A changed market
As COVID restrictions rained down, there was a flow of smaller weddings and elopements, while larger weddings ebbed. “The restriction on the number of guests is changing all the time; couples are scared of hiring big teams for their weddings,” says Aries Tao. Based in Sydney, Tao is the executive photographer and creative director at Clover Image where the team specialises in fine art wedding photography. Byron Bay wedding photographer Van Middleton elaborates. “The main change for us as photographers is having to change to smaller scale events, without some of the big crowds that can add colour and energy to wedding collections,” he says.
Middleton adds that instead of a predictable and booked calendar of weddings, photographers are now facing huge gaps with no weddings only to have a rush of last-minute bookings. Adapting to this is more challenging for solo operators, but studios with multiple photographers can more easily manage a situation where they are suddenly faced with the prospect being double-booked.
Based in Melbourne, wedding photographer Jerome Cole had a full season booked, set to start in July. “I was so pumped; it was going to be amazing. I had my final meetings with couples checking the details and then…bang! Lockdowns began again”. Even when restrictions eased after each lockdown there was a delay in weddings going back to normal as dancing was not permitted. Towards the second part of 2020 he found couples
