It is imperative to be aware of common photography trends in order to support your business in the current market, even if you aren’t one to do “what’s in”.
We sat down to discuss our top 5 predicted trends for wedding photography as we round up 2016 and head into the new year. These predictions come from a cumulative knowledge of photographing over 350 weddings just this past year at Lin and Jirsa Studios, as well as perceived trends from other photographers online and attributes of weddings we’ve photographed.
Watch the entire Facebook Live discussion here:
1. The Comeback of Film Photography
We’ve seen Instax cameras sweep the nation in terms of creating a large market for portable, printable, pictures. With the new Leica Sofort, it is safe to say this trend of instant film cameras is here to stay. Film presets have also made a large comeback with mobile apps like VSCO and Filmborn being as popular as they are, allowing new photographers to see colors and images in a filmic sense – watch the tutorial on how we created this image here.
[REWIND: EDITORIAL BRIDAL PARTY PORTRAITS WITH THE PROFOTO OCF BEAUTY DISH]
2. Editorial/Fashion Based Styling
This isn’t necessarily a new trend, however, we’ve seen an increase in requests for highly stylized formal group photos, a task that takes quite a bit of time to produce but ends up being a major hit for those involved. Gathering family members and bridal party to create a large editorial like group photo has proved to be a great marketing tactic for Lin and Jirsa as well. These images end up being the most shared amongst the entire wedding album because of how grand they are and because they feature the most important people from the day. You can see our tutorial on how we create these images here!
3. Highly Stylized Journalism
An idea that is largely credited to the inspiring photographer directory that is Fearless Photographers is our next prediction for 2017. This trend uses hard lighting techniques that draw the viewers attention to the subject while still incorporating a storytelling journalistic aspect. These are often more exciting, “in the moment” type images that have either been pin-lit or composed to spotlight a fragment of the wedding day.
4. Assisted Photojournalism
We’ve discussed the idea of being a director vs. being a photographer in one of our latest Webinars, being in complete control of your scene in regards to lighting, posing, composition, and emotion. The notion of “creating a candid moment” has proven to be very controversial to photographers across all genres simply because it is an oxymoron. We’ve gathered that some clients just need a bit of guidance when it comes to expressing true, raw emotion in front of the camera and assisting them only helps you capture the perfect authentic moment.
5. Popularity of OCF/Strobe Photography
Natural, bright & airy wedding photography became very popular over the past couple of years, but sooner or later even a natural light lover has to give in to the inevitable use of flash. Whether it be a night time reception or an indoor church, you need the additional light vs. suffering from the granulation that occurs with higher ISO settings. We’ve loved incorporating flash into our large environmental portraits, helping to chisel out our subjects in a vast landscape.
What are some of your predictions for wedding photography this upcoming year? We would love to hear them in the comments below!
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