In most areas of photography man glorifies himself and his possessions. He, his species and his works, good and bad, are spread across acres of film and printing paper that display his babies and buildings, his arts and artifacts, all the things he buys and sells.

Not here. In this book about photographing the natural world, man is really just an offstage voice. He is the inventor-operator of the imagemaking apparatus, but is not in the picture itself, and does not belong there.

Our aim has been to show the natural world in all its infinite variety, almost as if man were the one animal that did not exist in it. Since he has left his mark nearly everywhere by now, ignoring his presence is not always easy for the photographer. But it can be done, and it is not necessary to go to the ends of the earth to do it. There are pictures here from exotic places, but there also are pictures made in zoos and aquariums, in nearby woods and even in home studios. The pure landscape is here; the scenic highway, the gas station -- even the backpacker -- are not.

The subject of this book is as big as all outdoors and a lot older than photography. But two things about it are relatively new. One is that nature photography has become an increasingly popular activity for the nature-loving nonprofessional. By the hundreds of thousands, amateurs are discovering and rediscovering nature with camera clubs and wildlife societies on photographic field trips, and at zoos and botanical gardens, some of which even have photography courses.

The other new fact is that nature photography has become extremely versatile technologically. This book is intended to help even the neophyte by showing him how to make the most of the various types of equipment. Several specialized pursuits, such as underwater, safari, zoo, close-up and landscape photography, are examined in detail. The reader should not feel disappointed, though, by the fact that in one lifetime he cannot possibly explore and exhaust them all. No one can. The whole subject is just too big. But by the very nature of nature, each part can be as rich and satisfying as the whole.