Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is my first book on wedding photography, and I'm about a third of the way finished with reading it straight through, but like all photo books I can't resist the urge to randomly flip through from time to time. Don't expect to pick this up and learn the basics of photography! The section on equipment is minimal and only relates to the specific needs of wedding photography, and you won't find anything about apertures, shutters, lenses, etc. except where it plays a critical role in the creative direction of the photo. And it's here that the book shines, as Mr. Hurter is generous in his explanations of what makes every photo successful and describes from a high level the creative decisions each photographer made; technical knowledge on the part of the reader is assumed (for reference, I consider myself an "intermediate" and I have no problems following along). The subject stays true to its title, focusing on the creative, objective side of photojournalistic storytelling but being sensitive to the fact that the photographer must often interject himself into the events, either to carefully arrange a "spontaneous" moment as well as the unavoidable formal portaits that are expected from every wedding photographer.
The book addresses both film and digital and handles both equally well, that is to say, it doesn't address either much at all. Again, Hunter has appropriately left a lot of the technical details to other introductory books and focuses on what's specific to wedding photography. He (thankfully) shows no bias in his choice of film vs. digital, merely recounting the opinions of others and explaining the benefits of both. I found a surprising number of examples in the book that were taken digitally. The book has a 2004 publish date, which means it still has relevance, as the generation of digital cameras discussed was the one that really came "of age" (and still often in use today) and today's present crop of cameras are really just a further refinement.
The photographs are fantastic, and unlike some books which highlight only the author's own portfolio, come from a wide number of different photographers. I could almost say that the several-page section of one-paragraph biographies of the photographers is worth at least half the price of the book alone, as my next project on finishing the book will be to find each photographer's portfolio online to further study their work.
This is a great book for intermediate photographers looking to expand their creativity with a more "modern" look to wedding photography (and really, any event photography, for that matter.) 5/5
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros
Experts in photographing weddings with a journalistic eye provide their photographs and tips for taking spectacular and unique wedding photos. Michael Ayers, Frank Cava, Robert Cavalli, Frank A. Frost, Kelly Greer, Travis Hill, Elaine Hughes, Phil Kramer, Heidi Mauracher, Martin Schembri, Monte Zucker, and other master photojournalists offer advice on everything from lenses to lighting to photographing the preceremony excitement and the ceremony itself. In addition to tips and sample photographs, this book details the equipment, planning, and keen sense of observation needed to capture all the wonderful moments of the wedding.
