There certainly aren't enough good books on the subject of low light/night photography, so I was pleased when I had an opportunity to read Jill Waterman's book. There are a lot of things to like about this book. The overall print quality is excellent--with a lot of excellent photo samples on every page. This alone makes the book worthwhile. Not only do we get exposed to the unique and varying style of each contributing artist (and there are many), each image is accompanied by a few nuggets of background information about the shot, along with some basic Exif data, such as camera, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.

But my biggest issue with this book (and it is big in my opinion), is Jill Waterman's overt lack of information and insight about digital photography equipment and methodologies. Almost the entire book is dedicated to a film-based philosophy, from darkroom techniques to reciprocity failure. Having come from the film world myself, I get it. But in 2008--with the advent of highly capable low-light/high ISO cameras like the Nikon D3, this omission is just too big to ignore. It's almost as if the book were written in 2001 and published in 2008.

Undoubtedly, many contributors in this book continue to shoot using film. And film certainly offers some advantages in dynamic range over digital (which is important when trying to capture the full range of highlights and shadows in any given scene), although this gap is starting to close as sensors become more sophisticated. But ultimately, digital shooters reading Jill Waterman's book may feel that she does not go far enough to address their unique concerns and challenges. Film is still viable and is certainly here to stay, but most of the world is shooting digital nowadays--and these will be the people buying her book.

Lastly, I would have liked Jill Waterman to expand a little more on the technical aspects of nighttime image capture--especially as it relates to aperture, shutter and ISO selection. She does touch upon this with information about how to achieve a star burst effect by stopping down. And there is some information about opening up wide while increasing ISO to make star trails more plentiful and vibrant. But I would have liked to see more information about why a photographer chooses one aperture over another (or shutter/ISO) based on the night scene presented in front of them and their shooting goals. What works technically for daytime shooters does not necessarily translate into a nighttime environment.

Would I still recommend this book--well, probably. There is great reference material throughout, and many of the images are compelling and will provide good inspiration for any photographer looking to venture into the exciting and mysterious world that happens when the sun goes down. If you're looking for a definitive "how to book" on night photography, this may not be it--especially if you shoot digital. But it does contain enough good information to make the trip worthwhile--especially given the lack of good material on the subject.

I have gotten tired of flipping through books titled "Everything you could ever know about photography" that is only 120 pages of big fonts. THIS book does not fall into this category. It is well-written, laid out in a logical manner, and full of excellent instruction. It has examples by professional photographers on different techniques and subjects in night photography. Each example has a detailed explanation of how the shot was taken and what settings were used. I am seriously impressed with this and am beyond satisfied with my purchase. If low-light or night exposures are something you are getting into, this book is a Must-Have.

I went through Night & Low-Light Photography quickly at first. I was awestruck by some of the photos. Going through it a second time, I saw how well it was organized, how much 'how to' information was included, and the great range of night and low-light photography that was represented. The book made we want to get out shooting - which i did the following dawn.

This book is very informative and well illustrated. It is a very useful tool for the serious photographer who wants to explore night and low light photography. The layout of the book is excellent also.

A forward by Kenna, images and technique from 30 different but equally talented photographers, and written by PDN's finest, Jill Waterman, how could you go wrong. A must have for night and low light photographers.