PHOTOGRAPHY OF NATURAL THINGS Freeman Patterson. Toronto, Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1982. Distributed by Fleet Publishers. 168pp, paper, $26.95 (cloth), (paper) $15.95. ISBN 0-7706-0020-4 (cloth), 0-7706-0022-0 (paper). Grades 11 and up. Reviewed by Maurice G. Black. Volume 11 Number 2. 1983 March. It's open season all year round when "shooting" natural things with a camera. Through a series of simple, uncluttered colour images, Freeman Patterson evokes the admiration of a host of photographers, both amateur and professional. As one of Canada's foremost and best-known nature and landscape photographers, Patterson challenges his readers and listeners to be as excited about seeing things as he is. In addition to giving seminars to hundreds of eager photographers, he has previously had published Photography for the Joy of It* and Photography and the Art of Seeing.** Both books have become approved text books used in a number of school systems and have sold more than 80,000 copies. In Photography of Natural Things, the photographer/author offers numerous suggestions that will inspire the reader to seek out natural design in common house plants, in nearby parks and ravines, and in more remote areas of the world that await the adventuresome. Patterson distinguishes between documentary and interpretive photography. The main purpose of the latter, he states, is "to convey a mood or feeling or to single out a natural design, rather than to provide specific factual information." All photographs are in full colour, uniformly 11½ x 17cm in size and exceptionally well printed both for colour and clarity. They range in subject matter from macrophotographs of Indian pipes and frost patterns to telephoto studies of animals of the African plain. While not belabouring camera settings and other technical problems, Patterson clearly explains how he achieved the vivid colouration and depth of field of, for example, red Hygrophorus mushrooms with a two-minute exposure. Checklists for preparing for a field trip and choosing and caring for equipment offer invaluable information for both the novice and more advanced photographer. Highly recommended for both the nature lover and the aspiring photographer. *Reviewed vol. Vl/4 Autumn 1978 p.197. **Reviewed vol. VIII/1 Winter 1980 p.29. Maurice G. Black, Sir Winston Churchill C. V. I., Thunder Bay, ON.