World Famous Comics: Wedding Photography NOW!: A Fresh Approach to Shooting Modern Nuptials (A Lark Photography Book)
Wedding Photography NOW!: A Fresh Approach to Shooting Modern Nuptials (A Lark Photography Book)
By: Michelle Turner Publisher: Lark Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Lark Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: April 01, 2008
Today’s brides and grooms know exactly how they want their nuptials photographed—spontaneous and fun, rather than demure and posed. This huge demand has led to a new style of cutting-edge wedding photojournalism, a twist on tradition that requires lensers with a keen eye for stylish composition and an ability to anticipate the significant and emotion-filled moment. Packed with practical advice on techniques, this contemporary re-examination of a classic subject teaches those crucial skills including how to use angles, lighting, and location to create uniquely personal photos for the modern marrying couple. It takes you through all the essential stages for creating a one-of-a-kind and meaningful wedding photo album, from private portraits to risqué shots of the bride getting dressed on the big day.
Best Introduction to Wedding Photography I've read many books that are supposed to serve as an introduction to wedding photography for serious amateurs or budding professionals. This is the best book that I have found.
1. This book is comparatively slim at 128 pages. Most of the other wedding photography books weigh in at over 200 pages; however, most other wedding photography books are also completely overloaded with filler material that is common knowledge to anyone but an absolute photography beginner (and absolute beginners shouldn't be in a position to photograph a wedding to start with). This book for example, spends only 18 pages talking about all of the equipment you'll need and gives only the details you have to know to make an informed decision about cameras, lenses, maintainence, flashes, computers, software, etc. This leaves more time for learning about how to take the pictures and isn't filled with useless paragraphs explaining how "cases and bags help protect camera equipment" like many other wedding photography books.
2. The first sign of an amateur when asking about how to recreate a photograph they see is "What shutter speed/aperture/ISO did you use?", as if by dialing in certain combinations of these parameters, a beautiful picture will suddenly emerge. Most authors will prominently label every picture in the book with their camera settings without offering any other insight into how they composed the shot. This information is useless to anyone who has more than the most basic understanding of camera function and already knows how to properly exposure a photograph. What I want to know is how the composition is formed, and this book delivers.
3. This book offers lots of tips on how to interact with people at the wedding, which is probably more important of a skill than anything having to do with your camera. Included are tips in getting the bride and groom to "loosen up" so that portraits look more natural. And by tips, I mean the author gives step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.
This book is the best wedding photography introduction I've seen and is recommended to anyone who already understands the effect of aperture on the depth of focus, for example, and wants tips they can actually use to apply their photography skills to wedding photography.