Customer Reviews

Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images in Black & White

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

 

 

Andy Marcus' book has many wonderful examples of pictures that tell the story with the story of the wedding day. His style of writing is easy to understand, and his basic techniques are explained. The strength of this book is that Andy trains the reader look for the shots that sell and give a unique 'insider' perspective to wedding photojournalism.

I think Andy could help his readers further if he explained his choice of films, the advantages and disadvantages to each. He uses primarily TMax with some TriX and 400CN film. Why and under what circumstances does he switch.

It would have been helpful to have a little coaching from a great pro like Andy on flash photography. He doesn't use flash in any of his pictures. Unfortunately, many photographers don't get the chance to use the lighting of Videograghers like Andy gets to in his upscale weddings.

Still this is a wonderful book on the subject of wedding jounalism and will be a great benefit to every wedding photographer! Lots of great examples and ideas!

Overall, I liked the book by Andy Marcus. Every wedding photojournalist can benefit by seeing more and more different shots--just to stay 'fresh'. It was also interesting reading how Andy got each shot, etc. But that's about it. It doesn't give you pointers on how to shoot photojournalistic weddings and it certainly doesn't go into how to approach the entire day from a photojournalistic viewpoint. This book would be better titled 'Unique Wedding Images in Black and White'. If you're looking for a how-to book on photojournalistic wedding photography, you'll need to look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you'd like to see a nice collection of unique images, you'll be happy.

This book tells it as it ought to be. A great book, especially for those photographers who already provide good quality photography to their brides and want to add another dimension. We should all develop the skills to offer our brides what THEY want, not what we THINK they ought to have. This book can definitely help.

I was impressed with the photos, but it was never explained how Mr. Marcus can shoot both a traditional and photojournalistic wedding with two camera systems at the same time. There was one brief mention that he saw a candid moment happening over there, switched from a Hasselblad to the Canon, quickly got his B&W decisive moment without a hitch, then goes back to shooting traditional color wedding photography. Absolutely amazing! As an experienced wedding photographer, I would like to know how this works...all day. If he can hedge between the two styles and pull it off, how can the reader do the same, or even want to do the same?

This was Denis Reggie's book to write, not Andy Marcus. Here's a traditional based shooter trying to explain - of all things - the mindset of the photojournalist (I have heard his seminars where he freely admits that he is no expert on p.j.! , yet here is his book!)... quite honestly, he just doesn't get it. I sense cash-in motive... very little usable info, even the images looked staged (not p.j.)... bride loooking into lens, somewhat cheesey. They built their name in NY with posey pictures and it shows. Very weak.

Coming from one of the most respected wedding photographers in the country. Andy Marcus teaches us techniques that can only come from a master. The book clearly depicts all aspects of the art. Anything thing you need to know about lighting,posing,lenses, equipment, performance, presentation, strategy, printing.... Marcus provides it all.. A definite guide for any aspiring photographer.

This book is great for a young photographer starting out in the business. Many great ideas and stories from one of the truly great wedding photographers in the country. His thoughts regarding pricing and proper equipment and film selection. Some of the reviews below sound like jealous diatribes from Andy's competitors in New York and elsewhere. They should be jealous...they wish they could do what he has done! Look at the book and make your own judgement.

It's hard to take someone serious who's trying to teach you something, if their work doesn't seem all that great. That is the case with this book. Still decent, especially for the price I paid for it ($3) - And just why they have to be all in B/W is beyond me. Heck, even newspapers print in color these days...

My girlfriend and I were looking for examples of candid, story-telling, photojournalistic style photos for our wedding. However, this book was a total waste of money. The photos are poorly done and fail to inspire any interest in the events they capture. Needless to say, this book gave us great ideas for the type of photos we DON'T want.

I don't know what alternative book to recommend, but if you do, please let me know :)

After reading his book, and, I myself, doing both traditional and photojournalistic weddings, cannot in my heart-n-soul recommend this book as a learning tool for newcomers to the photojournalistic style of weddings. Although his images are quite beautiful, anyone that shoots 15-20 rolls of film should be able to come up with a 120 page book to show for it. He covered lighting, film, lense size, and appeture, but he missed on one important part, which is shutter speed. But I got it from the library, so what do I care.