A Photographer’s Thoughts: Trends, Pins and a Lifetime of Memories.

In over 8 years as a full-time wedding photographer I’ve seen all kinds of changes happening within my industry. From starting out shooting film and spending much of my time in the darkroom developing prints, I’m now shooting everything digitally and doing all of my processing on the computer. I’ve seen it change from the odd guest sparingly snapping 30-odd pictures of the day on their chunky point and shoot cameras so they don’t have to pay too much to get them developed to everyone pulling out their camera-phones and snapping away to their hearts content. And I’ve seen fashions come and go, trends emerge and falter, new styles born and boundaries broken then long-gone techniques rediscovered and old film-looks readopted. The industry is ever changing in a way that simply wasn’t possible 8 years ago, but what does this mean for the bride and groom?

In this brave new digital age incredible images are always at your fingertips. With a few clicks you can see some of the best wedding photography from all around the world, and with new services like Pinterest you can not only view but collect all of these images to build your very own scrapbook of ideas and styles and find the type of imagery you really love. It’s a wonderful tool and one that can be immensely helpful in finding your style and beginning to understand all the different options that are out there for you to choose from. However it’s not without its drawbacks…

Both the advantage and problem with Pinterest and the wider digital spread of images is that new trends can spread like wildfire. This is fantastic in terms of new ideas being shared around freely and giving you the chance to think about something you’d never have realised was even out there otherwise, but it also means it’s very easy to get caught up in temporary fads and fashions that may lead you away from the style of photography that really suits you in the longer term. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with following fashions and trends, but with wedding photography it’s important to remember that these pictures are not temporary, they’re not something to be used for the season then put away and forgotten about, these are the photographs that will be with you for the rest of your life and you need to make sure you’re choosing a style that matches your personality, not just an idea that seems cool at the time but that in a few years time you’ll never want to look at again.

Now don’t get me wrong, I really believe you should consider all the different styles out there before making your decision, and Pinterest can be a great way to do that, but at the end of the day you need to think about what you truly love. If you’re a collector of Fine Art then the Fine Art photography style is probably right up your street. If you love collecting vintage memorabilia and your house is decorated in that beautiful old 20’s style then perhaps a vintage photography style is what’s going to suit you best now and in the future. If you’re a lifetime jurassic park fan… well enough said. But at the end of the day you need to follow your heart, not your Pinterest feed.

But there’s another way that Pinterest boards are starting to take effect and that is with Brides and Grooms presenting their chosen photographer with ‘inspiration boards’ of the style of pictures they like. Again sometimes this can be quite a helpful aid for the photographer in establishing your tastes and style and many photographers absolutely welcome them. The problems tend to arise though when you present your photographer with a board full of images that are completely different from that photographer’s own style of work. 

I’ve heard lots of stories recently of photographers being presented with some of the currently trending imagery that just didn’t reflect their own portfolio in any way, shape or form. We’ve seen photographers presented with photographs taken in other countries where the light is completely different and ask them to recreate that beautiful rich Mexican sunset feel on a rainy morning in Wolverhampton. We’ve heard about photographers presented with boards full of kissing images only to be later told by the couple that they weren’t comfortable with kissing for the camera. Again it seems to be a case of getting caught up in trends rather than focussing on what you really want and choosing a photographer that you know will naturally be looking to create that same style for you.

Asking a photographer to shoot in a completely different style is like asking the Arctic Monkeys to sing opera. Opera singers and Indie-Rock bands are all musicians and therefore they can sing in each other’s style right? Well they might have a decent go at it but let’s face it, whilst they make be able to take a little inspiration from each other’s style you get much better results when each sticks to what they do best. Again there’s nothing wrong with showing your photographer a few ideas if you’d like but make sure that A) they’re at least a vaguely similar style to your photographer, B) they’re actually achievable in your chosen location and C) that you’re actually willing to partake in whatever it takes to create the image you’ve asked your photographer to create.

So do look around for the imagery that inspires you, do Pin away merrily and build up your ideal scrapbook of ideas, but make sure you’re really doing it for you and not just to follow the latest fashion. In 8 years I’ve seen all kinds of trends arise and disappear on an ever changing basis and heard about far too many Brides and Grooms who followed the style at the time only to wish they’d done it all differently now. Trends come and go but your wedding photos will be around forever. Follow your heart and think about the long term and you can achieve that perfect goal – photographs that capture a lifetime of memories.