The difficulty in reviewing non-fiction books like this one is to know how to describe the content more pithily than the title does. With Tharp’s book I must concede defeat; it really is about creative nature and outdoor photography. Contrarily, books on photography are easier to judge than most, as they are generally filled with the author’s own photographs; her credentials are evident on every page. By that measure, Tharp writes whereof she knows.

The book is, I confess, a little too advanced for me. She writes for users of the traditional film SLR camera, and assumes they are familiar not only with basic photographic technique but also with the more esoteric features of their cameras–as a result, this should not be your first book about photography. On the other hand, she has a great deal to say about composition and the use of light that applies equally well to film and digital photography, and on that front I might have learned a thing or two. It’s a book I’ll want to come back to when I’ve a little more experience.

In the meantime, I still recommend Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Digital Photography, and also his Understanding Exposure which I’ve been reading simultaneously with this one. It covers some of the same ground, and goes into much more detail about how to use your camera.

(Side note: I’ve been lucky in my choice of books–there are a lot of duds out there, and somehow I’ve managed to spot some of the better ones. A little research pays off.)