Images by: @erikagabalyte and kattruesh
Hey it’s LENSEL. Your secret weapon in the wedding photography world. Here’s what we have for you today:
The Lost Art of Seeing Light vs today’s ‘vibe’ wedding mash
Some very good looking new lenses
Inside a classy New Zealand Wedding (photographers POV)
News and inspo for wedding photographers
Let’s go ⬇️
NEWS
Happening this Week
Hot lenses. Voigtlander this week announce a new 40mm f2 for E and Z-mounts that is ohh so good looking. Who doesn’t care about how good their camera gear looks…
Generating extras?! Stories are emerging of wedding clients using images you made to ai generate more variations for themselves! WILD if so, and this is the legal side of it you need to know…
Workflow Upgrades. Aftershoot released their ‘roadmap’ of new editing features coming this year - including background clean up, RAW editing tools like HSL and a bunch more goodness. See the roadmap here.
Those famous presets. VSCO announces it’s re-releasing their famous Film 02 pack of presets.
Tamron’s new 35mm-100mm f2.8 (constant) lens is worthy wedding contender. SUPER compact and light, and talk about that focal length range… Dive into the details and pics here.
Drone pilot goals. Seen those incredible drone shots at the Winter Olympics? Dive behind the scenes and see how they are made here. And tell you wedding day drone pilot to step up their game.
Rode Wireless mics have just received an update to connect directly to iPhone through bluetooth, one for the content creators here. Details here.
THE IDEA
🕶️ The Lost Art of Intentional Light Use
Images: baylymoore and niravpatelweddings
Wedding photographers are loosing the art of seeing light.
We are in the ‘vibe era’ of wedding photography. Everyone is just shooting whereever it feel good. Choosing locations and frames solely based on the styling, background, aesthetic and energy.
And honestly, that’s not totally bad. The vibe is great, the feeling matters, and wedding photographers have never been better and more visually aware.
BUT we lost something big along the way.
Along the way, LIGHT stopped leading the image. And light just became something we just fix later in post, or don’t even notice at all.
A big blown out background and still need to raise shadows on the face?? Pa-lease…
Images: kristinpiteophoto and niravpatelweddings
But there are photographers who still let the light lead their images. AND it shows.
The images pop. They have depth. They feel like intentional works of art.
These photographers don’t just walk into a space and start shooting because the background looks good. They notice light first. It’s direction, quality and contrast. And they let that inform their compositions and decisions.
Images by niravpatelweddings
This week on our Instagram reels we featured wedding photographer Nirav Patel. (you’ve seen his images above..)
His work is a big red alert reminder of what intentional light use ACTUALLY looks like.
He finds little pieces of directional light and shadows and builds the image from there. Placing his subject in the lightest part of the frame to highlight them.
Yes, this is just one way to USE light.. but it’s his way of seeing light and it’s why his images are recognisable and incredible.
The styling, the feeling, the vibe is all there too. But the light is never random. It’s intentionally seen and chosen.
Images by niravpatelweddings
It’s the SKILL of walking into a room and instantly seeing what the light is doing. Where it’s coming from. What it’s quality and colour is. And where he can place his subject to create something iconic.
The good news, is that skill is trainable. It starts with:
- identifying the main light source
- noticing how the light changes around a room
- paying attention to its colour
- watching how it lands on surfaces and faces
- and being intentional about the exact spot you choose to shoot before you ever press the shutter.
Because trends fade. Vibes change. But photographers who understand light never stop standing out.
THE DEEPER DIVE
How to Train Your Eye For Light
Images: danellebohane and elisarinaldiphoto
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PHOTOGRAPHERS POV
Behind the Scenes with Bayleigh Vedalago: A New Zealand Wedding at Huka Falls.
Get a behind the scenes view into how Bayleigh captured this dreamy day. From the prep, the camera gear, the locations, weather considerations and how she made the most of THAT hat.
Dive in and see it all, from the photographers POV ⬇️
INSPO THIS WEEK
⬇️ Making a moment of the family portraits. And a perfect chance to capture some layered docu styled images.
⬇️ Mysterious frames and magical moments. This wedding is TOO COOL. And the frames and ideas match.
⬇️ Light, emotion and film. Tomas never fails to impress. Do yourself a favour and dive into this wonderful world.
⬇️ The juxtaposition and the blue grade here in the bathroom 👌🏼 + get into the bts videos mixed in to feel the experience as well.
Till next week,
