Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism (Associated Press Handbooks)

Good read...

As a source of tips and guidance on photo journalism and the art of photography whilst working on location and when dealing with news or documentary subjects this book is quite useful. It is however the most badly written book I have ever read. The standard of English, grammar, and the way the subject matter is developed and discussed is simply quite appalling. As this book is published under the auspices of the Associated Press this is unacceptable. Furthermore the publishers (McGraw Hill) should have appointed an editor to check the text and make the necessary corrections before the book was published. If an editor was appointed prior to publication then he or she along with the author need to re-examine their writing ability.I don't claim to be an expert at grammar or on writing books, nor am I claiming that anything I write is grammatically accurate, but I do try to be accurate and I have enough grasp of my own language to know when I'm reading something badly put together. I have struggled to get through this book. The writing is so bad that even by half way through the first chapter I was ready to throw the book in the bin. However, I have persevered and now that I have finished the book and underlined short passages and quotes I felt were relevant and to-the-point I now have a useful source of advice, tips and guidance on the subject of photojournalism. I can refer to the book whenever I need to and go straight to sections I have underlined.The book itself is rather odd. The glossy cover is well designed and printed but when you open the book what you see inside is incongruous with the cover: the paper for the pages is low grade and the text is printed in an oddly large font size. The book is divided into chapters, but within each chapter there is no further division of the chapter's subject into sub-topics. The text winds its way from one sub-topic to another without any paragraph headings or titles to let the reader know the topics are changing. At various points in the book you'll be reading about a topic one minute and a completely new sub-topic in the next paragraph without any kind of break or segue.I know many people would say there is a growing difference in the style of writing between Americans and Brits - and I know that some British writing (especially in the tabloid papers) is of a decreasing standard, however the standard of writing by the author falls woefully short of what it should be for a book on journalism (albeit photojournalism), and is quite simply riddled with eye-watering incorrect usage and frustrating grammatical gaffs. I ask the author to please check for the correct use of the comma. There are commas littered throughout this book and all too often in completely the wrong place.I don't like to be negative but I felt I would be a phoney if I didn't say in this review what I genuinely thought so that potential buyers of the book know what they're getting. There is some great advice to be gleaned from this book, and some useful tips for developing one's own photojournalistic style and ability. But it is a chore getting to the tips and advice, and in a book carrying the name of a venerable journalism association and intended for use by students of journalism and photojournalism this should not be the case.

Bought for work but not really read through.

I am a freelance photographer and with respect it has to be said that this does nothing but go on and on about a journey that to be honest I couldn't give a rats behind about thats not to say my interest is not there it certainly is is but this is just a story and offered nothing other than ripping me off almost £15 for the kindle version