45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Number ONE on my list for Wedding Photo Books, March 8, 2005
This review is from: Digital Wedding Photography (Paperback)
The first thing one notices about Paul Gero 's new book, Digital Wedding Photography, is the stunning photographs. It's not just that they are stunning; you'd expect a book about photography to have good photographs. These images have a certain quality: a freshness, they are real, exuberant. You know these moments are not staged, made to look romantic, like a fashion shoot or a pretend wedding. Yet, every photograph evokes beauty and emotion. It's more than composition, though that is impeccable, no unnecessary information but the essentials. They are about life, a real story.
On the practical side the book is well organized starting with equipment, then discusses organizing your shoot and yourself to actually photograph a wedding. Gero talks about what makes a great photograph, the different styles and approaches. Chapter three and four goes over what events make up a wedding day and what to look for and organize your story around visually. He emphasizes the art of visual storytelling, discussing the broad strokes as well as the details. Sprinkled thorough out are technical tips and tricks that he has learned and developed over the years.
As a long time photojournalist now doing wedding photography myself, Gero's first four chapters were an affirmation of the fine work being done in this growing field of documentary wedding photography. What I needed was a bit of technical help. I went digital two years ago and every day I learn something new. The second half of Digital Wedding Photography filled a HUGE bill on the technical side and I have poured over the advice and step-by-step walk-through techniques. With each new technique I found myself saying, "So that's how you do that!" It sure beats my trial and error method. I began using his tips immediately.
In the last year or so I have bought at least 8 books and guides to wedding photography. Some good, others not so helpful. Paul Gero's book is most definitely number one on my list. Enthusiastically agree with reviewer DJL.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Result of Years of Experience Photographing Weddings, March 8, 2005
This review is from: Digital Wedding Photography (Paperback)
There are two aspects to wedding photography.
First is the technical, and since this book is on digital photography it talks about digital cameras and the digital image manipulation software to make the photographs stand out.
Much more important is looking at the wedding scene from start to finish recognizing those instants of life that make the day memorable. Some of his photographs are simply stunning. Sometimes stunning in their simplicity. For instance his pictures of the hand of the bride with her engagement ring as a point of emphasis or the picture of the flower girl holding her basket tell stories of their own, each of which is easily worth the stories thousand words.
Looking at the picture ideas is worth the price of the book by themselves. Here he is showing what only years of experience photographing weddings can teach. It is the recording of the human emotions of the day.
Great book.
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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Check out book in bookstore before you buy., December 14, 2005
This review is from: Digital Wedding Photography (Paperback)
From all the great reviews I was looking forward to buying this book. I checked it out at the book store and found it to be a rather slim book. Not a whole lot of content. Many short sections and not a lot of depth. If you know something about photography, this book may be a lot of repeat basic information. Nothing groundbreaking and not a lot of meat to any subject. If you're like me, you'll read through it once in an hour then never pick it up again.
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