It’s Here: The WPPI 2016 Trend Report

If you couldn’t make it to the show this year—or if there just wasn’t enough time to see everything while you were there—don’t fret! We scoured the show floor and classrooms to scope out the latest trends in business, technique and gear.

Emerging Styles
The WPPI Awards Ceremony was not only an opportunity to congratulate the artists whose outstanding work was recognized by the judges in the 16 x 20 Print, Album and Filmmaking Competition, but it was also one to reflect on the emerging trends in the styles of wedding and portrait imagery.

“The Ascension of Salacia.” Photo © Cheryl Walsh

California-based photographer Cheryl Walsh, who won the First Place Grand Award in the Creative category with her Illustrative photo “The Ascension of Salacia,” says that now more than ever, there’s no inequity between a photograph directly out of camera and one that has been composited or artistically altered in post-production. “Saying, ‘If you get it right in-camera then you don’t need Photoshop,’ is so 2013!” Walsh says. “In my mind, young people like Renée Robyn, Lara Jade and Brooke Shaden sharing their first images on social media really opened a new door to digitally experimenting, fearlessly, with storytelling in a beautiful image.”

Also on our radar is Vicky Papas-Vergara, who won this year’s very first Bill Hurter Excellence Award, honoring the photographer who achieved the highest four scoring entries in Print Comp. Papas-Vergara’s work, which she says she styles from scratch, took first, second and third in the Beauty/Boudoir Portrait category and first and second in the Fashion Creative category. Look out for more on Papas-Vergara in our July/August Posing Issue within the special Boudoir section.

A newborn being wrapped during Ana Brandt’s Belly Baby Shoot Out class at WPPI. Photo courtesy of Ana Brandt.

New Faces 
For newborn and pregnancy photographer Ana Brandt, 2016 marked the first time she taught her “Belly Baby Shoot Out” class at WPPI, “and I truly hope I get the opportunity to do it again,” she says. Teaching poolside at the MGM using newborn babies and pregnant models, Brandt says students were “super excited to watch a maternity and newborn shoot outside in natural light,” and they spent ample time learning how to wrap newborns, pose them and transition expecting mothers.

For filmmaker Alexander Ma, this year marked the first that he entered and won first place in the WPPI Photo Annual wedding cinematography category. While Ma has attended the show in the past, he was impressed with the selection of new products at the expo this year, he says. In particular, customizable flash drives from Photo Flash Drive caught his attention because “personalizing the final product for couples is an important touch that adds to the experience we give,” he says. As for next year, don’t be surprised if you see Ma teaching a filmmaking workshop. “I love educating people that are as passionate as I am about filmmaking,” he says. “It would be awesome to do some seminars to help upcoming filmmakers and entrepreneurs.”

Printed Photo Philanthropy
The power of the printed portrait is real, and photographers are using that power to give back to those less fortunate—or in the case of Caitlin and Jeff Lazo, to those impacted by terminal illness. As the new directors of the charity Magic Hour and the 2016 WPPI Humanitarian Award winners, the Lazos have helped hundreds of photographers match with families of cancer patients to provide free portrait sessions and enduring prints. “Photographers are so willing to share their greatest gift of their art with those in need,” says Caitlin. “To date, Magic Hour has 650 photographers within its network across the U.S. with more signing up every day.” (Apply online at magichour.org.)

Sue Bryce during her keynote presentation at WPPI. Photo © I Heart NY Photography

The Power of Print
From the inaugural Power of Print lounge on the WPPI show floor to portrait photographer Sue Bryce’s empowering keynote presentation, photographers got a strong sense that prints are not, and shouldn’t be considered, a dwindling part of the business.

“We are not a digital generation, we’re a now generation,” Bryce said during her presentation. “Just because people want to see proofs of their session now doesn’t mean they want digital.” To that end, Bryce uses a “Reveal Wall” of tangible prints, not an online gallery, to show clients their proofs to “reveal to them who they are.” It’s a powerful experience for both client and photographer, and one that draws them in to pay for prints.

Photo Booth GIF Debut
As photo booths evolve toward a more portable and socially networked event solution, GIFs seem to be the next step.

Making its public debut at WPPI was The Gifyyy Photo Booth, specializing in animated GIFs. It’s really more of a tripod, an LED ring light and a mount for a tablet. Using the company’s app, guests can create their own GIFs, which can be automatically uploaded to the Cloud and grouped into an online album. Guests can get their images texted to them as well. The LED can run off battery power “for days,” according to the company, and can also be connected to an AC outlet. The tripod, LED and software sell for $6,000.

3D-printed figurines from Solidiphy

The 3D Treatment
Beyond two-dimensional wall art, we saw a glimpse of the future at the Solidiphy booth. Think of Solidiphy as a 3D portrait studio, consisting of up to 130 Canon Rebel DSLRs and strobe lighting, all housed in a series of large cabinets arrayed in a circle. The cameras and lighting are connected to a single, synchronized shutter. Trigger the shutter and the cameras fire in unison, capturing 130 JPEG images of your subjects, which are then imported into your PC. Solidiphy’s software uploads the files to the company, where they’re compiled into a single data-rich 3D image. From there, Solidiphy can turn that image into figurines, cake toppers, Lego heads and more with 3D printing.

You pay a wholesale price for the output and sell them to your clients at retail (you’re free to set your own prices, but Solidiphy suggests retail prices to guide you). It takes about a week to turn around a figurine, and the cost of the system isn’t cheap: at around $130,000, that price includes installation, setup, training and support. You’ve got to move a lot of figurines to recoup your investment, but the quality of the 3D print is a lot higher than other 3D-printed figurines we’ve seen.

What’s in Store For WPPI 2017?
Next year WPPI will move from the MGM Grand and into the Las Vegas Convention Center, a larger and more robust space that can support WPPI’s vision for the future. The 2017 conference and expo will also bring more in-depth education as well as more opportunities for unique shooting experiences. In response to attendee demand and feedback, next year’s attendees can expect longer, more in-depth photo walks, more newborn/children education and more robust business classes.