects. I don't think 15 minutes per day is worth running around looking for something to shoot. You'd get much more value if you divided the process into segments (one segment = one day = 15m). Possibly something like this: Segment 1 - Research a subject - ...

Shoot details such as leaves, rocks, plants, etc with rain on them. Shoot skys with the great clouds that thunderstorms usually have. Use the cloudy sky as a giant free diffuser and take soft portrait shots. If you are in an urban setting shoot people running around with umbrellas and through large puddles. Frame the image to remove the sky if it is ...

Like people say, the only real judge about that is you, however like the two Matt's I'll give you my "solution" to the problem. The funny thing is, my experience is almost the reverse of Matt's, I got into photography as the editor of my college newspaper and then let it drop after I finished school. It was digital that got me back into it with my first real ...

Only you can really say, it may come back, or it may be gone. Do you want to be interested in photography? Any way I will share the following, which I hope will be of use to somebody: The same thing happened to me in university, I had bought a camera, taken a lot of photographs over summer and then didn't touch it for months when term started. I felt like I ...

Photography is not just about the beautiful things in life although many people only thought of shooting good-looking things. You can go shoot things that people don't. I am sure you have seen a photo of a landmark, in perfect weather, blue sky and white cloud. Have you seen the same landmark shot during a thunderstorm? You can shoot it during rain, ...

You may want to try different ways to get into the mood: You can try taking a shot at the exact time everyday. This will force you to prepare for the shot wherever you are and will let you find new subjects without too much effort. If you have regular habits, you can try taking a shot at the same location or of the same subject for many days on a row. This ...

Let me take a contrarian view... If you've lost motivation, perhaps your telling yourself something. Why did you start the project? What were the goals? Perhaps you've accomplished them and so the project is done but you haven't admitted it to yourself. Perhaps the project is serving no useful purpose and it's time to start some new project or set some new ...

Good question. Didn't we all at some point feel like all the money spent on the gear is going to waste as it's lying there catching rust. Some of my thoughts: One thing that very easily gets me excited about taking pictures is a new piece of equipment. I wouldn't go as far as getting a new camera to reignite my interest (who am I kidding, I would if I ...

The one that helped me the most and that I read the most times is The National Geographic Photography Field Guide. Unlike most modern books it is about photography itself, not manipulating images. It also puts talks about techniques in context for different subjects.

I have started with the guide comming with Apple Aperture, it can be downloaded here: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/aperture_photography_fundamentals.pdf It's not the most complete guide of course but it explain basics in a very clear way

Scott Kelby's "Digital Photography" The first book to really improve your photography quickly is Scott Kelby's Digital Photography. It's really a hints and tips book, but I came away from it with a lot of really good solid practical things which I now include in my photography.

Take a moment to relax and look at other aspects of your life. Artistic creativity requires a certain peace of mind whether you realize it or not. If there is something in your life that is stressing you out or otherwise distracting you it could be preventing your muse from operating so to speak. One question to answer is if you've taken up an interest in ...

Photographers often use different kinds of limitations to help their creativity. If your time is limited, you might be able to use that to your advantage. You could for example decide that you have to take a picture within 60 seconds. Rush out and look for something to photograph (while trying not to look too demented ;), and if you can't find anything ...

Here are some excellent books on nature and landscape photography that I have found invaluable to my own work: General Nature John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide 100 Ways to Take Better Nature & Wildlife Photographs Waiting for the Light Working the Light: A Landscape Photography Masterclass A Landscape Beyond: Journey Into Photography ...

If you own Adobe Photoshop, you should get "The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers", also by Kelby. Photoshop is a daunting tool for beginners, but it is essential if you ever plan to sell images or prepare anything for print, even for hanging on your wall at home.

Digital Portrait Photography by Steve Sint The best book I have ever read on photography is Steve Sint's Digital Portrait Photography. It is very rich, full of information with no padding. I learned new stuff from nearly every page. As well as covering composition, interacting with your subject(s) and a little about equipment, this book includes the ...

Try to find a book that specifically covers your camera. These generally duplicate the information in the manual, but they are more detailed. An they also tend to cover more general photography elements. E.g. I just started reading, "Canon Rebel T1i / 500D: From Snapshots to Great Shots" By Jeff Revell, and so far it does seem like a book I could recommend ...

Shoot up at buildings, landmarks, people using the cloudy sky as a dramatic background. For subjects that are near enough, a touch of flash can make the sky darker and more dramatic. (i.e. it makes the subject brighter, you expose for the subject, so the sky is darker in the final image).

The closest I could think of would be to check some websites such as Flickr or Picasa. For example, on Flickr, if you go to the explore section, or check the popular tags (relevant to the season) section http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags, it's very likely that people would upload pictures relevant to the current season/holiday afoot. The flickr blog ...

Take a vacation with your camera. If the area around you isn't inspiring, try going somewhere that has more things that might inspire you. (Particularly if you prefer environments to people.) I always find I'm more hyped up about photography after getting a great set of photos on a vacation (cruises in particular I find helpful as the locations vary, but ...

I think the best thing to do here is find a project. It doesn't really matter what the project is, but it should be something where you feel like you're making something. It could be a series of photos on a certain theme, or portraits of a certain person, or prints for a local art exhibition. The key thing is that you need a goal beyond "get back into ...