The face has it- candid photography

Hi 


Another post and into the second week of my mini photography course. 

The schedule and links to previous posts can be found here


Today is all about the candid shot. This is how google defines candid..


"A photograph of a person taken informally, esp. without the subject's knowledge."

That is candid in a nutshell and it is probably my favourite type of photo to shoot. You know why? Because it is easy. 


Candid photography does take a bit of getting used to. You are basically shooting a person without them realising you are doing it. The result? Beautiful, informal and very natural photographs. 


Here are my top tips for getting those natural, un-posed, photographs.


1. Have your camera with you. It sounds straightforward but to get a good candid shot you need to have your camera constantly there. Candid can't be set up so you need to be able to quickly press the shutter and capture the shot. 

2. For a few minutes at a time, keep your camera up to your eye. Scan the room/garden through your viewfinder. Yep, some people will notice and try to pose but most won't and you can get that lovely natural shot with just one click.

3. Take a lot of photos. It sounds silly but the more photos you take, the less people seem to notice the camera. If you take just a few, the camera coming out becomes a big event. Your subject is more likely to be self conscious and aware and then pose. If you are taking pictures here there and everywhere, your subject will soon get bored and go back to what they were doing before. Result!

The above is one of my all time favourite photos of the boy. It came about after a day of taking literally hundreds of photos. I was sitting on the sand and  typically was clicking away. He was stood next to me and I happened to look up at him, He was so used to the camera he didn't notice when I clicked the shutter and got this gorgeous natural shot of him. Perseverance my friends!




4. Zoom in. That way you can stand a long way away from your subject and they tend not to notice you are taking a picture. This works brilliantly with children. If a child notices you are there, they will snap out of that little imaginary world they are in. Zoom in from a distance and you will capture them at play. 

5. Don't worry about photographing the back of peoples heads. The way they are standing can be interesting. A face doesn't have to tell the main story. If in doubt wait, if your subject is relaxed and 
doesn't really realise you are there, they will move their body anyway.

Candid photography is so much fun. I do realise though that these tips do make me sound a bit like a stalker! I promise I really only take candid shots of close friends and family, who put up with my weird camera ways. I suggest you do likewise or you could be getting some strange looks!

If you try candid photography, do link up in the comments. We would love to see your results!


Thanks for stopping by