General

If you're interested in nature photography and especially macro work, get this book before you spend a ton of money on confusing and/or expensive equipment (ie macro lenses, diopter sets, extension tubes, lens reversal rings etc.) John is easy to read and covers about everything you need to know about how to capture natures tiny subjects on film. Although the book is a bit old, basic photo techniques don't change and his love of photography is contagious. Buy this book and you'll be out in your yard within hours, camera in hand. He is a firm believer in the old saying "necessity is the mother of invention". From calibrating your light meter, using the palm of your hand to estimate midtone exposure, making homemade flash brackets or reflectors from coolwhip containers and tin foil, he covers it all. He reviews the basics of exposure, flash, different film pros and cons and explains all the basic macro equipment so you know what lenses and equipment will and won't do for you.

I found this to a great book for the budding close-up photographer. First, it is very comprehensive, covering all areas of macro know-how in enough detail to get you going. It takes you through, step-by-step how to control your macrophotography to achieve various effects, with lots of sage and practical advice along the way. As other reviewers have noted, his writing is incredibly clear and easy-to-read. I found his explanations to be very intuitive, and several times whilst reading I thought "yeah, but what about...", and, boom, there was the answer in the next paragraph. Impressive. Some suggestion its getting out of date, but really (aside from some equipment examples, which are precisely that anyway) this stuff doesn't get out of date. Its written for film photography, but even if you're doing digital macro, the majority of this book (exposure,tripod use, flash, framing, background control, etc, etc) is still equally relevant. Gripes? Hard on the credit card - I know I need a decent tripod each time I refer to it (and a new lens, and a...)! And spending too much time reading it rather than taking the bloody photos! Its really good.

One of the most readable books on closeup photography has to be Closeups in Nature. Each chapter, while dealing with the subject, goes into very understandable detail on how to go about taking photographs of the little things. Each chapter describes using different types of equipment, from the most simple and inexpensive products, to the very precise and obviously costly. Most of us, I'm sure, fall somewhere in between. He also covers not only types of film, but the differences in film brands. If you truly have a passion for this type of photography, Mr. Shaw's book is a "must read."