Our steps to taking the perfect Candid Photo
Candid photos are the best way to take perfectly natural shots. In our eyes, the key to a good photo is context and candid photos are the best way to add this! Here are our key steps to taking the perfect Candid photo.
Patience
You cannot force a candid photo, a good one at that. The main point is the ‘natural’ stance of the subject you are taking a photo of. Waiting for the ideal moment is the best way to miss it.
Patience, again!
Not every shot you take will be exact, but this is a good thing. In terms of Candid photos, the slightly out of focus, foreground partially blocked or the active background adds depth to the image, these aren’t the ones to delete!
Context
Candid photos are perfect when creating context. Adding depth to the photo, through camera angles and placement can add a story to the photo that can’t be said for a normal portrait.
‘Be in the moment’
The art isn’t to be directly involved, but not to be too distant from the event, activity, or scenario your photographing to become suspicious. The best candid photos have the subject taken by surprise at their appearance in your image, ultimately creating a perfectly natural look. Staged candid photos do not work as well.
For example below, be that person not in direct contact with the wedding couple!
Flexibility
With angles, positions, height, flexibility and variation can offer multiple viewpoints for the image, and a wider story can be created because of this. The more activity you can achieve with the background and even foreground as well as capturing the focal point of the image still in the moment generates a beautiful, in depth, image.
Ambient Lighting
Don’t use flash, it will give the game away! Ambient lighting can set the atmosphere for the image and once again add more of a story to the image. It allows the audience to interpret the mood, temperature, time and ultimately allows for more context.
Be Prepared
The best image can come at any moment, whether you’re ready or not. It’s the unexpected images that creates something nicely composed even if it was spur of the moment to take the photo.
Got that perfect Candid photo? Show us by entering September 2018’s ‘Friendship’ competition here!
