Trending 2021

It is clear to see that today we are a more visually oriented society, apps such as Instagram have helped to perpetuate this uptake. It could also be said that the ongoing 2020 lockdown has also pushed people to alternative ways to express themselves whilst stuck in doors.  

So, what are the likely trends to hit photography this year? Here are a few that are becoming prominent.

 Unedited Beauty

We have all seen the photos on Instagram and online showing the use of filters and retouching apps. This new trend is to show unedited photos of yourself demonstrating your raw natural beauty. It hasn’t yet become mainstream, but it won’t be long until you see your feeds filling with images of unedited photos.

 For me, I have always erred towards under processing and showing someone’s true natural beauty. That’s not to say that for weddings you would clearly want to show the best images to look back on in years to come. This is more trending for everyday shots and portraits. Just to be clear this is not about focusing on someone’s flaws but rather not covering them up.

 Smoke Bomb Photography

This is already gathering speed and going to be very popular. You can purchase smoke bombs on Amazon they last for anything between 60-90 seconds and come in all variety of colours.  

It makes for beautiful, coloured compositions and surreal effects. If you give this a try make sure you do outside and not on a windy day, it’s a fantastic way to get creative and the results are impressive.

Relaxed Wedding Photography

Weddings have always had a specific format where photography is concerned, everyone posed in a specific manner. You could look through 10 different wedding albums and they would all follow the same format.

 Enter “Relaxed Wedding Photography” It’s all about capturing the special day not so much staged but relaxed and natural yet also providing very high-quality images. Capturing genuine emotions, atmosphere and fun using natural light where possible. This type of photography delivers authenticity with images that are timeless and natural.

Drone Photography

This has become an ever-increasing tool for events and wedding photography where ariel shots provide a new and different perspective. The good news is that this is now regulated, and drone users have to have a level of competence to use them. Expect to see this become more popular in 2021.

Film Photography - Old School

They say history repeats itself, there is a growing movement of photographers that have a film camera in their arsenal of tools. Going back to the “unedited beauty” trend, film cameras provide a very different feel to a photograph and is making a come back to the world of photography.

 Using photographic film offers photographers a way to discover this pre-digital tool. If you have never used a film camera grab one second hand stick a film in it and go out shooting. It is a very different concept, no instant display and most of the settings you have to work out yourself “manually”. As a photographer it really helps you to stop and think about what and how you are going to shoot a frame, as with digital cameras you can’t just fire off 20 shots and choose the best one. You also have to wait a couple of days for the images to come back. Hats off to wedding photographers of old, now those were challenging times.

There are more trends appearing this year but these are just a few that stuck out for me.