John and Barbara Gerlach have been known for years as instructors in nature workshops that have trained over 50,000 students. John Gerlach is the associate editor of Nature Photographer and columnist of "Field Notes." His photos have been featured in magazines such as Natural Wildlife, Sierra, and others. Barbara Gerlach is a skilled nature photographer whose work has been featured in National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, and many others, and has been running workshops with her husband since 1988.

Digital Nature Photography: The Art And The Science is the book that their workshop attendees have been asking for. The goal of this book is to help you take some of the best nature shots you have ever taken. They would like you to master those techniques to take consistently good images. This is not a fix-it later book, and as such, it stresses field techniques. Digital Nature Photography is 208 pages and is divided into 12 chapters.

Chapter 1, "The Excitement over Digital Photography," examines the point where digital photography overtook film technology and it became more practical to shoot digital. Along with reusable digital memory cards, the ability to switch ISO without changing film, and the instant feedback provided by the digital SLR's display, it is much more practicable to use digital in the field. Chapter 2, "Developing your Photographic Skills," shows you that it is necessary to acquire skills if you want to become a good photographer. Many of their former students have gone on to be good nature photographers, and some have become highly successful professionals in a tough field to succeed in, but all have had to learn and hone photographic skills.

Chapter 3, "Choosing your Digital Camera," will assist in choosing the right camera for you. The explosion of quality advances in digital technology has been nothing short of phenomenal. Here they explain the differences in cameras and other equipment that you will need to create outstanding photographs. Chapter 4, "Exposure Essentials," reminds you that proper exposure is critical to shooting quality images. With the new technologies this has become much easier with digital, but you still have to understand the fundamentals.

Chapter 5, "Using Lenses Effectively," will show you how lenses work, what focal length is, and what it means to you as well as what aperture and depth of field means to you. You will be shown different features that can come with a lens. Aspects are introduced, such as Image Stabilization, the difference between zoom and prime lenses are, as well as a whole host of topics relating to lenses and what are available. Chapter 6, "Shoot Sharp Images Consistently," is all about being successful and producing consistently sharp images that can be sold or entered into contests. This is something that many photographers find is hard to do. Here you will find the techniques to create sharp images over and over.