Customer Reviews

Weddings (Commercial Photography)

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I have read almost every book on wedding photography and this is definitely one of the top 2-3. I bought this without thinking since I have bought her excellent "Professional Portraits" and I am not disappointed on this one. Unlike some other books that only tell you it is the best to photo on an overcast day.. this book tells you how to shoot under the bright sun, using the shadows, in the rain, etc.

The book has some good information still, but even though it's only a couple of years old (2003 I think), the pictures just seem as if they are from the late 80's or early 90's. And they're all VERY GRAINY!!! You can tell by her experiences that she knows what she's talking about and she is very talented, but I just think it's a bit out of date for today's wedding photographer. Good thing I got mine for under $3. If you're just getting started in the business, I would actually recommend you get this book (if you can get it as cheaply as I did) and use it to compare to other books you read. It actually can help you figure out which shots NEVER to do...

It was only after I read this book that I realized the definition of 'contemporary photography' apparently means hold the camera on an angle and putting the subject slightly out of the depth of field so that they're nicely out of focus.

Yes Annabel has some nice photos and yes she does give some good advice, but just as the grainy, out of focus, slanted photos seen in a lot of ads today will look dated in ten years, so will these wedding photos.

Having photographed many weddings, I know that my brides would not want a portrait in front of a rusty door hinge, a 'spur of the moment' shot of the maid of honour's butt, or a shot of the groom and the ushers (page 48) in which the feet of the men closest to the camera are in focus and the faces of all of the men are out of focus. Blow that up to 11"x14" and it will look even worse than it does in this book.

I agree that you can have an unobtrusive style of working during a wedding and that you can get a number of off the cuff shots that work. Sloppy focusing, grainy film and turning the camera on an angle is not a 'style' of wedding photography. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but this style is doomed.