Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories (Paperback)

by Glen Johnson (Author) "Wedding photography varies from other types of photography in that it moves from place to place as you are constantly trying to catch people in..." (more)
Key Phrases: shooting weddings, digital studio, magic hour, Creating Your Wedding Day Workflow, Jazzing Up the Reception, Creating the Finished Product (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Capture unforgettable moments of that special day



Professional wedding photographer Glen Johnson knows there's a huge difference between being able to take good pictures and being a good wedding photographer. In this exquisite, full-color book, Glen dispenses sage advice and solutions for taking impressive digital wedding images -- posed or candid, in any weather, in any setting, at any locale. You will also learn the secrets of creating a successful digital wedding photography business, and much more. Whether you're an aspiring professional or an amateur who wants to improve your skills at digital wedding photography, this book will help you succeed.

Discover what makes wedding photography a unique specialty
* Find out how to make people feel relaxed and comfortable while you're shooting
* Explore ways to capture the emotion as well as the moment
* Understand different photographic styles and adapt to your client's wishes
* Prepare for all types of lighting situations
* Learn appropriate etiquette for shooting in dressing rooms and during the ceremony
* Know what to take when traveling abroad
* Set up the perfect digital studio to process your images
* Find out how to price your work realistically
* See why your business skills may be more important than your photographic talent


Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, each showingthe camera settings and other details used to create the image

From the Back Cover
Capture unforgettable moments of that special day

Professional wedding photographer Glen Johnson knows there's a huge difference between being able to take good pictures and being a good wedding photographer. In this exquisite, full-color book, Glen dispenses sage advice and solutions for taking impressive digital wedding images — posed or candid, in any weather, in any setting, at any locale. You will also learn the secrets of creating a successful digital wedding photography business, and much more. Whether you're an aspiring professional or an amateur who wants to improve your skills at digital wedding photography, this book will help you succeed.

Discover what makes wedding photography a unique specialty

• Find out how to make people feel relaxed and comfortable while you're shooting
• Explore ways to capture the emotion as well as the moment
• Understand different photographic styles and adapt to your client's wishes
• Prepare for all types of lighting situations
• Learn appropriate etiquette for shooting in dressing rooms and during the ceremony
• Know what to take when traveling abroad
• Set up the perfect digital studio to process your images
• Find out how to price your work realistically
• See why your business skills may be more important than your photographic talent

Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, each showingthe camera settings and other details used to create the image

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (August 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471790176
• ISBN-13: 978-0471790174
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Photography Book you READ..., December 16, 2006

By	P. Lehmann "DFWLens" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...because it is so well written.

Let me start out by offering kudos to Amazon reviewers. I ordered this book because of its 5 star rating. If I just saw it on the shelf at a bookstore, I dont know if I would have picked it up...and it would have been my loss.

Because I keep getting more and more requests to do weddings, I sat down a few days ago and got three books from Amazon, each 5-star rated. I wanted to explore whether weddings are something I dare get into. The other two books I thumbed through, looked at the pics, skimmed a paragraph or chapter when something caught my attention, and kept going.

This one I started on this afternoon and read cover to cover...without meaning to!

Before you yawn and move on, know that this book is twice as thick as the average Amherst book (and only a tad smaller).

First of all, this book is targeted to people like me...folks that have a good working knowledge of SLRs and are either curious or serious about starting to shoot weddings. The book is written in a conversational style without the narrative stuffiness that caused me to put the other two down after thumbing through.

I felt like the author was talking to someone on my level, without all the eliteism I run into when mixing in semi- or pro circles.

For example, I know that shooting RAW gives more control over images. I know that primes are generally sharper than zooms. I've met purists who proudly snub their noses at JPEG, zooms, or both, speaking of them with the same disgust one might have talking about a cockroach that crosses the floor... or the junior photog in front of them that sheepishly mentions he uses both.

I own a couple of primes and will probably buy Photoshop CS2 in the next 12 months. Although its a necessary evil, I dont really enjoy sitting in front of a computer with the image software I have, much less something as complicated as CS2. Rather, Ive tried to spend the last couple of years immersing myself in PHOTOGRAPHY- trying to get the best, most creative images through the lens and into the camera...before all the processing.

I never felt second-class while reading this book.

This author tells you the "what" to do, but he excels in also telling the "why." A suggestion for certain shots has the requisite photo as an example, but often has other photos demonstrating how differences from that suggestion that affect the final image...usually negatively. This author has little problem "showing" as well as "telling."

He gives examples of why RAW is better most of the time, but he freely admits that shooting RAW involves a cost/benefit tradeoff, particularly a solo photog without a studio staff devoted to post-processing. He has no problems with the idea that sometimes JPEG wins that tradeoff for whatever reason. He writes about situations he feels JPEGs work just fine and times where even a JPEG photog needs to shoot RAW if at all possible (for example, shots of a bride in bright sunlight). He shows examples of why he says that. After all that, he then goes into tips to use if you still choose JPEG.

Other authors adopt the tone, "If you don't do what I say, you're wasting both our time by reading any further."

He talks about how digital has changed the landscape of wedding photography (such as folks like me considering it) and the trends of some photogs to provide digital copies on DVD's instead of keeping negatives and extracting money on prints. Rather than judge or cry about either, he simply deals with it and presents business models that take advantage of each issue either way.

