At first glance I was disappointed with this book because I opened it up and saw a bunch of pretty photos. I thought I had bought a picture book with no real value of teaching me how to take great photographs.

Since I had it I decided to read it. I have learned so much! If you read the text and then read the description in the photos you can learn so much on fine tuning your photography.

I consider myself a novice photographer who, admittedly, takes more photos of the family than anything else. Nonetheless, my pictures have improved immensely under the suggestions of Bryan Peterson. I've even gotten creative and tried nature shots.

Don't underestimate this book like I suspect many have with a quick flip of the pages. It has excellent advice and is wonderful.

Wow I love this book because the author just really broke the terminology down to its simplest form. I started film photography class in college and was kind of lost but after I found this book I have to say that I am really excited about photography now. My camera is a Nikon N80 and shooting photography with it is awesome. I am definitely going to purchase Mr. Peterson's other books as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an idea about the point and shoot concept but if you are looking to take your photographs further then this is the book for you.

No matter how complex and smart are today's cameras, this book should be read by anyone who wants to make creative photos.

I need to get out with the book, its a little big to travel with but its worth the buy.

This book has gotten hundreds of glowing reviews on Amazon. Fair enough. There's lots of good information here. But I found the author's writing style distracting and annoying. Learning that an f/8 to f/11 aperture is the best choice when focal distance doesn't matter was helpful; having him refer to them three or four dozen times as "'who cares?' apertures" is not. Ditto his other signature phrases repeated (and italicized) throughout: "Brother Backlit Sky," "Brother Reflecting Sky," "Mr. Green Jeans," etc.

The over-indulgent editing doesn't stop there. He provides generally informative background and technical info for many of the photos, but the narratives are tired: "Although I was tempted to leave, I decided to be patient and was soon rewarded," "I wasted no time turning my attention to this wonderful abstract photo opportunity," "If you're like me, you welcome spring with great enthusiasm," blah blah.

And I definitely could have done without the "my beautiful wife"-in-a-pink-string-bikini two-page image and/or the wife lingerie & cleavage shot.

If you're someone who appreciates good writing in addition to good information, I think there are better choices out there for your first book on photography. Freeman's very intelligently written The Photographer's Eye (also enthusiastically reviewed on Amazon) is one to consider.