Violet Studio Shares 2023 Wedding Photography Trends and Styles
Violet Studio was established almost 8 years ago and was one of the first studios in Dubai to provide contemporary photography and cinematography solutions for weddings and events.
With an exclusively female team, Violet Studio's photographers have catered to high-end Emirati clients that include government officials, celebrities, and have even captured spectacular weddings of Royal families across the Emirates.
We greatly enjoyed our discussion with Violet Studios which shed light on their beginnings and impressive growth, their experience and photography style, wedding photography trends and lots more.
Q1. Tell us more about Violet Studio and what makes it stand out from the rest of the photography studios in the UAE.
We are unique and stand out in comparison to other photography studios in the UAE due to how competitive we are, not just in one specific niche, but across many different segments. Due to our creativity and experience, we have begun expanding our offering from just Emirati weddings, to now providing photography for mixed weddings and Indian wedding celebrations in UAE, as well as weddings in GCC region.
Other photography studios do not provide this breadth of experience to cover weddings across all of these varying cultures, and we can proudly say that we are a strong competitor in all of these areas. Although born in Dubai, Violet Studio is going from strength to strength with our international presence.
Violet Studio’s position as a trendsetter in the Emirati market positions us as a key influence over the trajectory of the local wedding segment. Almost a decade ago, our fresh, trendy, European take on our approach to videography undoubtedly influenced the Dubai market and created great demand for European-inspired videography.
Many photography and videography studios in the UAE are now following the trends that we brought to market years ago.
Q2. What are your wedding trend predictions in photography for 2023?
When you look at photography internationally, the photography style itself doesn’t change much and is largely differentiated by image editing through presets, colourings and filters. In 2023, we see that this heavy editing style is trending globally – whether this is seen in overly exposed images, grainy textures or pastel tones.
Our editing style has purposely not changed much over the years as we see the value in keeping colours true and natural. We also always love a classic black and white! For each wedding we photograph, we duplicate approximately 10% of all of the images and edit them as black and white to emphasise emotions or to capture the depth of a moment in time. We are also very mindful that trends come and go, therefore, it is important that we provide each of our clients with images that will age well and not go out of style.
At Violet Studio, we find that videography is the more dynamically developing medium in comparison to photography. This is because videography trends, technologies, lenses, software and equipment are continually evolving. The global trend for videography in 2023 will largely be the revealing of personalities… a non-intrusive and candid videography style that captures moments more intimately and authentically than ever before.
We have witnessed that as the quality of cameras increases, concentration has previously been primarily on the quality of the shots and showing off fancy techniques. However, cameras now update at such a rapid pace that the focus has shifted from chasing high production and cinematic effects, to now prioritising the subjects by focusing on the bride and groom, small conversations, and allowing their personalities to shine through. The trend is no longer about cool techniques and effects, but is now all about telling a raw, authentic story.
As videography equipment has transitioned from large cameras and boom mics, to less intrusive, small and compact systems, we are able to be much faster and capture natural conversations as they are happy by not drawing attention to the fact that we are videoing. Through this, we are able to tell the true narrative of the wedding day in a video that is completely immersive and allows our clients to feel that they are experiencing their special day all over again, each and every time they watch it.
Q3. Can you describe your style in photography?
If we could describe our photography style in simply one word, it would be this… flexible.
It is easy to develop and perfect a distinct signature style of photography and editing, and then apply this approach across all weddings, but it takes true skill to be able to adapt the photography style to meet the vision and creative direction of the client.
Our extensive experience working with clients across a range of different cultures has provided us with the knowledge and capability to have flexibility and embrace different creative directions. We find that the two styles that we encounter the most are (1) soft, classic and natural, and (2) slightly more editorial, confident and sophisticated images, and our photography style, as a result, is largely a combination of them both.
We define ourselves as a luxury photography studio, and we believe that personalisation and a tailored service is the epitome of luxury. That is why our focus is our customer, their priorities, and their overall vision for their wedding photography and videography. Our experience and skill make this personalised approach to photography styles possible.
Q4. What is the most memorable wedding you shot?
At Violet Studio, we must admit that we love and thoroughly enjoy every single wedding that we shoot. However, we like to employ the mentality of not remaining in the past and instead look towards the future in order to remain ahead of the game. This perspective of continually moving forward allows us to continue to be trend-setters within the Dubai photography world.
Ultimately, our favourite wedding is always tomorrow’s wedding. We are continually evolving and growing… developing our knowledge, team, capability and technology.
Therefore, tomorrow is always more exciting than yesterday.
Q5. What advice can you give a couple looking for the perfect wedding photographer?
Planning a wedding can often be a stressful and overwhelming process for many couples. As a result, we would like to highlight just 2 key pieces of advice that we believe would greatly benefit bridal couples when they are deciding on a wedding photographer.
Firstly, if you have found a photographer that has piqued your interest and that you would like to enquire with, we encourage you to request to see a FULL wedding shoot from beginning to end. In the days of social media, filters, photoshop and heavy editing, it is easy for a photographer to upload that one great shot from a wedding, but is it just a fluke or genuine talent? If you view a photographer’s entire gallery from a wedding, you will be able to grasp a better understanding of how many of their images are high quality, impressive shots. If they are consistently delivering images of a high standard right throughout the wedding, you have reassurance that they have genuine skill and talent that will deliver great results.
Secondly, request a personal meeting! Photographing weddings requires that the photographer is always accompanying the bride and groom, and in some cultures, even meets the bridal couple before they meet each other. Because your photographer will be spending the entire day with you, it is important that you feel relaxed, comfortable and at ease around your photographer. Someone’s energy can make or break how you experience your special day, so ensuring that you get along well with your photographer(s) is essential in capturing the best images and making sure that you enjoy the day to the fullest.
For more wedding photography tips and trends visit this section.
