Images: ashton.hf and haute.weddings
Trend Tripping: 3 ideas of what to do when every one is chasing trends
More AI features in Lightroom!
An editorial view of a Thai beach wedding
A week of inspiration to keep you ahead of the rest
Let’s jump in ⬇️
NEWS
Happening this week
Lightroom and new AI culling. Slowly but surely Adobe is integrating AI features into Lightroom - this time with some helpful culling filters to speed you up! PLUS, see the rest of this months changes in Lightroom here.
Guests taking advantage of photographers. Do you let guests use you as their personal family photographer on the day? Dive into this divided discussion here.
Sigma Berlin Pop Up. Happening next week, The Sigma Art Experience in Berlin. Details here.
Peak Design goes pro. The famous tripod and gear producer announced this week a ‘pro’ version of their well loved tripod. With upgraded features across the board it’s for photographers who really tripod their tripods. Check the new new out here.
Top 50 photographers in the world? DWP Insider released their top 50 wedding photographers in the world this week. Do you agree? Regardless… there are some interesting thoughts and anecdotes about each photographer that are worth diving into here.
Fresh Bridal Campaigns. This week bridal designer Emilia Wickstead released a new collection captured with a fresh photography look that we are loving.
Very affordable new 85mm 1.4 lens. Viltrox is turning heads this week with their first full frame lens at only $600!
“Breaking the Rules” Workshop with Joel & Justyna. A BTS look at how photographers joelandjustyna bend and break the traditional rules of composition, lighting, and storytelling to make something deeper. July 15th 5.30PM CET inside Lensel PRO. Members can RSVP here.
IDEAS
🚨 Trend Tripping: 3 ideas to break free from trends
Images: marcijus_studio and bottega53
When they zig, you zag.
Yes, there a lot of new things happening in wedding photography right now. A WAVE of trends, if you will. Direct flash. Motion blur. Tilted frames. Wider portraits. 35mm everything. And a lot of it looks great. We are here for it! BUT…
There’s a big but… if it’s not YOU then don’t force it. Or if you are jumping on it just now. Reconsider it. Because by the time you’re jumping on a trend, it’s already over and you’re just adding to the noise. It’s not yours and it’s no way to stand out in this wedding world.
So what do you do instead?
When everyone zigs, you zag. You go where others aren’t looking.
Today we are highlighting 3 possibilities and ideas to stand out RIGHT NOW in this world of trendy flash, blur and tilt.
Images: muse.and.mirror and gregfinck
Try Medium Format Digital
Everyone is chasing blur, low fi crops, underexposed film. GO stand out by doing the opposite. Go chase something of super high quality. There’s no better place to go than trying out a medium format camera.
With medium format, you can achieve a super shallow depth of field (your couple will pop off the page) that you just can’t replicate with a standard sensor. You get a feel and perspective that feels different, unique and again… QUALITY. The difference might be subtle, and of course you can mess it up, but you’ll be offering something that leans more classic, timeless, instead of trending.
PRO tip: just shoot your medium format for the key portraits or ceremony shots. You really want 100mb files for every single photo??
Have a look at the new Fujifilm GFX100ii (comparatively well suited for weddings) and here for a longer list of medium format digital cameras.
Images: ktmerry and jaymojaymes
Long lenses and Compression
Haven’t heard the word bokeh in a while have you? Maybe that’s your cue to lean in and give it a new meaning. When everyone is shooting wide lenses… dust of your 85mm 1.4 and lean into that for a while. Better yet, finally use that 200mm range on your 70-200.
The unique compression and bokeh that can only come from longer lenses is a look we think is about to have a resurgence - go lead the way.
Images: marcijus_studio and markdeleonphoto
Curate Differently
Every second post right now is a 9 grid of images. Trying to show off the vibe and feeling of a wedding in just one slide. SUPER cool yes, but when everyone’s doing it you look just the same. Dive into last weeks newsletter about curation that offered up a few ideas, but also, we are BIG fans of what marcijus_studio curated here top left. And scroll posts like this one below from Joel & Justyna that just focussed on a theme of feet and movement.
PHOTOGRAPHERS POV
Bring Me Somewhere Nice with Editorial Energy in this Beachside Wedding in Thailand
featured on lensel.com
Set on the most stunning beach in Thailand, this wedding blends elegant styling with Thai traditions. Photographer Dani Rodriguez of Bring Me Somewhere Nice captured it with distinctive composition, considered curation and flash mixed in with an artful eye for the hard natural light of the day. A fresh take on a beach wedding, full of smart ideas and editorial energy.
See the feature, from the photographers point of view.
INSPO THIS WEEK
⬇️ The small subtle ideas that bring power to an image ft the viel.
⬇️ A fashion photographer we have to let you all know about.
⬇️ This set is out of this world. Ever seen so many ideas come together in one post??!
⬇️ These clean and powerful black and white are just SO good, you need to see the whole set.
Till next week,
