Wedding photography is one of the most interesting niches for anyone who wants to actually make a living out of photography. It has become a very crowded place but it still has some room for new photographers to join. Wedding photography as a business model requires constant updates and creative innovations when it comes to the signature style, and as many things in life, it has evolved in a very interesting way.
At the early beginnings of wedding photography, photographers made images in a very traditional form, focusing on the religious ceremonies and family portraits. As photographers from other disciplines (photojournalists, landscape photographers, etc.) joined the market the final results of a wedding shoot started getting pretty complex indeed. Many wedding photography services rely in more than just a single photographer, because a crew can capture a broader array of shots, which in many cases are specific things expected by the newlyweds to be photographed.
Keeping up to date require watching certain trends in order to keep your work fresh, here are some trends that you have to keep in mind if you want to be up to date when it comes to wedding photography in this 2018.
Pre-Wedding Photo Shoots
Pre-Wedding sessions have become very popular and are still trendy. The purpose of these sessions is to portray the couple in a more relaxed and intimate way that could not be done at all on the actual wedding day. These pre-wedding sessions are also called “engagement sessions” when the concept around them is about proposal (even if has already taken please). Locations are important when working with pre-weddings and they are usually done at different venues than what will happen on the wedding day.
Photographers need to craft unique concepts in order to stay relevant in the market, and the overcoming such challenge comes with very satisfying rewards.
Drone Usage
Using drones as part of your gear will enable you to achieve unique points of view with your photographs. Perhaps they haven’t replaced cameras yet, but are important assets if you want to keep up to the trends. There are many options when it comes to drones, and budget will be one of the main decisive points when acquiring a specific model and brand.
Teasers
We live in a world ruled by immediacy, and social pushes people to publish things as they happen. Allowing couples to have a small teaser of the final delivery is getting more and more common among wedding photography services. Some photographers have enhanced their creative processes so much, that they are getting able to showcase images almost as they happened. For teasers some photographers go with the bold move of actually showcasing images of as they happen at the reception. Some others deliver a small teaser right the next day of the wedding.
Father and Daughter First Looks
Wedding photography is about capturing emotions and unique moments in the best way possible. The most anticipated moments are of course the “you may kiss the bride” and the groom’s first look of the bride while arriving at the ceremony. Bride and groom first look is priceless, but some photographers have captured amazingly moving moments when the father and daughter get to look each self for the first time during the big day.
Day-After Shoots
All guests at a wedding are carrying smartphones with high-end image reproduction capabilities and they are usually sharing images as they happen at the wedding, hence the necessity of delivering fast. Beyond a simple teaser, some wedding photography services are so systematized that have been able to deliver images right the next day. In order to achieve this is important to work with a crew of committed people in order to develop images as they happen. If you are a one-man-army photographer, this might be pretty difficult to achieve with the expected results, especially if the couple asks for a post-wedding session right the next day after the big day. Working with a team of committed and trusted photographers and post-processing experts will make your wedding photography business stand out from the crowd always.
Weddings are becoming a bigger thing, and budgets have skyrocketed with the years. Therefore customers has become more and more selective when choosing a photographer for their special day. Wedding photographers have now to dedicate around 2 or 3 complete days in order to cover everything that is expected from the couple and only the best will stand out in this heavily crowded market. Keep your spirit up, and never stop learning about the new things that are taking place worldwide.