Light Reading: Gowns, Guitars and the Gamut of Flash

The White Dress in Color: Wedding Inspirations for the Modern Bride
by Beth Lindsay Chapman, Candice Dowling Coppola, Carla Ten Eyck | Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 160 pp. | $45

This recent release is a beautifully illustrated, holistic salute to the entire process of wedding planning, crafted by a trio of wizards in the matrimonial arts. The lavish imagery on every spread is a potent reminder to you, the photographer, that among the stylists, foodies and fashionistas, you’re a crucial member of the wedding team­­—and ultimately it’s the photograph that best keeps the glow of the ritual alive.

Romantic locations comprise one editorial theme of The White Dress in Color; here, newlyweds clown for the camera in New Orleans’ picturesque French Quarter. Photo © Sara Code-Kroll

“A wedding begins as a fantasy,” goes the book’s intro, “fluttering like a colorful butterfly in the imagination of a hopeful bride-to-be.” With that motif, The White Dress in Color weaves you through a handful of distinctive wedding scenarios, including a Central American-themed beach wedding, another staged against the woodsy backdrop of a mountaintop horse ranch, and yet another beneath the filigreed balconies of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Among the countless how-to’s that try to steer you through the rites of being a successful wedding shooter, The White Dress in Color approaches the task on a lively and different bandwidth.

The Rolling Stones
by Reuel Golden
 | Taschen, 522 pp. | $150

“Fifty years of memory lane…” is Keith Richards’ personal stamp on this staggering 500-page collection of Stones memorabilia, both visual and verbal. He could just as accurately have said “fifty pounds of memory lane,” referring to the limited, “SUMO-sized” edition of this book—1,600 slip-cased copies printed 20 x 20 inches, each with a $5,000 price tag and autographed by all four members of the original group. For most of us, the 13 x 13-inch edition will probably suffice, sans Mick’s florid signature. It’s just as masterfully edited as its hefty Taschen cousins—Her Majesty and Harry Benson: The Beatles—and it features images by a squadron of photographic legends that includes Cecil Beaton, David Bailey, Norman Parkinson, Annie Leibovitz, Albert Watson and Helmut Newton. You don’t have to be a Stones fan to love these five extraordinary decades of cultural metamorphosis and simply great imagery all together in one volume.

Creative Flash Photography
by Tilo Gockel | Rocky Nook, 304 pp. | $44.95

In a nice twist on the idea of the workshop, flash specialist Tilo Gockel has packaged 40 of his own lighting lessons into an energetic and very readable book. It explores dozens of variations on using modest speedlights off-camera, often to perform the work of muscular studio strobes. Gockel uses these little units singly and in multiples; he slaves and accessorizes them, shows you how to create serious portraits, food and product shots, special effects—the whole gamut. Creative Flash Photography: Great Lighting with Small Flashes: 40 Flash Workshops is a user-friendly take on an ingenious facet of imaging.

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