The Kodak's book give a lot of basic knowledge, it's good designed and the photographs are better, but...
The NG book is useful for intermediate people because of esses it contains. I found in this book some things that I never thought about and I'm not hte beginner at all :)

The National Geographic Photography Field Guide is a well written, easily accessible guide that is a great beginners guide and reference for experienced photographers. The first half of the book covers the basics of photography including cameras, film, lenses and light. Each of the chapters is concise and contains handy tables and charts. For example, the chapter on filters has handy charts to help you determine when to use certain filter types.

The second half of the book contains chapters devoted to various subjects. Some examples are landscapes, weather and people. In between some of the chapters are small sections on National Geographic photographers that give a short bio and their options on photographing the subject being discussed. While these sections don't provide much in the way of additional information, they make for interesting reading and add character to the book.

Beyond the written content, the book itself is a work of art. It is filled with beautiful pictures that are great examples of the topic being discussed. Also, it is printed on glossy paper that adds that extra touch of professionalism. All in all, a highly recommended guide.

It is always a delight to read- and see- a National Geographic book. They are always well written and packed with superb photographs, so a Photography Field Guide could not be the exception. In this masterpiece, Peter Burian and National Geographic star photographer Robert Caputo will reveal to you the secrets to making great pictures. From the Essential Basics, that is cameras, lenses, light, flashes, film and composition to practical topics on how to photograph a "world of subjects" ranging from people to animals, from sports to architecture and from landscapes to close-ups, this book is a real help to anyone who wants to take a picture. Like other National Geographic books, this one is also well designed, user friendly and packed with beautiful photos. It is also updated with a section on Computers and Photography and contains a useful glossary and a directory of web sites and photography magazines and books. As I wrote in the title of the review, this book is dazzling and informative. I think that everyperson interested in photography, should have this Field Guide, it is outstanding, a book worth a million pictures and a million words.

I'd have rated this book much lower if it wasn't cram packed full of great information. The problem is, the writing style makes it impossible to read this book from cover to cover if you don't already know everything in it. If ever an IT book was screaming for a glossary, this was the one. The author habitually uses terms and acronyms as if the reader already knew them, and then goes on to define them chapters later. At least on one occassion, I found a term used in chapter 2 defined in chapter 3. The definition of the term used another that wasn't defined until chapter 5. As said, there's no glossary, and the index is entirely too sparse to cover for that omission. Reading this book WILL teach you well, but don't sit down with it without a reference library and/or net connection handy to look up the terms that you can't find any other way.

Caputo provides an excellent balance between theoretical background and Cisco specific information. Chapter 3, "voice concepts for data engineers" provides just the right level of information needed to understand voice technology, and the challenges of packetized delivery.

Another nice featue is the clearly tabulated facts and figures, which make this book an excellent reference for even the experienced reader.

Overall, Caputo has provided a text that contains everything required to understand and implement successful voice and data integrated networks with Cisco technology.

The information is geared towards the network engineer that has limited phone knowledge, which was perfect for my own background.

The book has excellent technical accuracy and the data is presented well. The book requires relatively strong strength in a networking background because many references are made to associated technologies without explaining them. Explaining such things would be outside the scope of this book.

When/if you read this book, try to seek out unfamiliar terms in the index or look them up elsewhere. Most of the data is relevant and worth understanding as you go along.

Reading and understanding this book gave me a great understanding of VoIP and I now believe that I can effectively evaluate and implement VoIP solutions.

The CCIE program has publicly announced inclusion of VoIP in the CCIE Routing-Switching laboratory exam. Through my experience, I belive that this book is a valuable resource in acquiring the VoIP knowledge necessary to achieve this certification.