Customer Reviews

Wedding Photographer's Handbook

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I'm about 3/4 of the way through the first time, making a few notes as I go. This book is exactly what I was looking for. I'm a technically competent camera user. I've done dark room work in the past, and PhotoShop more currently. I'm an aging geek and amateur photographer and can handle the technology end just fine. I can recognize a good shot when I see one, but I've never done "People Photography" as other than casual shots or incidental to scenery.

This book gives great examples of the kinds of wedding photography currently popular. While it goes into some of the technical aspects of digital photograpy: work flow, RAW,color space, etc.; it covers "people techniques" such as appropriate camera height for portraiture, bust, and full body shots. It covers pose basics such as 7/8, and 3/4 head shots. Shoulders turned at an angle, head tilt differences for the bride verses the groom. Whether I make effective use of this book remains to be seen, but the information is just what I wanted.

Bill Hurter's WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER'S HANDBOOK, 2ND EDITION comes from the editor of Rangefinder and goes behind the scenes with some of the world's top wedding photographers to learn their secrets for success. Images, ideas, and keys to everything from planning a shoot to designing an album makes for a powerful survey of digital workflow techniques that incorporate the latest wedding photography trends and equipment. Digital photographers will find this a 'must'.

I am a photographer with a passion and an eye, but not too much technical training and definitely far from what I would consider professional. I usually shoot in automatic mode because I'm not as comfortable in the other modes and the only lens I have is the one that came with my digital SLR. Still, I shot a few weddings years ago and was asked to shoot a friend's sister wedding this coming summer. I decided to use this as an excuse to brush up on my skills and expand my equipment. I wanted to be informed going into the wedding and was especially interested in learning about what sort of equipment I should be considering. I decided to buy this book and the Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories. The books arrived in the same shipment and as I flipped through the books, I immediately could tell that if I had seen both of these in bookstores before I purchased them, I would have probably just purchased the other book, "Digital Wedding Photography:..." . It is significantly longer and almost looks like a text book with clearly outlined content. I prepared myself with post-its to mark up important things to refer to as I read the books to reference later.

I read this book by Hunter first and fairly quickly. It's a lot shorter and while their photos are far superior, offers a more top-level, general introduction to the world of wedding photography. I only placed 3 post-its in this book.

Then I read the other book by Glen Johnson and discovered that my first impression was spot-on: it was much more detailed. The actual photography in the Johnson book was not as creative as the photos in the Hunter book so I ended up being glad that I got both, although I value the information I received in the Johnson book over the inspiration I received from the Hunter book since I could probably find similar inspiration by looking at images online.

Overall, I would recommend you buy Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories instead if you're looking for detailed information. If you just want general information and are more interested in inspirational shots, then go with this book instead.

I have not shot a wedding on my own, and I am not sure I want to, but I have been the second shooter and would like to do more of that. So, from my experience and viewpoint, Hurter's book is an excellent resource. I imagine I will read it through again shortly before I assist with my next wedding. Hurter provides a great layout of all things a photographer should keep in mind when shooting a wedding. He covers some technical information that was helpful for me, especially the basics of posing and camera positioning, etc., to help subjects look their best. I've heard this info before, but there was something in Hurter's presentation of it that registered with me, and I think I will likely look the book over again until those things become second nature to me. Hurter also emphasizes the weight of shooting a wedding. It's something to go into with respect and knowledge, and you can get a lot of that here. It's not the be-all and end-all of wedding photography books, but to me there is no such thing. And it is an excellent overview with great shots from a variety of the top wedding photographers around the world.

I think several other people gave rave reviews of this book (which by the way is more like reading a magazine, in size and look). And I think B.Hurter is a great photographer; As a wedding photographer I aspire to master many of his wonderful techniques. But I sometimes get the feeling that these mini books (there are many of them out there), which are loaded with hand picked, glossy, over-edited images and lacking on information are meant as a revenue generator, not as a genuine effort at sharing technical expertise or artistic technique. This was the 3rd or 4th kind of book that I've read like this one and they are starting to sound the same, separated only by different titles and newer photos. If you're new to wedding photography, there are some nuggets of knowledge to be found here, but don't think you'll uncover any secrets about photography. I built my business around Glen Johnson's "Digital Wedding Photography" book, so I recommend that one if you're new to the biz.

I am always looking at ways improve my shooting experience. With that in mind, this book did not give me many new insights. The book has good information and start with the basics.

You have a choice, you can learn lessons the hard way or you can pick up a copy of this book. Now I'm not going to guarantee that you'll be fully stocked with knowledge and have a perfect shoot, but you'll certainly be farther down the road than just trying learn on the school of hard knocks. Information must be combined with experience. This book contains very easy reading text as well as a vast supply of example pictures. Good luck shooters out there! - capture the world.......

I bought this book to give me some pointers for shooting weddings. The book is long but it does have some nice pictures. It really didn't help me all that much, but still, nice pictures.

This is a marvelous book! as a wedding photographer I learned a few new things, and refreshed my memory on others.
it is a joy to read this book, it was hard for me to put it down.
The author is WELL knowledgeable on the subject from both the technical aspect and artistic aspect as well as the business side of it.
it is well written with lots of inspiring images including camera settings and focal length with every image.
also whats nice is that there is work from other photographer besides the authors, which gives a sense of variety and different styles.

I highly recommend it to the one who is an aspiring wedding photographer as well as the professional with experience on the field.
A true joy!