Review of Mastering Digital Wedding Photography (Paperback)

I generally like books from the Thomson's digital photography series. Their books are typically lucid, well illustrated, and informative. Karney's book fits well into the Thomson series. He brings his expert, professional knowledge to the craftof wedding photography, focusing primarily on the technical aspects of the profession.

But keep in mind Karney's book is a general guide about wedding photography. If you already have such a book, you probably won't learn too much different in this one. He introducesthe basics of choosing camera and software related equipment, setting up and carrying out a wedding shoot, and processing the photos after you've shot the wedding.

Specific chapters include: Equipment Matters, Computers and Software (main focus on PC and Windows users. No Mac examples present), Setting Up a Website, Getting Ready for the Big Day, Making Creative and Fun (this section could be expanded), and Proofing, Selling, and Printing.

He primarily shares and explains the tools he uses, such as iView Media Pro iView MediaPro 3 (Win/Mac) and Photodex ProShow. He doesn't delve into the latest popular software like Adobe Lightroom Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 Win/Mac or Apple's Aperture Apple Aperture 1.5. But the workflow process he introduces could apply to almost any digital management system.

The book is well illustrated and even contains a few useful camera tutorials that every photography should either know about or learn. In fact, it would be great to see Karney write an entire book of these types of tutorials.

Cons: The book is lacking in a few areas. I felt he should have spent more time on photo technique and style. You will certainly need to check out other books on this subject. And many of the photos included in the book, while very nice, don't always illustrate the points he's making on a particular page. For example, all the tutorials could have used photos to illustrate what he is instructing readers to do.I also think he could have included more about how Photoshop actions useful to wedding photographers. PS actions are huge time savers for anyone in the business. And finally, the business aspects wedding photography are not well introduced in this book, but again you can find more information in other books about this topic. Check out Best Business Practices for Photographers

Overall, though, the book is one of many that a serious beginning photographer should read. I've read better ones than this, but I do appreciate the information and experience Karney shares in his book. I highly suggest getting this or a similar book if you're just starting out in the profession and you're looking for ideas and suggestions from a pro.

Product Description
Mastering Digital Wedding Photography serves as a practical guide to the unique art, craft, and business of wedding photography in the digital realm. Succeeding as a wedding photographer requires more than the ability to take excellent pictures under pressure. You must also develop a solid business and marketing plan that makes you stand out from the crowd in this highly competitive industry. This book addresses each of these fundamental skills. You will conquer hands-on techniques for the shooting of documentary events, making great portraits quickly, and maximizing the quality of your images after they have been captured. You'll also cover the essential topics of workflow and file management and important marketing techniques that will expand your services and grow your business. Whether you are a novice photographer, a seasoned professional adding weddings to your assignment list, or a film photographer transitioning to the digital realm, Mastering Digital Wedding Photography will help you develop the skills you need to capture the magic of each wedding you photograph.

About the Author
James Karney has over 30 years experience as an award-winning professional photographer and teacher. He started as a wedding apprentice in high school and has worked as a photojournalist, medical photographer, studio photographer, and served four years as a US Marine Corps photographer. He developed and taught the 18-month photography certificate program at South Georgia Tech. He is an accomplished computer journalist, whose work has appeared in PC Magazine, Windows Magazine, Computer Shopper, and Internet World. His books include The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow, Mastering Digital Wedding Photography (Named a Book of the Year by Shutterbug Magazine), the Golden-Lee bestseller Upgrade and Maintain Your PC, The Power of CorelDRAW, and the Microsoft Press Training Kit for A+ Certification.He is a graduate of the US Navy Photographic School, and holds a bachelors degree in Communications from Excelsior College as well as a master of science in Computer Technology from Nova Southeastern University.

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