I was going through some boxes when I came across this book. I loved the sub-title: “A step-by-step course from the world’s best-selling photographer”. ‘Best-Selling’ in terms of what I wondered. Presumably in terms of photography ‘how to’ books.

I’m not trying to demean this book. Quite the contrary. I remember loving it at the time. It was first published in 1990 and consists of three main sections.

The first covers basics: How the camera works; Choosing a camera; Camera automation; Choosing and using lenses; Choosing the Aperture; Choosing the Shutter Speed; Colour Film; Black and White Film; Camera Flash; Colour through the day.

The third and final section is called “Broadening your Scope” and covers such topics as Choosing the Right Equipment; Using Camera Filters; The Home Studio; The Home Darkroom; Photographic Montage; Mounting and Presentation; and Fault Finding.

There’s also a glossary, but the ‘meat’ of the book is contained in the second section entitled ‘The Projects’ where the author presents a series of 71 projects covering such areas as The Essential Elements (e.g. shape, form, texture, pattern, colour, tone, perspective etc.); People; Places; Still Life; The Natural World; and Action. It was these projects that interested me most when I bought the book. I tend to be all over the place and these projects gave some much needed structure. Another thing I liked was that each project was lavishly illustrated with related photographs.

The funny thing is that I remember loaning this book to a neighbor that I later lost touch with. It always annoyed me that he had not returned it and from time to time I’d “curse” him under my breath. It seems it was wrong though. Since I have the book I guess he must have returned it. My apologies Artie wherever you are.