Page 22 - Capture Nov 21-Jan 22

a look back at 2021 wedding & portrait
Both Tan and Messina used to travel considerably. Restrictions have meant that they needed to re-evaluate how they work creatively. Tan says many of his creative ideas used to occur while shooting on location, but he has spent the time at home working on ideas that will produce more creative and artistic photos for his clients. Messina also stayed artistically productive. “In lockdown I was able to reflect on what really mattered to me as an artist,” she says.
Even though she’s found the time in lockdown challenging, Meadows used the time as breathing space to re-design her website, re-evaluate her business, set up a print shop, and grow creatively. “Before COVID, I was very much focused on only shooting full-day, family documentary sessions. Shooting front yard portrait sessions and working on photographing my own family portraits has helped me expand my skills as a portrait photographer and I’ll be building that into my business once we are allowed to work again,” says Meadows
New trends
While Tao began to offer video to his clients and Cole too found a way to branch out with motion, Middleton also sees a strong future for the moving image. “I see a lot more short-form video emerging. There used to be a lot of photo sequences. Now, it’s photo sequences mixed with live video. Instead of selling the images, photographers are now selling an experience. Instagram has recognised this shift, and is declaring itself “no longer a photo sharing app”. TikTok is the main driver of this trend, and more and more we’re seeing TikTok Photographers placing more emphasis on fun, energy, and humour, and less on the photo product,” says Middleton.
It’s Middleton’s view that the demand for motion and stills will continue as equipment improvements help to simplify things for photographers. “The more powerful cameras become, the closer video and photo grow. On the one hand, videographers can now extract good quality stills from video frames, and on the other, photographers can shoot at such high frame-rates that strung together they almost become a workable video on their own,” he says. “I think drone photography will continue to play a big part of wedding stories as they become smaller, quieter, and more reliable”.
Before lockdown, Cole says that an image he was frequently requested to capture was a champagne spray. What’s next is anyone’s guess, but he has noted a general move towards images with a more classic style. “There’s a push towards a more timeless approach in styling,” says Cole.
Middleton says that he doesn’t let trends dictate the work he produces, and warns against blindly following them. “However, trends do persist and sometimes brides follow them and include them in their vision, so they can’t be put aside entirely. But unique and unusual photos will always play a big part, because in our increasingly
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