Almost a hundred years before Ansel Adams there were written instructions on using cameras. The manual for Daguerre's camera of 1839 was all some photographers had as a guide. John Towler's The Silver Sunbeam (1864) was perhaps the Way Beyond Monochrome of its day, although without the latter's fine illustrations. My first instructions came in a roll of 616 Verichrome. Encyclopedias were less practical. Then, in 1950, I left the farm for the Navy and discovered real photography through books, magazines, and a Univex Mercury II proudly owned by the smartest man in the boot camp company. Years of tinkering with radios and mechanical devices helped understand them all. By the time I could get any formal classroom training in photography I was already retired. Grad school was fine for learning the history and esthetics of photography, but not the technique. Now we have the internet. Learning photography is easier than ever. I still learn much in this forum, and occasionally in a few others. Some of the books I treasured long ago can be read online or downloaded. Samples of iconic photographs are also available, although usually poor substitutes for the real thing. One exception to that is the Library of Congress, a wonderful resource. Some of our congressmen and other politicians should use it more.