If you know very little about photography or need a refresher, this is an excellent place to start. Most of John Hedgecoe's books are quite good, and his PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS is one of the best basic introductions.

If you know a little about photography and are are looking for a good, intermediate book with a lot of ideas and illustrations, get Kodak's THE JOY OF PHOTOGRAPHY. It is chock full of suggestions and photographs.  This book is a good follow up to a book like Hedgecoe's above. If you are already have a lot of experience as a photographer and want more comprehensive and technical information, go to the next book on this list.

London and Upton's PHOTOGRAPHY is a classic textbook and reference work on all aspects of photography.  If you want a detailed introduction to photography, this book is the one to have. It is very expensive but worth it. This book is written as a college level introduction to photography.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S HANDBOOK by John Hedgecoe is an excellent reference work. Think of it as a photographic encyclopedia condensed in to one book.  Almost any topic you would be interested in is covered here in one or more pages.

Exposure is a challenge for many photographer's. Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure is a helpful book on the topic as well as other things photographic.

Joseph Meehan's THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GUIDE TO USING FILTERS is the best book on the subject I have been able to find. He covers it all with lots of examples. Who else describes 12 different brands of diffusion filters and how they work? Most of what you will ever need to know about filters is here.  This book can be hard to locate, so get your copy soon.

How do you "see" photographically?  What makes one photo more compelling than another? What does it take to make a photograph visually appealing? Freeman Patterson's PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE ART OF SEEING will help you "see" better with your camera. Get this book on composition or the next one.

What lens should I use? What do I put in front of my lens? How do I arrange this picture? What do I leave in and what do I leave out of this photo? These are a few of the artistic questions every photographer should ask. Tom Grill's PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION will help photographers learn the basics of composition.