I recently decided to upgrade my point-and-shoot digital camera (the wonderfully tiny Canon S400) to the new and acclaimed Nikon D-70 DSLR. With all of its available control parameters, it seemed a good idea to learn a bit more about the fundamentals of photography, so I trekked to a local bookstore and browsed for a while, until I came across this book. I've been a fan of DK's travel guides for several years — they're beautifully produced, blending excellent illustrations with stunning photographs, and the information contained within is just as complete as any other mainstream guidebook. With Hedgecoe's book, I immediately recognized the production values. There are dozens of illustrations and literally more than a thousand color photographs in this volume, each tagged with focal length, aperture, and shutter speed.

The photos are wonderful in their own right, but the accompanying text is also very clear and helpful. This book is very much aimed at photographers who are beginning to learn about the art, and it touches briefly on dozens of subjects rather than focus on a few in depth. I learned a lot from reading it, and I've been able to put many of the lessons to use in the two weeks I've had my new camera.