2024 wedding photography trends rediscover fundamentals – the use of analogue and flash photography. 10 wedding photographers share insights regarding them.

Film photography for weddings

Asked about their take on analogue photography and how it interplays with the use of digital photography in weddings, Sandra and Miguel from Atmosphere reveal that they shoot both digital and film photography, and they love both mediums. Digital photography allows them to be more spontaneous and to quickly adapt to different situations. It’s perfect for the more reportage side of the wedding coverage, but it is also a great creative tool - Sandra and Miguel know they have plenty of room for error with digital photography, so they can shoot more with their gut and instinct.

On the other hand, for Atmosphere, film photography enriches the wedding coverage with its irreplaceable and unique colours, textures, and depth and dimension of analogue images. Film photography conveys a timeless feel to each photo, and they feel it is more real; it translates the sense of time, space, and materiality with more accuracy. The memories feel more tangible. It’s a medium that requires focus and time, a slow approach to photography and a limited resource (photographers have a limited amount of rolls, and each roll has a limited number of frames, and not every type of film works in every condition).

That’s why Sandra and Miguel tend to shoot film in more controlled environments and calmer moments, like portraits (but, since they are a photographer duo, they also shoot film during other moments of the wedding day while one of them is shooting digital). They love how the film makes them slow down and be conscious of how they are photographing. They feel that it’s another and different way of fuelling creativity, a more focused and intentional approach to photography. It feels almost like composing a painting.

Irene from February 30th Stories shares her film photography story. She started taking film photos long before she ventured into wedding photography. Irene undertook several artistic and fashion projects on film because she has always loved the vintage feel that analogue photography provides, along with the sense of risk and surprise you experience before seeing the photos. For a while, she even developed the photos herself, causing quite a bit of damage and ruined rolls of film, all while using her father's old Olympus as her first camera.

Irene began incorporating analogue photography into weddings because she thought it offered something unique, only to realize that it was one of modern photography styles and trends, one that she grew to particularly love because it felt closely aligned with her photography. When asked how she feels about wedding photography taking a step back from digital, she replies she doesn’t see it as a step backwards because she believes that many steps forward are taken by looking back, and trends from the past serve as inspiration for new future styles.

Maaike Kolner expresses her love for analogue photography. When Maaike was younger, photography started for her with a roll of film. She finds it adventurous to shoot analogue because you don't see the result immediately. Then, when you develop the film yourself, it is magical to see the result. She doesn’t see it as a trend but something like true art. It’s not just one of the vintage wedding photo techniques for her as she also uses film and tries to reflect this in her digital work as well.

Elisabetta Riccio also has a sincere story about how she was introduced to film photography. She started taking photographs when she was very young, just 12 years old. Her mother gave her a simple film camera, and every summer, she would take roll after roll of pictures. The best part was biking to the nearby town to pick up the developed photos. That's how Elisabetta’s relationship with photography began.

As for weddings, Elisabetta Riccio only shoots on film when it's requested as a service. She believes film photography has charm and a much slower pace, from shooting to developing to seeing the images. We're not used to it nowadays, but she believes we need to slow down, and analogue photography forces us to do just that. Everything moves so fast, but shooting on film requires patience and time from both the photographer and the subject, especially with medium format.

Clients want photos right away but don't realize the work that goes into it. Uploading, backing up, selecting, and editing photos takes hours, especially after days of hard work at a wedding weekend. With film, those demands can't be met. You have to send the negatives to a shop, get them developed, and then scanned for digital use. It takes more time. For her, film means slowing down, appreciating imperfections, and valuing anticipation.

Ana Rita and Nuno from Pinha Pinhao love to use film cameras at weddings. They think film photography gives the wedding reportage the slow feeling of the day. The analogue shows the magic of our photography. Although they feel more responsibility to photograph in analogue, they also feel more freedom and excitement. Additionally, Ana Rita and Nuno love black-and-white wedding photography, and the analogue makes it even more beautiful and adds a feeling of timelessness.

On weddings, Alice Elma’s focus relies on creating candid wedding photography – capturing precious moments, which also strongly characterizes her photography style. This requires powers of observation and immediate readiness. Therefore, Alice is very happy about the advantages digital photography brings. Due to this, she doesn’t use analogue photography for weddings yet, but she can imagine she can explore it more in the future because she likes the analogue charm.

While film photography holds a special allure for many photographers, Sofia Brito’s focus lies more on embracing cutting-edge technologies like AI. She finds that AI-driven tools offer unparalleled precision and efficiency in capturing and enhancing wedding moments. This approach allows her to streamline her workflow and deliver consistently stunning results to her clients.

