As the old saying goes you should never work with children or animals. From a photography point of view I would agree with the former, but I feel that photographing animals and wildlife is a rewarding activity, and if done right can result in some breathing pictures. While I've always enjoyed Zoo photography, I find that it tends to be too accessible and easy. Actually being able to photograph animals in their natural wild environment and habitats is more of a challenge, but one that can be very rewarding none the less.
"Digital Wildlife Photography" by Chris Weston, is an excellent resource for a beginner photographer or person who holds an interest in wildlife photography. The author is a photojournalist and professional wildlife photographer, going by both the standard of his book, it's clear that he has a passion for his subject, and enjoys showing animals in all their glory.
The overall aim of the book is to show how to take spectacular wildlife photos, without the need to sit at Photoshop for hours at a time. Explained is techniques, and practical advice that combined with some excellent colour photographs result in a resource that shows the best methods of capturing animals.
The book explains the technologies behind the digital camera, how to use them, and what the best settings for various situations are. How to bracket your shots, and deal with frame rates, and burst depths, technique tips for successful remote control use are a few examples of such. These are most likely the parts that readers will find most useful.
Digital Wildlife Photography is aimed more at the beginner end of the market, which may put the seasoned photographer off. There is a lot of information that would be considered perhaps too basic by some, information such as what are memory cards, and how to hold you camera. But for the novice the book really does cover everything required for this branch of photography, and more importantly it is written in a clear easy to understand way.
For a paperback book and it's price, the finish of the cover with its (raised lettering) and overall binding quality is impressive.
But my overall impression is that this is a somewhat relaxed book, one that may just sit on your coffee table to be flicked through at random times, as opposed to a book that really requires your attention and one makes you think.
While the book is achieves what it aims to do, it didn't really teach me much, but from an animal lover's point of view, some of the stills really are great (look out for the African Fish Eagle on page 130).
Overall considering the low cost (as low as seven pounds from some retails), the book maybe worth a look if your either looking for a source of information, a beginner looking for an insight into the a noble area of photography, or just a fan of wildlife in general.