7 Best Wedding Photo Editing Trends

Staying updated with the top wedding photo editing trends is a common responsibility of wedding photographers or editors. These days, editing images is not just about brightening or cropping, but it’s a way of connecting with memories and keeping them alive in our hearts forever.

Top 7 Wedding Photo Editing Trends

The invasion of the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way weddings used to happen. With all the restrictions imposed on location, guest count, and extent of travel, a few changes were also seen in the current wedding photography editing trends.

Backyard weddings and elopements became quite popular in the COVID-19 period. This brought the wedding photography trend of airy, bright, and romantic pictures. Then, came the trend of various photo editing techniques which were needed to enhance those features.

So, if you’re a wedding photographer or photo editor, pull up your socks and get ready to learn the wedding photo editing trends that have become popular this year. Even if you’re someone who likes to stick to the classic editing style, there is nothing wrong with learning what’s trending. Now, let’s check them out.

1. Airy, Bright, & Light

   

   This wedding image editing trend is all about adding pink tones and improving contrast to give the images an overall bright look. Also, smoothness and sharpness are maintained to give them the most natural appearance.

   The editing style can be used for both the couple as well as the venue. If your client wishes to have a fairytale-inspired theme, then you can go with this style. It will especially suit well if they’re having an outdoor wedding.

   The trend has been around for quite some time now. It is because people are choosing outdoor wedding settings instead of closed indoor spaces to minimize the risks of infection. Moreover, brides nowadays are opting for a natural and dreamy décor, which is why this editing technique is currently trending in the number 1 spot.

2. Dark & Moody

   

   In the dark and moody style, the wedding pictures will appear a bit darker with saturated warm brown tones. You can obtain it by using dark colors such as black and white, navy blues, silver, blacks, forest greens, dull golds, maroons, gray, de-saturated purples, etc. while also emphasizing the shadows.

   This wedding photo editing trend is quite unique and it focuses on improving the dramatic aspects of the photograph. A tip for wedding photographers is to include dark skies, if possible. They can also play with lighting to create shadows for adding an element of mystery to the photographs.

3. De-saturated Elements

   

   With the de-saturated photo editing style, all the colors in your picture will remain mute. The bright red flowers or the green outdoor foliage will be toned down to make them less bright. Also, the overall de-saturation will make the skin look washed out.

   The style has become popular recently. However, the amount of de-saturation carried out can be chosen by the clients. De-saturating the entire image isn’t mandatory. So, they can choose to tone down only particular colors, like that of the trees, bushes, etc. In that way, the brighter green foliage present outside can be toned a bit to achieve a normal appearance.

4. Black & White

   

   Black and white is a classic image editing technique and probably will always be on the trend. The black and white editing style is most impactful when you’re capturing emotions. A few examples can be when couples are looking at each other, the bride and groom dance, the father and daughter dance, the toast, etc.

   The extremely raw emotional moments are always close to our heart and the black and white technique rightfully does the job of narrating them. Applying the style will also help your wedding photographs to stand out. Many photographers also combine it with photojournalistic or candid wedding photography styles.

5. HDR

   

   HDR or High Dynamic Range editing will give your images a three-dimensional look. The technique is best for highlighting the details but colors will often look saturated. Earlier, it wasn’t very high in demand but has certainly been on the trend after the pandemic.

   The technique was widely employed for editing real estate images, nature, or landscape. However, it is now used for marriage image edits too, especially the group ones. However, a pro tip is that wedding image editors, as well as photographers, must be extra careful while using the technique since it has a high probability of making the skin appear more unrealistic.

   But, the wedding photo editing trend is certainly worth experimenting with. So, do give it a try. Besides, it can be a great choice since nowadays most weddings are carried outdoors. Apart from the bride and groom, you can highlight the scenic landscapes, mountains, etc.

6. Grainy

   

   With the digital age and high-definition pictures, the grainy effect can give your wedding images a vintage feel. It can make them look as if they were originally shot on a film. You can achieve this effect by employing good wedding photo editing software and certain image post-production techniques.

   Besides, shooting a film is also expensive. So, with this style of editing, your clients can attain film-like pictures without expanding their budget. The trend is getting popular with each passing year and has been around for quite some time now.

   By using this technique for your marriage photography edits, you can add more texture to your pictures and take your viewers to the retro era. These wedding image editing trends will remain strong and timeless in the upcoming times too.

7. Matte

   

   This type of photo editing style appears as if a hazy filter has been added to the image. The outcomes will have a softer look. So, it might not appear that good when printed.

   To achieve the effect, you need to adjust the tone curve. It will most likely be present in the Develop module in the Lightroom software. You need to adjust the curve in a way that the individual points take the shape of “S”. You can also change the curve shape as per your needs for fine-tuning the effect.

Conclusion

As you can see, these were the 7 best wedding photo trends. So, choose any trend as per your personal preference or the choice of your clients to carry out the required wedding photo retouching.

Since we have discussed a lot of retouching trends here, incorporating everything in your image post-production process may not be the right decision. However, staying updated with the trends will surely help you in expanding your skillset and allow you to offer more to your clients for their photo editing services and pre wedding photo editing which will result in more revenues.