Edoardo Giorio shares why his studio doesn't use analogue photography – he has never done it and decided not to include it in the price list just because it's fashionable. He thinks it's just a fad, and he doesn’t consider it useful for a story of the day. Or rather, he doesn’t think it's anything so exceptional to add.

He notes that it’s just his personal opinion, with no disrespect to those who use film photography for weddings. He only sees that it serves to create exorbitant additional costs for couples. Furthermore, since postproduction is so advanced, film effects are easily recreated without having to shoot film on the wedding day.

Flash photography at weddings

Flash photography has opened a realm of creative wedding photo ideas for photographers to realize. While natural light photography at weddings is still very important, the use of flash adds to the possibilities of original shots.

Elisabetta Riccio shares that when she shoots on film, she prefers using a 35 mm camera over medium format and nearly always uses a flash. She likes finding a balance between ambient light and flash for a vintage, slightly grainy look. She always shoots with Portra 400/800 film.

Early in her career, Elisabetta didn't use flash at weddings, she focused on documentary-style wedding photography, capturing candid moments with natural light. In recent years, she has changed her approach, seeking a cleaner, more editorial style with a fresh, romantic touch. Flash allows her to create consistent images that match her desired aesthetic, not just as a last resort but as a creative tool for unique shots.

Sandra and Miguel from Atmosphere say that they love using flash and they use it as a creative tool. They are extremely influenced by fashion photography, the edginess and, sometimes, transgressive natures of fashion and conceptual photography. Thus, they use flash in every moment of the wedding day, and they love to use it in daylight: it’s bold, it’s fun, and it gives that extra glow that turns something ordinary into something extraordinary. It’s unique storytelling wedding photography.

Flash accentuates the extra nature of a celebration of a wedding: it’s a party, a day of pure joy and happiness, a luxury (we don’t throw parties every day!), and flash underlines just that. It’s so much fun and lush! Sandra and Miguel love exquisite, exuberant, over-the-top, and overflowing happiness, and flash conveys that boldness only happy people have.

One of the biggest wedding portrait trends in 2024 is the so-called paparazzi shots. Speaking of flash photography for weddings, Edoardo Giorio likes this Hollywood paparazzi style, which is very popular. Although it is very different from his photographic style, he has the will to try because he believes in always having to learn new styles and techniques. Here too, like before, Edoardo prefers not to distort what he is and what he feels he has to give just to follow a trend that will be fleeting because, at some point, everything will start to seem so same and flat.

Elisa D'Incà incorporates flash photography during dances. For her, it is a necessary tool, she creates artistic wedding photography using the slide flash mounted on the camera with a grid and coloured jellies in front (Magmog kit). She sets the camera with ISO at the lowest value, a fairly closed shutter and times between 1.3-1 sec, during the shot, she rotates the camera at 45° to get light trails outlining the main subject (the grid on the flash serves to isolate the central subject from what is around it). This is the absolute technique she uses most in the presence of coloured DJ lights.

Flash photography is Sofia Brito’s forte and she sees it as both a technical tool and a creative instrument. She is particularly drawn to the bold and contemporary look of direct flash photography. By mastering the interplay of light and shadow, she can craft original and dynamic shots that capture the essence of the wedding day distinctively.

For Alice Elma, flash photos create that special look as if caught someone on the sly and froze the moment. There's something very romantic about it, and that's why she loves flash as a stylistic element. In a wedding reportage, Alice likes to mix soft photos with natural light and harder flash pictures – together, it brings a great contrast. And she also likes the campaign character of the flash photos. She believes it comes from the many years she has been working in the fashion industry. Her clients often say that you can see the fashion influence in the editorial style of her photos.

And for flash photography, Liz Schneider uses flash very minimally on wedding days. Her style of capturing a day is timeless, she draws on natural light as much as possible. She loves the ambient light during a candlelight reception, and capturing the glow is important for her. Liz believes that using flash takes away that ambient glow during night photos, therefore she only uses it when necessary. For example, in a very dark reception hall or for fun dance photos.

Maaike Kolner also only use a flash in dark situations when there is a lot of movement, like the party. She then likes to use some flash effects as well. Other than that, she does like the look of it.

Ana Rita and Nuno from Pinha Pinhao have noticed that flash photography is one of the couple’s photography trends, but, for now, it's only a technical tool for them, the flash is still not their language.

Irene from February 30th Stories shares that she uses flash sparingly, even in film photos; she prefers to maintain her more cinematic style and use bright lenses that work well even in well-lit evening situations. She sees many photographers who have created entire portfolios using flash as if they were from fake weddings in the '90s, and she finds that some have truly become masters in this style. So, she thinks that flash has taken on the value of an artistic object to create unconventional wedding photos rather than just a practical tool out of necessity.

