My first wedding---good book??

[guntoter]

My first wedding is coming up in July (plenty of time to prepare). I have the book "Understanding Exposure", and for general photography it is great.

Can you guys recommend some good books on wedding photography? I also want to volunteer with a photographer to be a second just to learn the ropes. I suspect that some skills are involved in doing a good job.

[stathunter]

Joel -- Tim has a recommendation of a few-- I will find his list and post.
I have read tons of them-- the last two that I bought and still have are "Wedding Photography" by Mark Cleghorn and "Contemporary Wedding Photography" by Julie Oswin & Steve Walton.

[guntoter]

Thanks........I will check both of them out.

[guntoter]

OOPs........I should have ask you stathunter, did you think those 2 books were very helpful; especially thinking of a "first wedding" point of view?

[tim]

My recommended books (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=242640).

[ImagesByInku]

Something that I would recommend in addition to those books. Find website of photographers that inspire you. Bookmark them. Visit them and look at their images. Figure out what you like and don't like.

[Peacefield]

I agree with Inku. I'm very comfortable with my technical skills but am still developing my eye for creating the shots. What I do is copy a bunch of images that I really like into a series of PowerPoint slides (maybe 12 thumbnail sized images/page), separated by segment (ceremony, preparations, reception, etc.) and print them off to bring with me as a reference. I find this cheat-sheet very helpful.

[ImagesByInku]

I agree with Inku. I'm very comfortable with my technical skills but am still developing my eye for creating the shots. What I do is copy a bunch of images that I really like into a series of PowerPoint slides (maybe 12 thumbnail sized images/page), separated by segment (ceremony, preparations, reception, etc.) and print them off to bring with me as a reference. I find this cheat-sheet very helpful.

Great idea! One word of caution for others though - I would try to avoid copying or trying to recreate these shots (Peacfield, not implying that you copy them). Use them for ideas, but try to inject some of your own flavor and style into the shot.

[guntoter]

Thanks for all the good replies. This should be an interesting journey of learning.

I have been doing a lot of sports & family events (60,000+ pics in the past couple of years), and I am looking forward to this challenge. Lots of work and study to do between now and then.

[guntoter]

My recommended books (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=242640).


Thanks Tim,
I looked over the list and saw several I would like. For now I just bought the
Digital Wedding Photography, by Paul Gero (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduc t%2F1592004717&tag=headphonerevi-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325). A good introduction and starter book.
Seems like a good one to start with from the description.