This is the book that explains how to do the things that Brenda Tharp takes for granted in Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography. Peterson covers generally the same range of topics here as he does in Understanding Digital Photography, but he goes into considerably more detail; I now understand the process of metering the light far better than I did beforehand, for example. Peterson writes clearly and engagingly, and as always his enthusiasm is infectious. Best of all, the book is filled with delightful images–and for each he explains in detail just how he set up, metered, and exposed each shot. This is definitely a book I’m going to come back to again and again.

If you’ve got a digital camera, and you’ve any curiousity at all what you can do with it, by all means get a copy of Understanding Digital Photography. If you’re like me, reading it will inspire you to go out and take all sorts of truly wretched pictures, and probably some very good ones. Then, if you’re still having fun, get this book and keep shooting; it will take you to the next level.