The other books have gorgeous pics of gorgeous people getting married in castles, attended by butlers or maids as they get ready, and amazing images of fantasy weddings I doubt I'll ever attend. In fact, my new favorite wedding pic (maybe favorite any pic!) was in one of those books.

But I kept coming back to this book to read.

Even though I cant count how many photog books Ive read over the past two years, I still learned from this one.

I dont know if I will seriously commit to weddings or not.

I do know I am a better photog now than I was 8 hours ago...without even picking up a camera.

UPDATE 11/07

I can agree with one reviewer that the books is probably most helpful to shooters with 0-5 weddings under their belts. I'll add that its also probably most helpful to photogs that have read 0-5 wedding books. As I pointed out, the other books I bought were stuffed with "Photographs!" that dazzle and inspire. Heck, I brought out the other two to thumb through and ogle pics last night. But last week, I broke this one out to read though again.

New to wedding photography? Picture books are great for visual inspiration. Amazon is flooded with thin wedding books with purdyful, full-page pics. Heck, if you're reading this you can see what you probably aspire to same right now by searching though the top rated wedding photographs in various online galleries such as photo*net or photosig*com. Some of the work there, as with many other books and websites, is distilled, unadulterated Mastery.

This book, however, is written as a tutorial for your brain (and wallet) more than an art class for your eye sockets. If this describes your needs, then, a year after purchase, I still offer my recommendation to you.

80 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Member of the Wedding, October 30, 2006

By	Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book tells experienced photographers everything they need to know to make the transition into professional wedding photography. It is one of the best written books I have encountered in the field of photography.

The author starts out by describing three styles of wedding photography: traditional wedding photography, photojournalistic-style wedding photography and portrait journalism with a summery of each to help the reader understand the implications in terms of equipment, wedding day activities, individual style and even fees. Like so much of the book the reader may well say, "That's so clear. Why didn't I think of that?"

Throughout the book, the author assumes he's dealing with photographers who understand how to use cameras. When he talks about equipment, he assumes the reader is familiar with a digital single lens reflex camera's functions and just describes the features he considers important in selecting a camera for wedding photography. His method throughout the book is to follow the wedding photographer's workflow, from meeting the client to the wedding day to delivering the pictures.

His discussion of the dressing room is typical of his approach. He discusses the lenses the photographer will need, and which ones to select for conditions to get appropriate wedding shots. He notes the lighting problems that will be encountered and suggests solutions. He even discusses how to suggest a dressing room location to the bride that will provide the most memorable shots, and moreover, includes advice on dressing room etiquette, including nudity.

When it comes to the ceremony, he tells you the shots you have to have, and how to plan so you don't miss any, while not offending the guests who came to see the wedding and not the photographer.

The book finishes up with some suggestions regarding workspace setup and methods of providing the photos to the customer.

This book could serve as a model to authors of photography books. The outline is clear and concise. There's no unnecessary material, but everything a photographer needs to know to make the transition to wedding photography is included.

The book is not aimed at someone who is attending a wedding and wants to get a few shots of the bride. Rather, it's aimed at the person who wants to photograph weddings as a business and already knows something about taking pictures and processing them digitally.

I'm not certain how much new material the practicing wedding photographer will find here, but even experienced wedding shooters may learn something about organizing workflow to achieve a product that will be artful and please the customers.

And that, by the way, is an underlying theme. You can make money; you can please the participants; and you can create satisfying art as a wedding photographer.

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource, August 9, 2006

By	Bakari "Wedding & Event Photographer, Mac User" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

As a beginning wedding photographer, I've had several questions about almost every aspect of the profession and business, and I can truely say that Glen's book offers answers to many of my most important queries.

As you read this book, you feel as though you're in wedding photography workshop whereby Glen shares his experiences, secrets, and tips for digital wedding photography.

I like how he explains the latest trends in the business, especially concerning the Creative Fee model whereby clients pay the photographer up front for complete wedding coverage and he or she in return provides the client with a CD or DVD of a set of full resolution, color corrected and enhanced, photos taken at the wedding. Clients can further hire the photographer for album design and production, but the focus is to provide clients with well done digital photos that tell a story about the wedding day.

From the outset of the book, Glen had me taking notes and making a list of improvements I want to make to my digital photography. After reading the three digital workflow examples he includes in the book, I went to my computer and begin writing out my own workflow which as I refine it will not only save me time but will help me become a better photographer.

In addition, Glen goes into nearly all aspects of digitla wedding photography, including light and exposure settings, essential shots throughout the weddding, suggestions for camera and other digital equipment (go to his website for a must have list of equipment) and post-production work using Photoshop and other photo management software.

As a very busy and experienced destination wedding photographer, Glen doesn't shy away from sharing the challenges of wedding photography. He provides the pros and cons of the business and even shares the thoughts and experiences of his fellow photographers.

Unlike many other wedding photography books, this one is not about show casing high end wedding shots. He includes images that I think can be attained by anyone serious about the craft. Almost every photo includes information about the nature of the shot and the camera settings used to take the shot.

This is a book that you'll you want to write in, yellow sticky selected pages, and constantly refer back to as you prepare for various wedding shoots.

I really appreciate what this hard working photographer has done. It's a much needed book.