Full of instructive images and insightful hints, this book is indispensable for photographers who want to boost their wedding-album sales. Updated with the latest styles, this showcase of 15 top wedding photographers' work and business practices provides insight into each artist's creative process, client service skills, and album design. Information on album types and basic design principles is accompanied by tips for marketing albums, including creating a dazzling sample album, expertly preparing the images for presentation after the ceremony, and discussing the importance of the album as a memento to be cherished for a lifetime. Savvy photographers will learn how to turn an album purchase into a multiple-album sale, how to add on á la carte images, and how to make networking and referrals generate additional business.

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

IMAGINE THE ADVANTAGE YOU’D HAVE IF ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP WEDDING SHOOTERS SHARED HIS SECRETS WITH YOU World-renowned wedding photographer, and one of the most widely acclaimed instructors in the industry today, David Ziser brings his no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point teaching style to a book that totally rewrites the rules for how wedding photography is taught. This groundbreaking new book is the first of its kind to focus on the exact areas that wedding photographers have been begging a top pro like David to cover, including how to create professional quality light and beautiful images in every situation, how to compose wedding images that sell, and how to create amazing images in the limited time and at the fast pace of a wedding. But David doesn’t just stop there. He covers every aspect of what today’s brides and wedding couples want from a wedding photographer, including poses that work every time and can’t-miss lighting setups you can use again and again, and everything is laid out in a brilliant step-by-step method that makes learning these techniques so easy, you’ll be able to pull off these same looks yourself (without spending thousands on expensive equipment). Plus, the book is packed with David’s tricks of the trade that he’s picked up in a career shooting all over the world. LEARN HOW THE PROS REALLY DO IT Each year David trains thousands of photographers on how to shoot weddings like a pro. He knows the problems and challenges today’s wedding photographers face, and that’s exactly what he covers in this book. You’ll learn everything on the list here and much more: Professional posing and composition tips Simple on-location lighting setups that are specially designed for the wedding photographer How to get gorgeous images using a minimal amount of time and equipment Creative lighting techniques that anyone can use to create dramatic wedding portraits that will set you apart David’s own camera settings and lens selections (which lenses to use when, and why), and how to get the best results with your existing gear How pros use on- and off-camera f lash, and a host of tricks of the trade that will make you more profitable and have you delivering the type of wedding shots you’ve always dreamed of! Plus, the book includes the complete cover-to-cover layout from one of David’s wedding album designs to help spark your creative juices and give you ideas to take your own layouts to the next level. The wedding photography industry has been waiting for a landmark book that would become “the book” that finally changes everything, and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting with the purchase of this book.

Fresh, clean, and SIMPLE. Album Moxie makes designing photo albums a breeze. For a lot of photographers, album design is synonymous with headache. The hours (and hours!) spent designing are usually followed by weeks (or even months) of revisions, making for a painful experience for everyone involved. But it doesn’t have to be that way! This book will show you how to combine the right tools with a simple strategy, making it possible (even easy) to design basic albums in seconds, and custom wedding or portrait albums in an hour–or less. By the time you finish the book, you’ll have a beautiful, finished design that’s ready to be ordered! Overhauling the entire approach to traditional album design and marketing, Album Moxie shows how albums can be as good for your workflow as they are for your bottom line–all while adding value for your clients. This fun, spunky, and no-nonsense book: Provides a simplified approach for photographers looking to create and market wedding and portrait albums Walks through the entire album process, from choosing a vendor to exporting production-ready files Guides readers step by step through the design, retouching, and exporting of an actual 20-page album Covers all the necessary tools, including the basics of the one tool that design professionals know and love–Adobe InDesign

Wedding photography has become about story-telling—capturing the emotions and atmosphere of the day through reportage-style photography. This user-friendly manual reveals the techniques needed to create this contemporary style, for professional photographers looking to update their methods, or for aspiring photographers wanting to break into this lucrative market. Includes all the advice you need, from preparation and planning before the wedding, to digital manipulation of your images and presentation to the couple. Features comprehensive checklists, professional tips, tried-and-tested templates, advice boxes and step-by-step sequences to provide endless inspiration and guarantee successful shooting. Demonstrates the fresh contemporary style preferred by modern couples.

