Customer Reviews

Wedding Photography, 2nd Edition: Art, Business & Style (A Lark Photography Book)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I picked this book up in the book store
And started to thumb through it
The more I read, the more convinced
I was, that I needed this book
Steve Sint presents a no nonsense approach to the subject
Many authors tell you what you should do
but not how to do it
An example, is the chapter on Flash photography
He explains why he uses the flash in the manual mode
and the exact settings he uses
Most authors leave out all the details
This is a great book
at a reasonable price

Steve Sint's book is old-school, but not in a good way, and I just cannot get over his choice of images.

The 200-page tome is loaded with wedding photos, but they are mostly of the cheesy variety, right down to the double-exposure technique that lets you superimpose a close-up of a smiling bride over the interior of a chapel. To me, that photo epitomizes all that is corny and dated about wedding photography, and it drives home the reason why we desperately needed (and got!) a new school of wedding shooters -- Joe Buissink, Yervant, Bambi Cantrell, Jeff Ascough, Anna Kuperberg, Sean Watson -- to rescue the genre from death by embarrassment.

The business advice Sint offers is often pretty questionable too. Case in point: He presents another double-exposure shot where you see the exterior and the interior of a church at the same time, superimposed, and writes "If you're the only photographer in your area who shoots pictures like this, you'll get a lot of referrals because of its [sic] uniqueness." Yeah, in 1986, maybe. Most Gen X and Gen Y brides go wouldn't be caught dead with photos like that in their albums. Has Sint looked at a recent issue of, say, the Knot?

A large photo on page 17 shows a couple posing at Rockefeller Center in New York, and despite that location offering a wealth of cool angles, it's not much of a shot compositionally, with the bride and groom placed dead center, and lots of distracting elements all around them (exacerbated by an f-stop of perhaps f/8 or f/11, which doesn't appreciably blur the background). But worse is the unflattering gleam on their faces, a greasy-looking sheen probably caused by the photographer's fill flash. How you can NOT retouch an image like that, especially if you're going to include it in a book like this, is beyond me.

There are nice photos too, and a few excellent ones, but they are few and far between.

The book is almost all artifice and posing, with just a couple of throwaway lip-service sentences about photojournalism-style wedding photography.

Some of the shots that Sint reminds you to get (at Bar Mitzvahs):

"Bar Mitzvah Boy Sitting in Driver's Seat of Family Car."
"Dad Giving Boy a Cigar."

Again, it's corniness exemplified. Most modern shooters worth their salt are guided by the uniqueness of the people in front of them and so end up with something different every time; they neither need nor want a greatest-hits repertoire of synthetic poses. Cookie cutters are for baking, not for photography.

Beyond that, it doesn't help that Sint, between the lines, kinda pooh-poohs digital camera systems, and appears stuck in a peculiar time-warp (OK, it *is* a 2005 book) that has him singing the praises of *roll film* (not even 35mm film!). Well, no wonder he's not into photojournalism, then: I have to assume that at weddings he's being slightly stingy with the number of exposures on his expensive film, which in addition must be swapped out after every 20, 24, or 30 exposures (depending on the format). That hardly promotes spontaneity or spur-of-the-moment shooting. To each his own, but I'd rather be taking photos than tending to yet another cartridge/film replacement.

I'm sure Sint is a nice guy, and I mean no offense -- but the bottom line is this: If your creative sensibilities skew towards modern and light and fun and 'not stiff,' this book can't help but be be a disappointment.

For those of you looking to enter into the world of wedding photography, I definately recommend reading this book. Steve Sint takes a no-nonsense approach to the business of wedding photography and reveals a darker side to what many look down upon as a cushy way to make some easy money. The book is easy to read and offers some light humour in a package that provides several tips on how to overcome the many challenges faced by wedding photographers including lighting, group shots, posing, selling yourself and your work, and much more. This book assumes you already have some photography experience so if you are new to the craft it may not offer the photography basics that you should be starting with. Wedding Photography: Art, Business and Style would be a great resource for those of you with some photography experience who are considering stepping into the shoes of a wedding photographer OR photographers who have shot a few weddings and are looking for suggestions for overcoming the challenges associated with the profession.

The author has done a wonderful job of presenting all the basics of good wedding photography in an easy to understand format. Great practical examples and by far the most complete text I have read. Most photography books seem to be a bit light on meaningful content and just give tips this is a start to finish course on shooting a wedding.

An effective style of instruction will be found in this book. In addition to the literature which I think is very clear, are many photographs and that illustrate the concepts being discussed.
Topics discussed in a chapter by chapter format include: posing, lighting (which I found most useful), equipment and others.

If you lean more towards wedding photojournalism, you'll find this book annoying. The author takes stab after stab at the photojournalistic style and concentrates on listing which images you can sell after the wedding.

I found the photography examples rather cheesy and old. The "Posing" chapter starts with a full page image of a bride and groom (almost smack in the middle of the photograph) and the groom's arms hanging down to his sides. I'm new to wedding photography, but even I know that's poor posing! It has some good points, but I wasn't too impressed.

If you're into Traditional style of photography, this is a very good book for you to read. The author breaks the wedding down to almost every kind of picture you should create and how to make it sell at the end. It will be useful to you.

So far, after having read 4 separate books on wedding photography this is my least favorite.

I was disappointed with this book. There were some good ideas such as formal posing, but otherwise, outdated. A better wedding photography book by far is "Digital Wedding Photography" by Glen Johnson.

I purchased this book more for style than technology. I would be the wrong person to give good tips on the equipment chapter in this because I didn't read it. However it is covered. As for style this came to me highly recommended but it missed the mark that I was looking for. There are really great tips for the beginner in here and if you are thinking about the Wedding Photography business this book is great for you. If you've been around for a while this book is not for you. All others go for it...

I flicked thru a number of wedding books at B&N and this one actually was pretty good! So i bought it! I'll keep it short:
1) Nice easy reading...not some dry stuff
2) Good photos that go with the text
3) Good examples of set up and positions for shooting..e.g. where to place lights, what to do when the tables have high center pieces, in dark churches, etc
4) Run-down of gears he uses...helpful if you don't know what brand, or what the equipment is! I find this quite useful for me.
5) Poses! Some good advice on setting up the portraits or group shot.
6) Business...how to keep it profitable...haven't finished this section yet...
Overall, a keeper for me.

I'm not new to photography but have not shot a wedding yet and am doing a couple of them this year and I love that this book covers everything from the equipment, to all the "money shots" that you need to take at a wedding, along with posing recommendations so you don't stand there on an island by yourself without a clue as to how to get people together. Even if you don't plan on shooting a wedding I think this is a great general photography book if you just want to become a better portrait photographer.