Anyone who's ever flipped through the pages of National Geographic magazine has undoubtedly seen the awesome photos and wished they could take shots like that. Chris Weston's Nature Photography wont instantly make you an NG shooter, but does offer plenty of tips, technical mumbo-jumbo and inspiring photos (by Weston and other pros) which can improve your skills.



instead of chapters, we get habits. habit one is "plan for the perfect picture." that seems obvious in theory, but in practice, lack of preparation is a big difference between amateur and pros. this means research, everything from using the Internet search bar to studying the body language of animals. after a couple of anecdotes, tips (including a checklist of gear to bring), and some awesome shots, we come to the second habit: know your camera. this section will be especially helpful to newbies who have just purchased their first DSLR but have no idea what all the buttons do. Weston compares a DSLR's layout to an airplane cockpit, then covers such basics as Jpeg vs. Raw, white balance, ISO, metering mode, and exposure mode. some of this stuff might seem remedial for advanced shooters, but for everyone else, it's a good place to start. after all, you can't master photography until you've mastered your camera. this section also covers the histogram, a graph for reading exposure levels which many DSLRS have. we also get explanations of focus mode, menus, and a brief run-down of different lens types. lens nomenclature is also explained, as is handholding and tripod technique. this is probably the most important chapter and should be committed to memory. it's pointless to go shoot some pictures if you dont have any idea, technically-speaking, of what you're doing.



some of weston's other habits include: see what your camera sees (which covers light, contrast, and other visual aspects of photography); take control of your camera (a gentle urging not to shoot in Auto modes), with explanations of aperture and ISO values on results, as well as when to use specific metering and focus modes; learn the rules and when not to apply them (guidelines for aesthetically-pleasing compositions, such as where to set the horizon line); capturing the moment (a breakdown of what specific techniques and settings were used in different landscape/nature/wildlife situations); and practice makes perfect, a bunch of checklists and "photo workouts" to keep the mind nimble and the body sharp.



overall, this book is a quite competent aid for beginners all the way up to advanced amateurs. some of the info here is quite basic and can be found in other photography books, but that's besides the point. without a basic understanding of photographic technique and settings, magical nature shots just don't happen by themselves -- they are the result of skill, perhaps aided by a little luck. Weston shows you how to improve your skill to take as much guesswork out of it as possible; the rest is up to you. and he does a good job of explaining technical terms in a way newbies can relate, learning as they go. all in all, probably a better purchase for someone just starting out or wanting to take better shots than an expensive lens (which wont improve one's technique). and, it works as both an instructional book and a coffee table book.