Styles come and styles go. This happens in all aspects of life. You see it in building design, interior decorations, clothing, hair, and also in photography. There are different editing styles for wedding photographers, and these styles and techniques go in and out of fashion just like all of those other things. This brings up some issues for photographers and for their clients.
Different Editing Styles for Wedding Photographers: Selective Color and Other Funny Fads
It’s always interesting to look back at old magazines or old photos and see how different things have become. I know I’ve looked at some old photos of myself and really questioned my clothing choices. I do the same thing with some of my photos. I look at them, and what I thought looked really cool four years ago looks outdated. I recall a situation when my wife was picking our wedding photographer. She saw a photo of a little girl or bride (I can’t remember which) sitting with flower petals. Everything was in black and white except the petals. This was very popular for a year or two, and now it’s kind of a joke among photographers. It’s like the photos from the 80’s where they would transpose the couples face onto a champagne glass; it was cool at the time, but years later, it’s a joke.
So the obvious problem is that years down the road, photographers or couples could not like their photos any more. This is a difficult situation because couples still want the newest looks and styles in their photos, but as a photographer, I don’t want to give them something that will only last a few years. To fix this problem, I try to give my couples the best of both worlds. For all the photos I edit, I include a regular version of the pic, a black and white version, and then a few creative edits. The clients still gets to show off the newest style in editing, but years later, they will still have the regular photo and the black and white. Those two won’t go out of style.
Different editing styles for wedding photographers can lead to a lot of disappointment down the road for couples if things aren’t done carefully. I really hope people don’t choose a photographer solely on one neat photo they saw. I would suggest talking to the photographer about the editing and ask to see a bunch of different edited photos. This way you know what you’re getting and you’ll be happy with your photos for years to come.
