Three Photography Trends for 2017: Point-and-Shoot Cameras, the Revival of Film, and Printed Photos

With the advent of a new year, we have a whole lot of days, weeks, and photo adventures to look forward to this year.  One of the questions I am often asked is, “What photo trends are coming for this year?”

While I may not be able to tell the future, many other forecasters do a great job of showing what’s coming to market, in the market, and hot on the market.  For example, Digital Trends has a great write-up from CES 2017 regarding the best camera tech.

TREND #1: Point and Shoot Cameras

My favorite line from the piece is, “The smartphone has all but killed low-end point-and-shoots, but camera manufacturers are still breathing new life into them. “   Why is this one my favorite?  It’s the same thing I regularly hear from ‘camera people.’  And while the smartphone may have crushed the point-and-shoot market, this market still exists and it continues to thrive.

Are you wondering “why” or “how?”

Nowadays, point and shoot cameras have a long list of features and capabilities, compared to even slightly older versions. GPS, face-detection, smile detection and many other new technologies are making their way into the point and shoot market.

Technology aside, point and shoot cameras are growing in popularity due to their size and their weight.  Your DSLR can be a bit bulky if you’re carrying it around while hiking, popping in and out of the car on a road trip, or traveling from European city to European city, but still want to capture what catches your eye.

If you’re out capturing landscapes or vistas, the massive depth of field on a point and shoot camera can be your bestie.  It will help to make the entire scene look sharp and everything will be in focus.

Finally, point and shoot cameras are always going to be less cost to buy and to maintain than a DSLR.  If you have a young shutterbug in your family, this is a great way to let them practice and perfect their craft.

 

If you’re heading out to the beach, for a family camping trip, or to Paris for the first time, a point and shoot camera has proven to be the camera to take.  After all, people want better cameras, not necessarily bigger ones.

 

Check out DSLR Buzz’s “10 Best Point and Shoot Cameras of 2017 – Buyer’s Guide” to find your new point and shoot.

TREND #2: The Revival of Film

PetaPixel reported last August that “sales of photographic film have been steadily rising over the last few years” so it was great to read their article on a favorite – and classic –  film coming back from the dead last week.  Hello, Ektachorome!

You can read the whole article here on PetaPixel’s site here.

Over the next 12 months, the new Ektachrome will be remanufactured at Kodak’s factory in Rochester, NY with the revived film available in 35mm.  It is expected to hit store shelves in Q4 2017.

TREND #3: Print your photos

While the next trend doesn’t come with press releases and news flashes, it is one that has been slowly and steadily growing.  I first heard it from colleagues in professional photography circles and then I heard it more from clients, from friends, and from family.  It’s a little bit like Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who!”

The trend itself is to print your pictures.  If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because the movement to print photographs has got its own hashtag on social media (approximately 27,000 posts alone with this hashtag on Instagram as of this writing!).

I was reading Joe Farace’s column on Shutterbug and he tells the story about attending an anniversary party in his family.  His aunt handed him a stack of photographs that she found of him when he was 4 years old, and he poses the question, “What happens to all those Facebook photos and Cloud-stored images?”

He goes on to share what he sees happening to them, “They might be lost forever because of password issues (admit it, you know that’s a problem) or hackers. How permanent are those images? After all, they’re just zeros and ones. Do yourself a favor in 2017, make some prints.”

Whether it’s an aunt at an anniversary party who hands you photos, a shoebox of photographs that used to live under your bed, or the chance to pull a photo album off of the shelf to flip through pages to relive memories, these photographs get to live on because they were printed.

If you do nothing else in 2017, print one favorite photograph a month this year.

One image you captured with whatever camera you had at hand: smartphone, point and shoot, or DSLR, film or digital.

Show me what you’ve printed.  Tag @barbarabellphotography on social media of you + your printed photograph.  #printyourphotos

Not sure where to get your photos printed?   Ping me – I’d be happy to share my favorites with you.