Customer Reviews

The Wedding Photographer's Handbook: a guide to modern wedding photography

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Gene Ho, the Wedding Photographer's Handbook: a guide to modern wedding photography is neither a handbook nor a guide. It reads like a first draft of an ego exercise; self congratulation with a few touches of insecurity and some self pity thrown in toward the end. The forward is written by someone who proudly includes MBA after her name, but is in dire need of a writing class to supplement her business courses. The body is a 108 page list of single sentences that if constructed in paragraph form and edited would have reduced this "book" to a 25 page pamphlet.

Each attempt to embrace this format was quickly mired in distraction. Thirty seven out of the 108 pages contain some kind of grammatical error - subject/verb agreement, punctuation, split infinitives. In this day and age, who doesn't know how to run spell check or grammar check in their word processing program? And what exactly is it with this expression, "The reason being is . . ."? A reason can not be! A reason is or it is not.

The most egregious bit of carelessness is the section titled, "Make your Pictures Complimentary". What? Make your pictures FREE? The word is used eight times; only once correctly - complementary, as in balance. I was so struck by this that I got out my highlighter. I could feel more errors waiting in the pages to come. If you are proud of your work, be proud of all of it. If you are not a strong writer or are self publishing, hire a copy editor. If, on top of that, your "book's" Forward claims you are a teacher at a technical college, for god's sake hire a copy editor!

The most striking portrait of the author came in this sentence, "That is because I will never return a favor and refer another studio". In the pages following that keen statement he tells the reader to form alliances of give and take. A few pages after that he mocks another photographer for sharing his original, less than gracious, motto. So, which is it?

Any points of note were mostly common sense. A few could relate to the use of the term "modern" in the title. This "book" was an overall disappointment. However, it was a great lesson in pride versus humility and carelessness versus professionalism.

worst book I have ever purchased. I am a 20+ year veteran photographer. this book sucks, spelling is horrible, suggestions are ignorant, photographer is a blow hard stuck on himself

Wasn't what I thought it would be.. no pictures to show you things just a book.. think it's going to the used book store in TN when I go back the end of Sept..

Finally a book with real-world, practical advice. This is a quick, easy read that you'll want to revisit over and over because it really lays out a useful approach to successful wedding and event photography. It's not a complete and thorough examination of all the technical aspects, it's just plain simple and practical and full of tips and ideas that you can instantly put to good use in building a business. I loved it and highly recommend it for anyone serious about starting and succeeding in wedding photography.

This book is invaluable to the wedding photgrapher who wants to learn how to get on in the business. It has no pictures and is just full of useful information.

This is a great fast-read and up-beat book. It was comforting to know that as a wedding photographer since 2003 that I share many tricks of the trade that an accomplished photographer such as Gene Ho utilizes. I recommend this book to anyone starting out as well as anyone who has been in the business for a while.

This was an awesome book! It has a great common sense approach and is very easy to read! I read it in one day! I would recommend this book to anyone that is considering becoming a wedding photographer. This book does not contain a great amount of detail in the business. The author takes a relaxed approach to sharing some do's and dont's about the business. This is not a book for people seeking a detailed step by step "how to" kinda guide.

I bought this book to do a friend's wedding. My specialty is close-up nature photography and doing a wedding needed research! I love this book and use it all the time! I'm doing another wedding this weekend and, of course, referred to the chapters, "The Count Down," "The Wedding Day," and "The Reception" to refresh my notes and memory. This book is very entertaining and Gene Ho apparently has logged a lot of "been there, done that" sort of experiences that really do come up. It's a quick read with very short paragraphs. I seriously love this book!