Additional creative ideas from professional wedding photographers for the 2024 wedding season

Elisabetta Riccio has always loved different aspects of photography. Photography is her passion. She loves capturing moments and telling stories. Besides weddings, she works on storytelling projects or fashion and lifestyle shoots for brands. She works with bridal stylists to shoot campaigns and advertisements. Plus, as an architect, she also often photographs interiors for architectural and design studios.

One of the things she enjoys most about all these kinds of photography is the opportunity to collaborate with other creative individuals. She believes photography is more than just taking pictures – it's about capturing moments, telling stories, and connecting with people on a deeper level. Through her photography projects, she hopes to continue sharing her love for the art form and inspiring others to see the world through a different lens. For her, staying curious and trying new things is crucial for a photographer today.

In addition to flash photography, Sofia Brito loves to incorporate Polaroid pictures into her wedding shoots. Polaroids add a whimsical and nostalgic touch to the proceedings, instantly providing couples with tangible mementoes of their special day. These instant prints serve as delightful keepsakes and can be displayed or shared with loved ones during the celebration, adding an interactive and personal element to the photography experience. Edoardo Giorio also gives his couples some Polaroids taken during the couple's session because it seems like something durable.

While Elisa D'Incà, as a creative touch, tends to incorporate a lot of the use of the bride's veil in front of the lens to create a partial blur. This lends a random, dreamlike atmosphere to the photos. Sometimes, she also uses thin curtains, the cellophane wrappings of the wedding dress – there are different things she finds in the bride's room during the getting ready and uses as a filter.

But Ana Rita and Nuno from Pinha Pinhao share that sometimes they like to use glasses to give some sparkle and flares to the night photos.

Alice Elma explains that she prefers to follow a timeless editing style. She loves black-and-white photography because she thinks it brings out the essence of the picture even more. With colour photos, she pays a lot of attention to a realistic and harmonious colour scheme. Natural colours, minimalist and elegant settings are her favourites. In the composition of her pictures, she always incorporates this and advises her wedding couples about the influence of the setting in the photos.

In her work and art of photography, Liz Schneider also tries to keep very timeless and true to life. Trends come and go, therefore, she loves to stick to what is timeless. Liz makes sure she’s capturing the wedding day in a way that will be still absolutely beautiful and actual years and years later when her couples share their wedding photos with their children or grandchildren.

Maaike Kolner agrees and shares that she doesn’t use that many tools to take photos. She does everything by feel and doesn’t go with trends. She likes timeless and unposed wedding photography.

Irene from February 30th Stories shares that, in the future, she will strive to make her photos increasingly cinematic and completely abandon the bright and luxurious magazine style. She wants to incorporate dynamic, blurred elements that evoke film photography, but, above all, she aims to turn weddings or photo shoots into a story to be read or a movie to be seen rather than just a photographic service.

To conclude, Sandra and Miguel from Atmosphere explain that they are not immune to trends, they live in this world and love visual culture. So, of course, they are influenced by trends, and that’s great! Imagine a world without innovation. No, thank you! Sandra and Miguel also think trends are an expression of a zeitgeist, an imprint of a specific temporality, which is the time you choose to celebrate your love. So, in a way, they think trends are inevitable and important.

Noting that Atmosphere tries to stay true to their identity while incorporating what influences them. Some trends just don’t make sense to them, and that’s ok. Others make, and that’s ok, too. But Sandra and Miguel incorporate them like a painter would try a new kind of brush or paint: as something, a tool, they can use to further express their identity and vision. Not to lose themselves and their language amid trends.

Something special Atmosphere has discovered? You do you! Sandra and Miguel don’t impose themselves; they want their couples to be completely free to do what they want on their wedding day. Sandra and Miguel used to be very attached to doing everything by the book, with strict timelines and key moments that needed to be photographed.

You don’t want to get ready to be photographed? That’s ok! Do you want to take some portraits at night? Cool! They love being creatively challenged, and, above all, they want you to look back at your photos and to be able to see your true self in them! Since day one, Atmosphere’s motto is “The day is yours, not ours”. And they truly believe in this. Film, flash, and trends are just the tools through which the photographers see and feel your love.

Author: Renāte Berga

Photographers: Pinha Pinhao Photography , Elisabetta Riccio, Maaike Kolner, Sofia Brito Photography, Alice Elma Photography, February 30th Stories, Liz Schneider Photo, Elisa D'Inca, Edoardo Giorio, Atmosphere