It’s LENSEL. Your weekly news and inspo newsletter, keeping wedding photographers like you ahead of the game.

Here’s what’s on the menu today:

Now let’s dive in ⬇️

We couldn’t let the week pass without link you and recommending that you go check out Pinterest’s Wedding Trend Report for 2026.

Diving into actual data of what users are searching it’s wildly fascinating to see what’s emerging and what’s NOT. From Rooted Romance to Ethereal Shimmer.

For photographers there’s some bold insight. We loved The Bridal Journey’s bold take “The Classic Wedding is Over”. AND did the ‘editorial’ buzzword fall off the face off the earth??

More to come on this. But dive into the report here.

OH and if you want our hot take? Depending on what segment of the market you are aiming your wedding business at… You might need to take all these trend reports from Pinterest with a pinch of salt. Are those ultra luxury, big budget brides really searching Pinterest for “enchanted palaces with projectors”?

NOBODY tells you how fast the show goes.
Both New York and Barcelona held their ‘Bridal Fashion Weeks’ over the last month. Runway shows. Backstage chaos. Models. Dresses. And the ten-minute shows that feel like they last three seconds.

It’s a moment that has a lot of photographers wondering if they too might like to get along and shoot at a bridal fashion week…

So we sent photographer Erol Serbst to Barcelona get amongst it all and to answer just those questions:

1. What does it actually feel like to shoot at a bridal fashion week show?
2. What can it teach you about weddings/wedding photography?

Shooting in chaos
No one will warn you (well, we are now) how fast a show goes. Ten minutes, that's it, the show is OVER.

The press area WILL be packed. Photographers fighting (train your elbows people) each other for position trying to get to the front.

So instead of fighting, Erol moved to find alternative angles, composing differently, almost among the guests at points, where nobody else was shooting.

Erol said, “I wanted the models in the context of the audience, not just isolated on the runway. Love always taking risks. No risk, no fun.”

Sometimes when things are chaotic it’s not about fighting to get an average version of the same thing everyone else has - and more about flowing to find a unique POV no one else saw…

We asked: Did anything surprise you technically?
“Yeah, if want close ups of the models, you will really need a tele lens. 85mm at minimum but ideally much longer. I intentionally was armed only with my 24-70mm, so I knew I was up for a challenge. I leaned into the ‘guest's perspective’ vibe. I liked it like this as you are seeing the whole experience, not just the dress.”

What it can show you about shooting weddings.
1. Learn from the models. Models already know how to move. They know where the light is, how to carry themselves, when to give the camera something without being asked. So, yeah part of it is EASY.

Erol said: "Being around them (models) gives you creative ideas. They are open for anything and it just works. You start thinking about how to bring those same ideas or movements into wedding photography."

OF COURSE, it’s not about turning your couples into models. It's about sharpening your eye for some kind of movement, or for a pose, or for a prompt that works with the models. Something that works that can cross over.

2. Get nimble. A runway show is basically a wedding ceremony on steroids. Ten brides walking down the aisle at once, no resets, no second chances. You're reading the room fast. Where's the light landing? (yeah you can’t control it on a runway either). There WILL be a spot where the light is more dynamic than others. So go find it. Which spot gives you the angle?
And then you wait. You plot. You get yourself into position before the moment arrives and you trust that if you've read it right, the shot will come to you.

That process of reading a room, finding the light and then waiting for a moment - it’s a muscle to develop.

FEATURED on lensel.com

“This ceremony was, without question, one of the most challenging lighting situations I’ve shot.” …. And the rest of the day wasn’t exactly easy either. Full sun, half shade, tight ceremony space, guests arriving by boat, tough getting ready room, and fireworks on a deck the size of a shoebox.

So how did the gallery turn out THIS good? Sarbo Studio gives a masterclass in one of the hardest parts of being a wedding photographer.. rolling with the punches, but still delivering.

⬇️ When a family/group photo feels iconic. Why are we aiming to create these more on a wedding day?!

⬇️ This gallery screams intimate, real, private, trusted, artistic, timeless and current all at the same time and it’s PERFECT. Simple beautiful portraits, documentary family moments, and a presence that is soft and intimate. This is the way.

⬇️ Just using a little more negative space. Try it.

⬇️ Please be sure to click through and see this whole set from a bridal editorial during NYBFW last week.