About a year ago, Storey Wilkins, a wedding photographer who splits her time between Toronto and Beverly Hills, won The Wedding Co.’s second annual professional wedding photographers’ contest: The Captured Moment.
Her work, along with the other contestants was judged by: Darcy Miller, Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings and author of Our Wedding Scrapbook; Jeffry Roick, Managing Partner, The Carlu and Director of McNabb Roick Events; and Darren Ching, Co-Owner/Co-Director of Klompching Gallery, N.Y. and Creative Director of Photo District News, New York. The prize was a trip to NYC to visit the offices of Martha Stewart Weddings and to have a portfolio review by Miller and her team.
The Wedding Co. caught up with Wilkins to hear about her experience. “It was amazing how many conversations we covered in 45 minutes,” she said, “from trends, to the importance of bespoke work, to story-telling, advances in equipment and digital production.”
Storey Wilkins (second from right) with Darcy Miller (front), Special Projects Editor Anthony Luscia, Associate Photo Editor Joanna Dufour (far left) and Deputy Photo Editor Mary Cahill
The focus of the conversation Wilkins said, was on finding unique, and truly bespoke ways to tell a couple’s story through photographs and ephemera from the wedding day. An illustrator and scrapbooker, Miller loves personal expression and keepsakes, Wilkens was thrilled when her “eyes lit up” when she saw the photo albums Wilkins creates for her couples. Laced with phrases from speeches and the ceremony, the books are all custom-designed so every couple has something truly unique.
Already aware of what kind of work Miller likes, based on the content of Weddings and the whimsical illustrations and language in Our Wedding Scrapbook, Wilkins created a very specific photo portfolio full of her favourite moments, rather than traditional portraits. They discussed how digitial technology has advanced over the past few years to allow photographers to capture more special moments, even when they are in low light situations. “Technology has given us the tools, portability … to be more fluid as photographers,” says Wilkins, and therefore capture a fuller story in images. For wedding photography in general, this has meant a change in what couples are looking for.
It used to be that a couple would arrange for their portraits and the ceremony to be photographed while the reception wasn’t as important to have professional images from; today, wedding photography has become synonymous with a full day’s worth of shooting, the first dance is just as key for most couples as the walk down the isle – the whole story is important. Similarly, digital files for couples offer more opportunity to share their images and with friends and family. It seems one influence on the trends of wedding photography is the development of tools and techniques, right now, the emphasis is on telling the entire story.
Miller has also blogged about the meeting.