Let’s polarize.” An hour later, a couple wrote him inquiring about his availability-and specifically referenced seeing the cigarette photo as their motivation to reach out. “I usually take that sort of advice with a grain of salt anyway, and despite being tempted to remove it for a second, I thought, stuff it. “Keeping the eye attuned by looking out for things that at a glance might appear to be the polar opposite of the content we’re hired to capture is an important thing,” Sansom explains, “surprising our couples and keeping ourselves open to opportunities to create wider and more interesting coverage and moods.”Ĭoincidentally, a studio friend of Sansom’s actually advised him to take the bottle photo off his site when he posted it.
It’s a win-win: couples want more than what’s expected, and photographers want to avoid monotony. What it comes down to is having eyes on the entire scene, and that includes the weird details that might have gone overlooked. “I liked it because instead of a pretty wedding couple, it was a pretty dirty object being hit by nice light,” the Melbourne photographer says, “and while totally out of character, it sat well in the scene where everyone was chugging down on cigars.” “Plastic bottle filled with cigarette butts” isn’t the first or even the 50th image that comes to mind when thinking of wedding photography, but it was the intriguing sash of light that attracted Oli Sansom to this scene initially. Two of this year’s 30 Rising Stars and two nominees share photos and stories that exemplify this change. Shooters are going beyond the shot list, focusing their energy on capturing the overall essence and personality of a wedding unexpected details are just one byproduct of this burgeoning trend. One thing is certain: wedding photography is becoming less and less predictable.