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Here’s what is on today:

• The myth of finding your style. And what to do instead.

• Not another camera bag.

• All the news and inspo to keep you fresh and ready.

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Now, let’s jump in 👇

NEWS

Happening this Week

• VSCO makes a moodboard app. VSCO is secretly making a big comeback. While this is not it… They did however, released a new app called CANVAS that is an interesting moodboard and curation tool for concepting photoshoots. See more here.

• Actually good photography interviews at The Bridal Journey. A bunch of world class photographers answering questions about the wedding industry.. what more could you want. It’s GOLD. Check it out here.

• The release of not another camera bag. But YES you will want it. Peak Design just released full details of their new roller bag. Complete with an amazing launch video that hits ALL the pain points of bad luggage and photographer travel troubles. This bag is looking too nice.

• Sigma’s NYC Pop up. This weekend (March 7th-8th) in NYC go check out the new and very cool camera that Sigma just released, the Sigma BF. Get hands on and let us know what you think!

• The Final Wedding Photography Summit. Apparently this is the last one! This March 24-25. Two days of amazing speakers from all around the world of wedding photography.

• Panasonic finally made a camera photographers. Panasonic just released their new LUMIX S1RII camera. This time, designed with photo shooters in mind. YES. Watch a little review here.

• The power of curation. Just a quick little moodboard from The Friend Club that is just, a win!

• The Light Phone x film tones. The Light Phone is an alternative phone. But now, they have added a camera too. And based their colours on Portra 400. No distractions, just some classic tones. Details here.

IDEA OF THE WEEK

 🔎 Are we post ‘finding your style?’

The Myth
We live in a time where wedding photographers are obsessed with “finding” their style. 

Buying presets. Consuming tutorials. Trying to edit like this photographer. To shoot like that photographer.

But the IDEA that your style is something you go and search for rather than something that emerges from experience, is a fundamental mistake. READ THAT AGAIN.

Think about it. That photographer whose work stops you in your scroll isn’t and was never wasting time trying to find their style. They were busy doing. Shooting. Experimenting. Travelling. Consuming new and interesting things. You know… living. Their style wasn’t a kind of strategy, it was more of a byproduct of an interesting life rather than a planned copy and paste.

Today, the whole thing of “finding your style” thing is backwards. We’re all trying to have a style before we’ve even played the role.

But a photography style isn’t something you curate in isolation. It’s something that happens when you’re engaged with the world.

How it actually happens.
During this months Lensel PRO workshop with danielkimphoto, a wedding photographer with a particularly raw, honest, and close style, we dove into this WHOLE thing.

After a ‘style crisis’ and wedding burnout, covid forced him to slow down and he started again from zero. Just “sitting in the grass” photographing his family—no pressure, no mood boards, no expectations. And that experience CHANGED everything.

“I learned to shoot what I valued,” 
“The more I shot like that personally, I just started to see these moments happen at weddings.”

The point is… your style is a byproduct of what you care about.
How you see the world.
What you notice.
What you value.

So what do we do instead?
1 - Stop trying to find it. Your style isn’t a scavenger hunt. You can’t download it. Go get obsessed with living a more interesting life instead. Watch films. Travel. Go to museums. Look at weird and wonderful things. Listen to music that makes you feel something. The more you curate an interesting life for yourself outside of photography the clearer your photographer style will become.
2. Learn, don’t imitate. Style isn’t about copying the right references. It’s about understanding why something works.There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by another photographer's use of light or framing. WE are of course ALL about it. The problem is when you treat it like a template—when you think editing like someone else is the same as seeing like them. Their taste isn’t algorithmic—it’s a reflection of their interests, their history, the way they see the world.
Take cues without the cut and paste.
3. Shoot what you value. Ask yourself what you actually care about—family, history, design, friendship, prestige, the way a certain light makes you feel, fashion, the good times of a party… What ever you value, lean into that.
4. Let style find you LOL. That may be the worst, corniest line you could possibly hear, but we don’t know how to put it differently. There’s a lesson in finding what you want when you stop trying.

Just live your life.

Get interested in things.

Make mistakes.

Develop your own perspective.

And your style will follow.

WORKSHOP REPLAY

🛠️ “So I just had to be like, how does this scene feel?” Daniel Kim

We just wrapped this months live workshop with Daniel Kim and the REPLAY is now available inside Lensel PRO.

From quotes like, “So this word vomitting photos helped me develop being comfortable with myself” to “It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be... like technically sound, it just has to feel.” It’s 1.5 hours of total goodness.

Come and hear an entirely fresh and new perspective on finding your voice in wedding photography, shooting intentionally and creating work that feels.

Join our Lensel PRO membership to access this workshop, as well as the entire archive of replays from our other past workshops!

INSPO TO KEEP YOU FRESH

⬇️ Magic from Samm Blake capturing the guests. The chaos. And the feeling of it all.

⬇️ You ask what the luxury wedding photographers do different? These details. The pure colours. It’s QUALITY. And it still matters.

⬇️ Is ‘mermaidcore’ a thing and is it coming to a wedding near you? Either way, this is incredible work from ohh.ginger. Creatively shot. Creatively curated 💯

⬇️ Dying over these close up crops. The FEELING. PS don’t sleep on a crop.