Trends come and go with clothing, hair, music…basically everything, and photography is no different. Like fashion dos/don’ts or music choices, photography trends also have people who love them or hate them.
As someone who has been in the biz for over a decade, I’m pretty embarrassed to have some of these in my deeply buried portfolio. But that is part of learning and growing as a creative person and business owner.
If you are currently using some of these trends, don’t fret! Obviously, this is just my opinion, so don’t take it to heart. After you read make sure to share yours in the comments.
Without further ado…
5 Photography Trends that Make Me Cringe.
1. I hate the orange skin or when grass that looks like snow.
There, I said it. Yikes! A ton of photographers probably just rolled their eyes at this, but I can’t get on board with these two most used trends.
These editing trends are SO VERY popular right now.
The editing trend is called “dark and moody” and it produces photos that have more contrast and the shadows are much darker (see photo below on left). I see it done very well by some, but many times it creates orange or red skin tones and that’s what makes me cringe.
The other editing style is called “light and airy”. Photos that are light and airy are typically really bright overall and tend to have a lot of the color muted (see the photo in the middle below). Again, some photographers do it well, but oftentimes they take out so much color that the grass isn’t even green anymore and that makes me cringe.
The left photo is dark and moody. Notice the darker tones and that the skin color is very orange and red. The middle is light and airy. It has very muted colors and you lose a lot of the detail. The right image is how I edit.
So what do I like? Clean and classic. I want the people and the surroundings in my photo to be true to life.
Classic will never go out of style.
I try to let your clothing choice or hairstyle date the photo – HA!
Want to achieve this method? Click on over to my shop. You can snag my simple editing preset that I use on all the photos that I take on my phone to print or post on social media.
2. Props or crazy backgrounds are not my thing.
This one is definitely a “been there and done that” for me, but I am 100% over it. I almost stopped photographing newborns several years ago because I just couldn’t stand the props. I used them, but even then they made me cringe.
Then I realized there were actually folks out there photographing newborns without big bows or putting babies in these crazy things like super large teacups.
Y’all, babies don’t belong in teacups and they are NEVER wearing a crochet diaper cover again.
But it’s not just babies, it’s all ages. I got rid of the props. When I photograph people, that’s what I want to notice in the photo – THE PEOPLE.
3. I will not photograph you on a RAILROAD TRACK.
Friends, I get it because you see it so much and you think it symbolizes something transformative.
IT. IS. ILLEGAL. Yes, it’s illegal and not to mention very dangerous. It’s trendy and it’s neat to photograph because you can play around so much with composition, but don’t do it.
I could go on and on with reasons, but read more about it here and here as they explain it so well.
Now that you know, you know. Don’t do it. Period.
Ok, let’s lighten the mood with the next one…
4. Selective coloring is a big No Way!
If you want to see me throw up a little in my mouth, please just ask me “Hey…can you make this photo black and white, but leave the {insert eyes, blocks, shirt, hat…anything!} in color?”
EWWWWW!
The answer will a very kind and professional “no, that’s not my style,” but it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me.
We have to let that one go. Here’s an example of my daughter’s first Christmas photos from Sears years ago with selective coloring. I added a couple more for fun…those trends need to go too!
Why? Nope. Just. No.
5. Saying “I only use natural light” annoys me a bit.
This last one doesn’t really make me cringe that much, but it is almost a badge of honor that many photographers carry. It’s something that I have only recently changed in my own professional career.
When I photograph outside and sometimes inside, I still use natural light some of the time, but now I mostly use a flash that’s off my camera at outdoor sessions. It gives me so much more flexibility with my shooting locations and saves me time when I edit.
To me, this just means that I have grown in my understanding of photography and flexibility of where I can shoot.
For example, the location of this photo is very dark and barely gets any natural light, but it’s beautiful. Now that I have a flash with me at all times, I can accomplish these gorgeous looks and still keep my style clean and classic.
Ok. Now you know what you can expect from me and my style.
If it speaks to you, I would love to work with you. Come on and shoot me a message.
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