Outlining a theory that combines the refinement of traditional posing techniques with the more organic, spontaneous techniques of photojournalism, this creative and informative resource offers poses that rely on personality and interaction. These instructions from a veteran wedding photographer provide the skills needed to recognize what makes a great pose and how to subtly direct your clients to achieve the needed balance between looking great and looking comfortable. Ultimately, this grouping of modern and traditional shots offers answers to the complications faced when attempting to pose wedding parties quickly while keeping the natural look that all wedding couples desire.

If your past attempts at learning flash have all ended in failure (not to mention tears and/or blind rage), then The Off-Camera Flash Handbook is about to change everything for you. For years, photographer Vanessa Joy has been using off-camera flash to create gorgeous portraits that look like they were shot in the most beautiful natural light at the perfect time of day. Well, guess what? That consistent look was not created thanks to the most amazing luck with the weather. No. It was created by a pro photographer who mastered her use of off-camera flash. And with her down-to-earth and practical explanations, that’s exactly what Vanessa teaches you in this book.

Vanessa breaks down off-camera flash into an easy-to-understand approach, and instead of focusing on the gear and the settings (which are also included, of course), she focuses on the kinds of shots you want to make. This book is about learning to use off-camera flash easily and quickly so that you can create beautiful, natural-looking light in any situation, at any time you need it…regardless of the weather or time of day.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One covers the fundamentals of off-camera flash, and it does so without blasting you with a firehose of information. Instead, Vanessa gives you the basics you need so that you can start shooting right away without becoming overwhelmed with technical jargon.

Once you’re set up and ready to go, Vanessa jumps right into Part Two with specific photo scenarios and real-world situations where you’ll learn key techniques for using your flash to create consistent, beautiful photographs. For each scenario, Vanessa provides the goal for the shoot, a gear list, the step-by-step shooting instructions, and images that show both the progress of the shoot and the behind-the-scenes shots or lighting diagrams of the setup. She also discusses problems you may encounter, variations on the shot, and additional practical scenarios for each situation.

Just a few examples include:

• Recreating the golden hour at any time

• Shooting groups

• Making indoors look like outdoors

• Enhancing natural light

• Using flash at events

• Working in harsh sunlight

• Creating silhouettes

• Shooting at sunset

• Fixing an ugly-light room

• And much more

Finally, Part Three tackles the questions you’ll likely have once you’ve got the basics under your belt and you’re already creating great photos with your off-camera flash—things like high-speed sync, sync speed, a practical understanding of the inverse square law, etc. There is also a helpful FAQ section at the end of the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: GETTING STARTED WITH OFF-CAMERA FLASH (OCF)

You Already Know This

Getting Your Flash Off Camera

Getting the Exposure

Light Positions and Modifiers

How to Add More Lights

PART 2: Off-Camera Flash Techniques

Creating Golden Haze

Creating Golden Hour

Creating Twilight

Photographing at Sunset

Making a Magenta Sunset

Group Shots with One Light

Individual Portraits

Portraits of Couples

Enhancing Natural Light

Making Indoors Look Like Outdoors

Super Soft Portrait Light

Warming up the Sky

Keeping a Blue Sky

Light like It's Coming Through a Window

Creating a Silhouette

Turn Day into Night

Tiny Little Details

Table Details

Event Speeches

In Harsh Sunlight

Shooting with Reflectors

Event Bounce Flash

Using Gels for Fun Color Effects

Using Gels to Color Correct

Lighting a Dark Room

Making a Rainy Day Sunny

Lighting to Look Like Window Light

Making Front Bokeh

Filling in Shadows

Wow, This Indoor Light Sucks

Rim Lighting

PART 3: Features, Troubleshooting, and FAQS

WTF Are You Talking About?

But Light Doesn’t Do That

FAQs about OCF